Natural Wonders: Best Photo of National geographic 2011 Part-2

Best Photo of National geographic 2011 Part-2

Banff National Park, Alberta Canada

A Rufous humming bird takes a much need break on a pine tree, boasting his beautifully bright chest.

South Africa

I've always been intrigued by the markings of giraffes--how they vary between individuals and how they look like pieces of a puzzle, cracked mud or even tectonic plates in my scientific mind. I've tried many times to capture them but it was never right. Here, this oxpecker in a tight crop, lost on the abstract surface and framed by the legs of the larger animal finally seems to work

Kona Village Resort, Kailua - Kona, Hawaii

Madagascar Gold Dust Day Gecko licking nectar from a young noni fruit in Kailua, Hawaii. These geckos were living all around the hale' we were staying in, enjoying the noni and basking on the railing and sunny steps to our place. They were very shy mostly, except this one must have enjoyed the nectar so much as to let me get a shot of their favorite activity. They seemed to tend the noni very attentively throughout the day. August 2010, Chandra S Sherin

Kenai Fjords National Park, Exit Glacier

Climbing the Harding Ice-field trail in the rain, has its rewards. I stopped to admire glacier, only to find an adult black bear eating in front of a glowing blue glacier

Whale Bay, Prince William Sound, Alaska

An orca cruises the shore of Whale Bay in Prince William Sound, Alaska in search of herring on a snowy November afternoon.

New Smyrna Beach, Florida - Bethune Beach

The following photo was inspired by light. utilizing my Canon 40d I was able to leave my shutter open for more than enough seconds to capture this unique and one of a kind image over the Atlantic ocean. The actual location was at Bluefish Beach Access in New Smyrna Beach across from the home that I grew up in and the beach that gave me all that I have. I had been getting super involved with open exposures and knew that my timing would be everything for this image to come out the way I had imaged it. This was a beautiful night with light winds and mostly clear skies. Enjoy the results.

Ben Boyd National Park, NSW, Australia.

A ‘joey’ (baby) Eastern Grey Kangaroo pokes a head out from its mother’s pouch. The baby kangaroo will continue to peek until if feels safe enough to emerge for short periods. After 7 to 10 months it will leave the pouch for the last time.

Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska

Inspecting the entrance of an ice cave that travels 100's of feet underneath the powerful Mendenhall glacier.

Sukamade beach, Meru Betiri national park, East Java Indonesia

some turtles just hatched and trying to reach sea, to begin a new life

Pense, Saskatchewan

A sky full of light, texture and a beautiful lightning show by an elevator in Pense, Saskatchewan.

Banff National Park, Canada

This photograph was taken at Lake louise in Banff National Park, Cnada in late August, 2010 using a Canon Powershot A520 camera.

Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

During a very early morning boat ride along the Napo River, a section of the Amazon in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador, I watched this group of smooth billed anis huddle together for warmth in the early morning breeze. Once the sun rises the birds separate, but in the early morning hours it is fun to witness this beautiful display of community.

Berguedà, Catalonia, Spain.

It was raining heavily when I took the photo, but the sun illuminated the landscape parcially.

Thornton, Colorado

A pair of American avocets walk together into a pond after mating.

North Russia

Beluga whales in the arctic having fun.

Iceland

A "geometric" waterfall..

Estonia, Harju County

A wintertime can be very difficult for Roe Deer`s, especially when there is a lot of snow as it has been here in Estonia for two past winters. Unfortunately Roe Deer`s population in Estonia has decresed significantly due to those harsh winters. This young Roe Buck still looks healthy and it was heartbreaking to see how he enjoyed those dried plant stems which ranged from a thick layer of snow. For a moment Roe Buck looked very cool with a stem in its mouth. I observed this animal about two hours lying in the snow, so as not to attract his attention to me, which would scare him away.

Antarctica: Atka Bay, Weddell Sea

The emperor penguins fight for survival and to protect their only baby in the frozen Antarctic ice desert.

Toronto, Canada

In a world where no one understands the importance of nature, all that is left of our nature is just these flesh & bones.

Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

A Jabiru Stork juggles a fish that it has scooped up from the river in his bill

Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Yala National park of Sri Lanka is best known for leopards, but of course very difficult to get them in action. This is one of the well grown three cubs got excited and started jumping between branches. I got it against the light within fraction of a second.

Estonia, Harju County

Eurpoean Starling is known to us as a harbinger of spring. They arrive to Estonia very early in March, sometimes even before the spring starts. Mornings at that time can be sometimes quite cold, especially when sun is rising. I had a luck to capture Starling singing in a contralight conditions and once singing was so ardent that it left breath fumes in the air for a second or two, which I was able to capture in this picture.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa

I have been trying to follow a leopard with cubs for the last year, and spend a lot of nights with them. She has no tracking device, so when I find her I try to stay with her as long as possible. On this particular evening a brown hyena stole her kill ( a springbok ) and was sitting on a rock ledge with the moon rising behind her. I lit her eyes up with a torch to make it a bit more mysterious.

Park Ekkerswijer, Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, The Netherlands

The winter at the start of 2010 was one of the first strong ones in years again in The Netherlands. The lake in the local park in Eindhoven was almost completely frozen. It just had snowed. Perfect conditions to photograph these black Coots in contrast with the white snow. I’d observed the Coots for a couple of days already. I’d shot a whole series of photos. All of a sudden I saw the scene I was looking for. They formed a group and started to walk back to the hole in the ice to go back in the water. While they where walking the scene reminded me of the film “March of the Penguins”.

Galapagos Islands

Mumma wandered out of a cave with her little one in pursuit. She noticed us and stopped. Erected to her full height, and just as the little one bumped it's head into mum... 'click'

Hanging Lake Colorado

A beautiful day in september

Duba Plains, Okavango Delta,Botswana,Africa

A crocodile encountered a lion cub of the Cheema pride at a buffalo kill that the lions were eating on for 2 days and attacked the cub.The 3 lionesses of the pride came to the rescue of the cub and a fight between the lionesses and the crocodile then took place with the lionesses surprisingly over powering the crocodile and killing it !!

Portugal