These guys are big, robust lizards with short limbs. And they have a pretty cool tongue. Actually a really cool tongue. You can kind of see it in this picture taken at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/250th of a second.
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary is a rehabilitation center in Tasmania for orphaned and injured animals. During my visit, I was able to get some nice daytime pics of the usually nocturnal eastern quoll. Their cute appearance belies the fact they are a carnivorous marsupial in the same family as the Tasmanian devil. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/4.5 at 1/400th of a second.
Even though they waddle along at their own pace, short-beaked echidnas can be hard to photograph because they rarely lift their snouts from the ground. This one seemed to have hit the mother load of ants somewhere inside that mossy patch. Photographed near Cradle Mountain National Park in Tasmania, Australia. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1000th of a second.
Eastern rosellas are another of Australia’s many spectacularly plumed birds. There are six species with many more subspecies of these colorful parrots. I actually spotted this one on the grounds of the airport in Tasmania’s capital city of Hobart, just as I was about to return my rental car and fly home. The low angle actually hides some of the color — there’s more green and red behind the blur of grass. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/400th of a second.
I’ve posted a few of these rare white wallabies before. Here’s another one carrying a joey. The white morph isn’t always passed on to the babies. In fact, more often than not, the joey is born without the genetic anomaly. Bruny Island off the coast of Tasmania is one of the best places to see white wallabies. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 1600, f/5.6 at 1/250th of a second.
A common brushtail possum emerges from a bush on one of my night hikes in Cradle Mountain National Park in Tasmania, Australia. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash.
I photographed this Tasmanian pademelon early in the morning before the sun had broken the horizon. I used a bit of flash to add to the faint light of dawn. Pademelons are one of the smallest macropods — the family of marsupials that kangaroos and wallabies also belong to. Photographed on Maria Island, just off the coast of Tasmania. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/160th of a second, Nikon SB-900 flash.
Just a simple shot of a wombat doing what wombats do — eating grass. For the most part, wombats are pretty accommodating subjects, but sometimes you have to be patient to wait for them to lift their faces off the ground. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of a second.
While in Tasmania I photographed two different species of quoll, the eastern and the spotted. The eastern I was able to track down in the wild. This guy, the spotted, was at a breeding center for Tasmanian devils just outside of Cradle Mountain National Park. Spotted quolls are the largest carnivorous marsupials on mainland Australia, and second to the Tasmanian Devil in Tasmania. They are considered a near threatened species due mainly to habitat destruction. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 3600, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.
Bennett’s Wallabies are pretty common throughout Tasmania and I was able to photograph them in quite a few settings. Going through my files, I just came across this one from Cradle Mountain National Park. The dark background and quickly fading light enabled me to capture the contrast of the highlights in the wallaby’s wet fur, giving dimension to the chubby little marsupial. Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/60th of a second.