Category

Wildlife

AlaskaBald Eagle

Bald Eagle on the Beach, Alaska

See the new bald eagle photos. This adult bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was observed foraging for bits of food in a shallow tidal stream on a broad sand beach. The bits of white in the air are snowflakes -- it was a wet snow and made the eagle look pretty…
April 6, 2009
AlaskaBald EagleIcons

Bald Eagle Landing, Alaska

See the new bald eagle photos. A large group of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was gathered on the snow-covered ground when periodically another eagle would arrive, in flight, and join the group by skimming just over their heads, slowing with wings outstretched, finding a suitable spot amid the crush, and…
April 5, 2009
AlaskaBald Eagle

Two Bald Eagles on a Perch, Alaska

See the new bald eagle photos. There were several perches that the bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) would use each morning. The broad wooden perches could typically accomodate several eagles each. In this image the eagle on the left, which has been on the perch for a while, throws its head…
April 4, 2009
AlaskaBald Eagle

Two Bald Eagles in Flight, Alaska

See the new bald eagle photos. Having over 200 bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nearby would seem to make it easy to gather a variety of photos. But I was tempted to shoot the same few compositions repeatedly and had to make an effort to look for different compositions and angles…
April 3, 2009
AlaskaBald EagleWildlife

Bald Eagle and Kenai Mountains, Alaska

See the new bald eagle photos. During two of the mornings that I was in Homer, I was fortunate to be inside Jean Keane's yard as the bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) gathered to eat herring. This was quite something, to be so close to so many eagles. Unnatural perhaps, as…
March 31, 2009
AlaskaBald EagleWildlife

Juvenile Bald Eagle, Alaska

See the new bald eagle photos. This is a juvenile bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). The speckled brown and white coloration is highly variable among juvenile bald eagles which can sometimes resemble golden eagles. It is typically not until the fourth year that juveniles mature and assume the characteristic brown body…
March 30, 2009
AlaskaBald EagleWildlifeWisdom

Photographing Bald Eagles in Homer, Alaska

Photographing Bald Eagles in Homer AK -- What Worked and What Didn't Bald eagle in flight, banking over beach with Kachemak Bay in background. Image ID: 22613 Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensis Location: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska, USA If you have seen much of this web site,…
March 29, 2009
AlaskaBald EagleWildlife

Flip Flops

Bald eagle in flight, sidelit, cloudy sky and Kenai Mountains in the background.Image ID: 22596Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensisLocation: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska, USA OK, I've been running since I was thirteen. That's 32 years of running. I'm not a skinny guy, which means I've been pounding…
March 13, 2009
AlaskaBald EagleWildlife

Secondary Inspection

Bald eagle, closeup of head and shoulders showing distinctive white head feathers, yellow beak and brown body and wings.Image ID: 22582Species: Bald eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus washingtoniensisLocation: Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska, USA Going to try my hand at photographing some bald eagles in the cold. Up at 4am, shower,…
March 12, 2009
FloridaManateeWildlife

Propeller Wound on Florida Manatee

Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus) are often struck and injured by boats, in spite of laws intended to slow the passage of boats in areas inhabited by the slow-moving mammals. Manatees tend to rest below the surface, holding their breath, and surface without warning when they need to breathe. A boater…
March 9, 2009
HawaiiHumpback WhaleWildlife

Boat Strikes Humpback Whale

Some years ago, when I was assisting Dr. Dan Salden and Hawaii Whale Research Foundation during whale seaon in Hawaii, we came across a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) not far from Lahaina that showed considerable scarring, almost certainly from a boat strike. The most likely explanation for the series of…
March 8, 2009
Galapagos DiariesMarine Life

Marine Iguana, Galapagos

Skip found a marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) foraging on algae while we were freediving along the edge of Bartolome Island, and I got a shot of it, the only one I've ever seen in the Galapagos Islands underwater: Marine iguana, underwater, forages for green algae that grows on the lava…
March 5, 2009
Galapagos DiariesMarine Life

Bigeye Jacks, Galapagos

On our 2006 trip to the Galapagos Islands, we had some very good diving at Darwin Island: hammerheads, silky sharks and spotted eagle rays galore on the shoulder of the reef, with more than a few Galapagos fur seals, turtles and various schools of fish closer to shore. At the…
March 4, 2009
Galapagos DiariesMarine Life

Schooling Fish, Galapagos

On our 1998 trip, Tracy and I bumped into these schooling snappers while diving at Albany, one of the better dive sites in the central Galapagos Islands. Schooling fish, Albany.Image ID: 02032Location: James Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador See more schooling fish photos and Galapagos Islands photos.
March 2, 2009
Blue Whale

Blue Whale Photo in National Geographic Magazine

I am very fortunate to have one of my blue whale photos (Balaenoptera musculus) appear in the March 2009 issue of National Geographic Magazine. It is an image of a whale's dorsal ridge and fluke, taken underwater, in the "Inside Geographic" section near the end of the magazine which describes…
February 18, 2009
Pelicans of La JollaSeabird

Open Wide

When I first viewed the shots from the day this was taken, I nearly tossed this one. "Sick and ugly" I thought. However, Skip said he thought it was the best shot of that day. I still think it is rather hard on the eyes, but I'll hold on to…
February 4, 2009
BirdsBosque del ApacheNew Mexico

Golden Crane, Bosque del Apache

Here is another sandhill crane (Grus canadensis), backlit by a reflected gold sunset, wading through one of the crane pools at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. A sandhill crane, standing in still waters with rich gold sunset light reflected around it. Image ID: 21805 Species: Sandhill crane, Grus canadensis…
December 21, 2008
CaliforniaPelicans of La JollaSeabird

La Jolla Pelicans

I went down to La Jolla last week to check out the brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus). There is a fence blocking access to the cliffs now, which is unfortunate and a real shame. When I was going to UCSD (many years ago) we would leap into the ocean from…
December 20, 2008
BirdsBosque del ApacheNew Mexico

Blastoff, Bosque del Apache

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge is famous for its early morning "blast off", a stunning event in which thousands of snow geese (Chen caerulescens) take to the skies. It does not happen every morning, nor does it happen at the same time on those mornings on which it takes…
December 18, 2008
BirdsBosque del ApacheNew Mexico

Sandhill Cranes, Bosque del Apache

Each evening while we were at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge we positioned ourselves at one of the two northern "crane pools", the ones located on the west side of the road as one approaches the main entrance to the refuge. For 30-40 minutes before and after sunset, sandhill…
December 15, 2008
CaliforniaMontereyWildlife

Sea Otter Photos

Check out our selection of sea otter stock photos. The sea otter (Enhydra lutris) is found along the coasts of the northeastern Pacific ocean. Sea otters are marine mammals. Adult sea otters weigh about 30 to 100 lb. Sea otters are the largest species in the weasel family, but are…
November 20, 2008
CaliforniaMontereyWildlife

Not Impressed

We came to Monterey packing some serious photo schwag to photograph the otters. Between Jon and I, we had two 50Ds and at least one each of 5D, 1DIIN, 1DsII, 300/2.8, 400/DO and 500/4 lenses, plus a nice medium format film rig. This sea otter (Enhydra lutris) was nevertheless quite…
November 5, 2008
CaliforniaMontereyWildlife

Otter Paparazzi

Here is one of the cuter sea otters (Enhydra lutris) I managed to photograph in Monterey recently. After shooting one afternoon's worth of otters, both Jon and I decided that it was not worth spending time taking pictures of the dark-faced otters -- their deep brown fur made it tough…
November 2, 2008
CaliforniaMontereyWildlife

Rough Sex Redux

I was recently up in Monterey to join Jon Cornforth trying to photograph sea otters (Enhydra lutris). We saw a few. In this photo, Casanova (the male sea otter on the left) is holding his lady friend (the female, inverted on the right, apparently not enjoying it) by HER NOSE…
October 30, 2008