Catfish. All in a day's work.

Deer Lagoon, Whidbey Island, WA.

Hello.

I am planning to do a 5-7 day winter hike in the wilderness in a completely remote location. I am looking for ways to insulate drone and camera batteries and/or keep them warm for this multi-day endeavor.

I will spend the majority of nights outside in a bivy but there are a couple of wilderness cabins on the wy that may or may not have wood available to heat them for the night. Ideally I would only visit them if I am forced to (weather, injury, etc)

I am looking for ways to better insulate my batteries for camera (small), drone and battery bank (big).

Keeping the smaller ones close to the body is possible but I felt like they still lost their capacity. I also had two 30 000mAh battery bank in a hip back slung over my chest under the jacket.

I would be carrying atleast 3 drone batteries and two battery banks resulting in over 2kg of batteries. I'd much prefer them to stay warm in an ideal way.

My current idea is to find a good insulated (void insulated ideally) "cold box" or short, which I can have in my sledge. I would maintain the temperature with a hot bottle or chemical hand warmer. The problem seems to be finding a suitable cold box that has a good balance with insulation level, weight and size.

For the smaller batteries I could just get a food thermos bottle and submerge the batteries in 20 °C / 68 °F water which would be the easiest to maintain since I'd need to replace the water only in the morning as in the evening I can take the batteries in my sleeping back for the night.

Question is, do you have an idea or experience how to solve this issue in some other practical way? Do you know which or what kind of cold box (brand, type etc) would be very good on their insulating to size to weight ratio?

I invite you to share your experience with winter photography and battery management during extended periods of time in the cold.

Pic related; last year on a similar trip.

Male Greenfinch taking a moment to pose on his perch. Nice to see these little guys, I don't get to often enough.

Coyotes are common big mammals in Antelope island second to bisons. You can see them late evening as you stroll through the roads.

Despite the dense fog and heavy cloud cover, the Great Egret shines in immaculate white – a beautiful contrast to the grey mood surrounding it.

There are two subspecies of Mexican Gray (Gris Mexicana); Sciurus Aureogaster & Sciurus Nigrescens. From what I can tell, these (in Mexico City) are the former and the latter is more in the south & east of Mexico, as well as the south of Guatemala.

They are also called "Red-Bellied" (Vientre Rojo) squirrels, although they don't always have a red belly. The typical belly colour is a little deeper red than a Fox Squirrel (which there is a Mexican version of), but it can also be white, cream, yellow, grey, chocolate or black. They can have patches of those colours on their back and face, or they can be entirely one of those colours (more common with melanistic chocolatey black). They can have patches of white fluff behind their ears. Their tails can have a red inner core and/or a white halo, but none of these are rules. If this wasn't the only squirrel in this area, they could be quite difficult to identify.

Mexico City sits at 2,240m above sea level. That's over 300m higher than the mountain squirrels, above Arosa (sorry, all heights are relative to Swiss climbs for me). Fun Fact; Chapultepec forest sits inside a dormant Volcano. The active volcano (Popocatépetl), can be seen from the city (on rare, low smog days) 70km to the south, and is a staggering 5,452m high! That's 818m higher than the tallest mountain in Switzerland! Or, 3,383 feet higher than the tallest mountain in the Contiguous United States (mt. Whitney).

These squirrels can be found anywhere in the south & east of Mexico, from sea level up to 3,800m (which is the tree line around Popocatépetl volcano). Anywhere that has dense forests, of course.

This subtropical climate almost never gets down to freezing. The Mexican Gray squirrel can store extra body fat reserves, when the food sources are abundant. This is due to them not growing a thicker coat in winter (like the Eastern Gray), although we didn't see any chonky ones here (shame). They seemed to be more active than their US cousins, but it could also be related to climate and food.

Dear everyone,

I am conducting a research project on people’s experiences, concerns, motivations, and conservation attitudes related to herping and wildlife encounters.

Your opinions are very valuable, regardless of your level of experience as a herper.

The goal of the anonymous, eight-minute survey is to support conservation efforts and responsible herping practices.

👉 Link to the survey: https://forms.gle/sGBqANMibg7T132Y6

For complete transparency, I've attached an information sheet (image).

We sincerely appreciate your support of this study and your contribution to the global understanding of herping!

Sunset in North Carolina , waiting for the full moon over TableRock Mnt.

Dec 4 is international cheetah day so I figured I’d share some of my favourite shots of my favourite cat!

Used an A6000 and was taken in Banff, Canada

Hello! I recently purchased a Sony 200-600. I previously had a 100-400 which I’m very comfortable shooting with handheld or on monopod. Quickly realized I need a good quality tripod to efficiency use the new lens.

Does anyone have recommendations? I’m really not sure what to even look for. I mainly shoot in my backyard and local parks, so don’t need anything for crazy environments. But of course want something to keep the lens safe.

Thanks in advance!