Short-eared owls are fun to watch hunt. They fly close to the ground before making a quick dive at their prey. This guy was scanning the marshland along Boundary Bay in Western Canada for any tasty rodents.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1250, f/5 at 1/1000th of a second

The cheetah may be the fastest land mammal on earth, but when it comes to long range speed, it can’t touch the pronghorn (up to 55 miles per hour for five miles). The pronghorn ranges across a large area of western North America, along the front range of the Rockies. This one, photographed in Badlands National Park in South Dakota, wasn’t exactly showing off its stellar speed, but it cooperated by posing in front of the colorful early morning sky.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of a second, graduated neutral density filter

This holiday time of year always deserves a chipmunk-in-a-spruce-tree post or two. I took this one back in 2009 in Olympic National Park in Washington. These two chippers were keeping a watchful eye on a nearby black tailed deer.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/640th of a second

It could have been our national bird, but instead became our national feast. That’s right, Benjamin Franklin petitioned for the turkey to be the national bird instead of the bald eagle. I photographed this one a couple of weekends ago when I was in Zion National Park in Utah and thought it would be appropriate today as the last post before the long holiday weekend. This guy was doing his strut, feathers out, trying to impress the five or so females that were in the area. Enjoy, and have a great weekend. I’ll be back on Monday with the next post.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/125th of a second

Muskrats don’t get a lot of respect. For one, they are called rats, despite the fact that they aren’t really true rats at all. They also kind of look like little beavers but they don’t get to swim around with the cool tail. And in the early years of the 20th century they were widely trapped for their fur, but then passed off and sold as seal fur. I photographed this one a few years back at Cape May Point State Park in New Jersey.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/200th of a second

Black bears can be pretty agile climbers. This young guy was doing a bit of a tightrope act on a thin branch before looking up and growling at the sky. This is another one from my trip to Minnesota back in May.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 90mm) ISO 800, f/2.8 at 1/400th of a second

And yet another one from last weekend in Zion National Park. This time a mule deer buck. Deer were all over the place, especially first thing in the morning and early in the evening. This guy was grazing on the front lawn of the Zion lodge, steps away from my room.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/100th of a second

Zion National Park is definitely a landscape location. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked with the grey fox I posted yesterday and didn’t really get much time to seek out any of the park’s spectacular vistas. I grabbed this shot first thing in the morning on the way to a meeting.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 400, f/20 at 1/100th, 1/400th, 1/200th, 1/50th and 1/25th of a second

I was in Zion National Park in Utah over the weekend on business, but still managed to squeeze in a little time to get out and see what I could find. I arrived at the lodge after dark on Thursday and saw three grey foxes running around the parking area. I was determined to get out and find them again during daylight hours. Meetings finished early on Saturday and I was able to get out for about half an hour or so before heading to a client dinner. Sure enough, that was all I needed to find this dashing specimen. I managed quite a few shots as it meandered through the woods, dodging in and out of the grazing mule deer. I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph many red fox over the years, but the grey fox has eluded me for the most part. Both foxes have a mix of red and grey fur, but those colors are distributed in a different pattern and the grey fox lacks the characteristic white tail tip of the red fox.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 3200, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

Although not nearly as spectacular as their male counterparts, female wood ducks are still pretty good looking birds. On last January’s trip to the Vancouver area, I was able to photograph both sexes. Above, a portrait of a female wood duck, and below an action shot of one taking off from a pond.
(top photo) Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 270mm) ISO 1600, f/5 at 1/800th of a second
(bottom photo) Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 210mm) ISO 1600, f/5 at 1/800th of a second