It’s owl Friday again, and this one isn’t technically the best photo in the world, nor is the subject matter going to be appreciated by everyone, but it is very unusual behavior — at least it seems that way from all the research that I did. It was very late in the day and the sun had long since set when I saw this snowy owl attack a male mallard. Even the owl seemed a bit surprised and confused as to what to do next with this unusual catch. It tried several times to fly away with the duck but didn’t seem to have the strength. Twenty minutes later, it remained sitting on top of the duck trying to decide what to do about the situation. Eventually it got too dark for me to even see what was going on anymore so I left the scene and let nature take its course. I usually don’t like to shoot above 1600 ISO but this one was captured at 3200 because of the extreme low light (it was actually much darker than it appears in the photo). Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/125th of a second
Being Valentine’s Day, I figured it only appropriate to post a little animal love. These two Japanese macaques were enjoying a bit of cuddle time while the rest of the monkeys were relaxing in the hot springs up in the mountains near Nagano Japan. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 175mm) ISO 200, f/4.5 at 1/100th of a second
This yellow-crowned night heron was doing its best Navy SEAL impersonation on North Seymour Island in the Galapagos Islands. The heron was slowly stalking its prey in a shallow channel. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 310mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second (-0.33 ev)
This baby koala was just hanging with its mom, doing what baby koalas do — which is basically to hang with mom, sleep for about twenty hours and then eat a few eucalyptus leaves before dozing off again. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 165mm) ISO 100, f/2.8 at 1/60th of a second
I took this one about four years ago in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. There’s a nice prairie dog town there in the northern part of the park and I sat and watched for quite a while as the little guys popped in and out of their burrows, gathering dried grass to line their maze of underground tunnels. It is believed that they do this for insulation purposes. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual lens, ISO 200, f/11 at 1/320th of a second
I used to post the Friday frog — until I ran out of suitable frogs to post. So now it’s time for the Friday owl. This one is a short eared owl. They are one of the most widely distributed birds in the world, occurring on every continent except for Antarctica and Australia. Like most owls, short eared owls tend to be nocturnal and hunt at night. But in areas — and years — where the rodent population is high, they will become quite active in the day. This was the case when I was in Boundary Bay and I was able to get quite a few shots of them flying around hunting for voles. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1250, f/5 at 1/1000th of a second
Seems like as good a day as any to post a lemur. This particular guy is an eastern grey bamboo lemur and I spotted him in central Madagascar in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. There are several species of bamboo lemurs, or as they are also known, gentle lemurs. They get their name due to the fact that they primarily eat bamboo. It is unknown, however, how they detoxify the high level of cyanide that is found in bamboo. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 120mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second
Butterflies in the genus caligo are commonly called owl butterflies because of the large spots on their wings that resemble the eyes of an owl. I saw quite a few of these butterflies in the cloud forest of Ecuador, but only this one that appeared to have a tear running from the eye. Nikon D800 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 800, f/6.3 at 1/400th of a second (-0.33 ev)
Here’s another wood duck — this time, just after it lifted off from a pond. Wood ducks get their name because they nest in trees. The females will lay 7 to 15 eggs in the tree cavity and the day after hatching, the ducklings will climb to the nest entrance and jump to the ground. Miraculously, they can jump from a height of 290 feet without injury. Even so, the parents will try to find a tree over a body of water so that the landing will be softer than if over the ground. The mother will call to the young ducklings, but they are able to swim and find food on their own by this time. Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/1250th of a second
It’s been a while since I posted one from the Pantanal in Brazil so here’s a giant river otter — the largest otter in the world. They can grow to almost six feet in length. This one was quietly slipping back into the water after being on the riverbank taking a rest. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second
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