Green Crested Lizard
This is a green-crested lizard from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It appears to be focused on something above, perhaps a butterfly or moth, its most common prey.
Three-Toed Sloth
This sexy beast is a thee-toed sloth. It graced my presence in a place called Pavones in south western Costa Rica, not too far from the Panama border. Sloths move so slow that algae easily grows on their fur (moths also like to live in there). The algae shares a symbiotic relationship with the sloth — the sloth providing a home for the algae and the algae providing camouflage for the sloth.
White Tufted Ear Marmoset
These marmosets are small. Very small. Like squirrel small. They are a somewhat rare primate from northern Brazil, but gained a bit of popularity in the animated feature film Rio. I like to think that I knew them before the movie came out.
Polar Bears on the Dance Floor
IÂ was just finishing breakfast when I saw these two polar bears through the dining room window of the lodge. Â I quickly grabbed my equipment and hustled on out to a side patio to record the action. Turns out I could have taken my time as they kept at it for a good 20 minutes or so. They were obviously play fighting on the ice, but at times it really did look like they were out on a giant dance floor.
(Red) Panther Chameleon
Panther chameleons not only change colors within single individuals, but they also come in different colors depending upon which region of Madagascar they are from. This is a male from the Tamatave area on the east coast where they are predominantly red. I saw him just as the sun was disappearing.
Young Gorillas Play Fighting
It’s been a while since I posted a gorilla shot. Just came across this one of a young male taking a bite out of his friend’s head. Some day, one of these guys might end up the dominant male silver back of his own troop. This was in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest of Uganda.
Oryx Under Acacia Tree
It gets very hot in the Kalahari desert in the middle of the day. This is when every creature seems to be looking for a place to cool off. In this particular photo, an oryx finds relief in the shade of an acacia tree.
Oxpeckers Climbing to the Top of Mount Giraffe
Last week I posted a photo of an oxpecker pecking in a zebra’s ear. This week it’s two oxpeckers climbing up the mountainous back of a giraffe. There were actually quite a few more of these small birds on the giraffe, and at one point I saw a flock of about 30 of them on another giraffe. The giraffes don’t seem to mind much (after all, they are getting rid of all their ticks) but a couple of times I saw a giraffe clearly annoyed by the parasitic birds.
Tule Elk Cow
Tule elk are the smallest subspecies of elk in North America. They live only in a few small pockets of California. One of the most reliable places to see them is at Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco. It was getting near the end of the day when I came across a small herd of females, including this young lady who was obviously reacting to a particularly funny joke that I told her.
Grizzly in Snow
Here’s another one from the late spring trip to Yellowstone — this one not looking quite so springlike. I had never seen so many grizzly bears in the park. They seemed to be everywhere, digging through the snow looking for food. I watched this guy as he walked for about 15 minutes along the river and then proceeded to swim across and climb up the mountain on the other side.