Dr. B's Nature & Wildlife Photos
Copyright Notice: All of the images on this website are
copyrighted and may not be copied or used without written permission.
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Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda and Photo Safari in Tanzania
Dr. Steve and his wife traveled to Africa to view Mountain Gorillas up close and personal and to do a traditional African Safari in Serengeti National Park
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This 400-pound silverback came right at me and sat down just 5 feet from me. I was photographing a baby and I think he wanted to make sure I behaved myself. |
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This 400-pound silverback was sitting 5 feet away from me. I took this image with a wide-angle lens. |
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Wildlife in Lake County, Illinois
These are images of wildlife taken by Dr. Steve in Lake County, Illinois, over the years. Many were taken in his back yard.
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Some Screech Owls are red phase
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Some Screech Owls are gray phase
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Flying Squirrel squatting in a wren house
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Possums look mean but are slow and gentle. They often live under decks.
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Bald Eagles nest along the Fox River
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Juvenile Cooper's Hawks using a swimming pool as a bird bath
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This Red-tailed hawk tried to catch a squirrel at the bird feeder. The squirrel ran up the baffle the hawk only got hold of the squirrel's tail and the supporting pole.
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The hawk couldn't pull the squirrel out and ended up letting go and flying away.
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Indigo Bunting
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Northern Oriole
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Sandhill Crane
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Painted Turtles
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Praying Mantis
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Luna Moths mating
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The Wildlife of the Pantanal, Brazil
The Pantanal is a huge ecosystem of wetlands in south central Brazil, south of the Amazon rain forest, close to the border with Paraguay, and 800 miles south of the equator. The land is flat with grasslands, trees, and wetlands, reminiscent of central Florida, and there is extensive flooding during the rainy season that makes travel nearly impossible. Dr. Steve joined a group of 24 veterinarians to visit the Pantanal and study its wildlife in September, 2014, during the dry season.
Dr. Steve photographed this wild Jaguar on the shore of the Cuiaba River from a boat only 40 feet away.
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Dr. B visits the Galapagos Islands
In June, 2010, Dr. B and his wife joined a group of veterinarians to visit the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador rain forest (see below for that report). They spent seven nights on a ship, visited ten of the Galapagos Islands, and crossed the equator eight times. Even though they were on the equator, the weather was pleasant and mild. The wildlife was abundant and tame, allowing close approach. They saw everything you see on National Geographic shows about the Galapagos: giant tortoises, marine iguanas, land iguanas, waved albatrosses, blue-footed boobies, flamingoes, Galapagos penguins, flightless cormorants, many of Darwin's finches, sea lions, Galapagos fur seals, Bryde's whales, lava lizards and even three kinds of Galapagos racer snakes.
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Iconic Pinnacle Rock
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Going ashore in the zodiac
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A beautiful sunset on the Pacific
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An unafraid Sea Lion
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Sea Lion playing with a stick
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Yellow Warbler
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Galapagos Penguin
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Flightless Cormorant
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American Oystercatcher
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Flamingo
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Galapagos Hawk, the main predator
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Blue-footed Booby
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Elliot's Storm Petrel
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Waved Albatross and chick
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Waved Albatross
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One of Darwin's Finches
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Magnificent Frigatebird
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Blue-footed Booby courtship dance
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Nazca Booby (the "other" booby)
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Swallow-tailed Gull, found nowhere else
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White-cheeked Pintail
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Land Iguana
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Marine Iguana
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Marine Iguana and Sally Lightfoot Crabs
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Baby Marine Iguana
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Marine Iguana City
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Lava Lizard basking on Marine Iguana
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Charles Darwin Research Station
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"Lonesome George," the last surviving Pinta Island Tortoise
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A saddleback tortoise from Espanola Island at the research station
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Wild Santa Cruz tortoise
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Wild Santa Cruz tortoise
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Colorful Marine Iguana
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Sea Lion
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Bryde's Whale
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Sea lion on the beach, our ship in the background
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Snorkeling with a Green Seaturtle
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Snorkeling with a penguin
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Snorkeling with a Sea Lion
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Dr. B visits the Amazon Rain Forest
In June, 2010, Dr. B and his wife joined a group of veterinarians traveling with the North American Veterinary Conference to Ecuador. As a pre-conference side trip, they spent three nights in the rain forest of eastern Ecuador. It was amazingly humid; everything was constantly damp, including clothes and all papers. It was surprisingly bug free, and mosquitoes only found us when we were hiking trails after dark and stopped to take photographs. Mosquitoes are a far bigger problem in Illinois. The wildlife and scenery were spectacular, especially the birds, monkeys, and amphibians.
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Sacha Lodge
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Hoatzin, a primitive, turkey-like bird
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Sunset over the lake
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The canopy walk for viewing birds
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Chestnut-mandibled Toucan
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Red-bellied Macaws
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Owl-eye Butterfly
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Owl-eye Butterfly
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Owl-eye Butterfly, close up
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Leaf-cutter Ants
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The Kapok Tree tower
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Pygmy Marmoset
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Squirrel Monkey eating a moth
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Red Howler Monkey
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Black-mantled Tamarin
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Hyla punctata
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Ameerega bilinguis
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Hipsiboas geographicus
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Bolitoglossa equatoriana
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Rhinella margaritifer
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Tailless Whip Scorpion
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Ringed Blue Caecilian (a type of amphibian)
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Ringed Blue Caecilian; note the tiny eye and the mouth
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Giant true bug
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Dr. B. visits and studies the polar bears
In October 2009 Dr. B joined 22 other veterinarians on an expedition to Churchill, Manitoba, on the west coast of Hudson Bay to observe and study the resident Polar Bears. He saw over 50 Polar Bears, as well as a lot of other wildlife. There were white Arctic Hares, Arctic Foxes, and Willow Ptarmigan, all of which blended in with the snow. Around the town Red Foxes took the place of Raccoons as the local scavengers. On a helicopter ride he saw Moose and got a glimpse of a pack of Wolves. To view the bears, the group rode in Tundra Buggies, like a school bus on top of a fire engine chassis, making the windows 10 feet high and hard for a bear to reach (see the photos). Even though it was only October, it was COLD!
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Dr. Barten visits Antarctica
In February 2008 Dr. Barten joined 30 other veterinarians to tour Antarctica and view and study its wildlife. The trip was aboard a 400-foot ship that crossed the Drake Passage between the southern tip of Argentina and the Antarctic Peninsula. It was an amazing experience, with incredible scenery, weather, and wildlife. He saw thousands of penguins, several species of seals, big pods of Humpback Whales, and countless Albatross and other seabirds.
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