The North Country
Adirondack moose, loons at dawn, and snowshoe hares in the high peaks. New York's wild side goes far beyond the city.
Coming Trimester 4
New York's special category is on deck — moose, loons, and the deep-woods legends of the Adirondacks.
Moose
Common Loon
Every species counts toward the leaderboard. Watch-only species are protected — long lens, full distance, zero disturbance.
Classic captureOdocoileus virginianus
The east coast's most iconic big game animal. Most active at dawn and dusk, browsing on leaves, acorns, grasses, and crops. Watch field edges and travel corridors between bedding cover and food.
Where: Pinewoods, oak hammocks, farm edges, hardwood bottoms, and swamp margins across all four states.
Fun fact of the day: A whitetail can leap 8 feet high and clear 30 feet in a single bound — keep that shutter speed up.
Classic captureMeleagris gallopavo
Roosts in trees at night and feeds in openings on insects, acorns, and seeds. Famously sharp eyesight — camouflage and patience are your best lenses.
Where: Pine and hardwood mixes, creek bottoms, farms, and open woods. Osceola subspecies in central/south Florida; Eastern subspecies northward.
Fun fact of the day: Turkeys can see nearly 270 degrees around themselves and detect movement three times better than humans.
Classic captureSciurus carolinensis
The everyday acrobat of the eastern woods, feeding on acorns, nuts, and seeds, busiest in the mornings. A perfect species to practice your capture skills.
Where: Hardwood hammocks, oak woods, river bottoms, and city edges in every state.
Fun fact of the day: Gray squirrels bury thousands of acorns each fall and forget many — accidentally planting entire forests.
Classic captureSylvilagus floridanus
Hides tight in cover and feeds in the evening and early morning on grasses and weeds. When flushed it runs in short zig-zags — anticipate the pause for your shot.
Where: Brush piles, field edges, palmetto, old farms, briars, and grassy cover.
Fun fact of the day: A cottontail can hit 18 mph and almost always circles back to where it started.
Classic captureZenaida macroura
Fast flyers that feed on seeds, often near grain fields. Their whistling wings and mournful cooing are the soundtrack of southern mornings.
Where: Dove fields, farms, powerlines, and open ground in every state.
Fun fact of the day: Mourning doves can fly at 55 mph and drink without lifting their heads — rare among birds.
Classic captureAix sponsa
Arguably the most beautiful duck in North America. Nests in tree cavities and feeds in quiet shallow water. Early light on a drake's plumage is a leaderboard-worthy shot.
Where: Wooded swamps, cypress ponds, beaver ponds, and river backwaters.
Fun fact of the day: Day-old wood duck chicks leap up to 50 feet from their nest cavity to the ground — and bounce unharmed.
Classic captureGallinago delicata
A zig-zag flyer that probes mud for insects and worms. Yes — the snipe hunt is real, and the camera version is the only one that always ends with a trophy.
Where: Wet fields, marsh edges, and muddy flats.
Fun fact of the day: The winnowing sound a snipe makes while diving comes from air rushing over its tail feathers, not its voice.
Classic captureScolopax minor
A ground bird with a long bill that probes soft soil for worms, famous for its springtime sky-dance display at dusk.
Where: Moist woods, thickets, alder runs, young forest, and creek bottoms.
Fun fact of the day: Woodcocks bob and rock as they walk — a dance move the internet has set to every song imaginable.
Classic captureCorvus brachyrhynchos
Smart, social, and endlessly entertaining. Crows feed on insects, carrion, and crops, and their group behavior makes for storytelling photos.
Where: Farms, pinewoods, suburbs, fields, and river corridors everywhere.
Fun fact of the day: Crows recognize individual human faces and hold grudges for years — smile for their camera too.
Classic captureProcyon lotor
The masked bandit of the east. Nocturnal, eating fruit, crayfish, eggs, and insects. Dusk near a creek is your best window for a wild capture.
Where: Creeks, swamps, farms, forests, and neighborhoods.
Fun fact of the day: Raccoons 'wash' their food not for cleanliness but because water heightens the sensitivity of their paws.
Classic captureCanis latrans
The ultimate adaptable predator, hunting rodents and rabbits and scavenging everything else. A clean coyote portrait takes serious fieldcraft.
Where: Farms, woods, suburbs, river valleys, and open country in every state.
Fun fact of the day: Coyotes and badgers sometimes hunt as a team — the badger digs, the coyote chases.
Trophy captureLynx rufus
Solitary and stealthy, hunting rabbits, rodents, and birds mostly at night, dawn, and dusk. Most people never see one — a wild bobcat photo is elite.
Where: Swamps, pine flatwoods, hammocks, rocky forests, and brush country.
Fun fact of the day: A bobcat can leap 10 feet to ambush prey, and its stubby 'bobbed' tail gives it its name.
Classic captureLontra canadensis
A playful swimmer that eats fish, crayfish, and frogs. Look for slides on muddy banks — otters genuinely play, and the photos prove it.
Where: Rivers, creeks, lakes, and marshes.
Fun fact of the day: Otters hold hands (paws) while sleeping in water so the family doesn't drift apart.
Trophy capture — keep distanceUrsus americanus
Solitary and food-driven, with a sense of smell seven times sharper than a bloodhound's. Use a long lens and never approach or feed a bear.
Where: Large forests and swamps: Ocala NF, Big Cypress, north Georgia mountains, PA big woods, Adirondacks and Catskills.
Fun fact of the day: Black bears can run 35 mph — faster than an Olympic sprinter — and climb trees like it's nothing.
Classic captureBonasa umbellus
Pennsylvania's state bird. Explodes from cover in a heart-stopping flush and drums on logs in spring — a thundering wingbeat you feel more than hear.
Where: Young forest, mountain laurel, and aspen stands in north Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New York.
Fun fact of the day: A drumming grouse beats its wings up to 50 times in 10 seconds, creating a sound like a starting engine.
Classic capturePhasianus colchicus
The males are outrageously photogenic — iridescent copper, emerald head, scarlet face. Often found in managed fields; listen for the harsh crowing call.
Where: Grasslands, farm fields, and managed game lands in Pennsylvania and New York.
Fun fact of the day: Pheasants would rather sprint than fly — they can run 10 mph through cover before flushing.
Classic captureLepus americanus
Changes coat from brown to pure white for winter. Finding one mid-molt — half brown, half white — is a rare seasonal capture.
Where: Young conifer forests and mountain thickets in northern Pennsylvania and the Adirondacks.
Fun fact of the day: Their huge hind feet act like snowshoes, letting them sprint across powder that swallows predators.
Classic captureMarmota monax
The famous burrowing weather-forecaster of Punxsutawney. Stands sentinel at its burrow entrance — approach low and slow for the classic upright pose.
Where: Pastures, field edges, and roadside burrows.
Fun fact of the day: A woodchuck moves about 700 pounds of dirt digging a single burrow system.
Trophy captureVulpes vulpes
Photogenic, quick, and alert — hunting mice, rabbits, birds, and insects. A fox mousing in snow, mid-pounce, is one of wildlife photography's holy grails.
Where: Farms, field edges, suburbs, and brushy areas.
Fun fact of the day: Red foxes may use Earth's magnetic field to aim their signature high-arc pounce on hidden prey.
Trophy capturePekania pennanti
A large, dark forest weasel that flows over logs like liquid shadow. One of the few predators that regularly hunts porcupines.
Where: Dense northern forests of Pennsylvania and New York.
Fun fact of the day: Despite the name, fishers almost never eat fish — early fur traders named them after a European polecat.
Classic captureCastor canadensis
Nature's engineer. Dusk at a beaver pond almost guarantees action — tail slaps, lodge repairs, and V-shaped wakes in golden water.
Where: Ponds, slow creeks, and wooded wetlands.
Fun fact of the day: Beaver dams can be seen from space — the largest known stretches over half a mile.
Classic captureBranta canadensis
Big, bold, and everywhere — but a low-light flight shot of a flock in V-formation still stops the scroll. Spring goslings are bonus material.
Where: Lakes, reservoirs, farms, golf-course ponds, and river valleys.
Fun fact of the day: Geese fly in a V because each bird rides the updraft of the one ahead, saving up to 30% energy.
Watch only — give spaceAlces alces
New York's largest wild animal, returning slowly to the Adirondacks. Extremely dangerous up close — photograph only from a long, respectful distance.
Where: Adirondack wetlands and northern New York forests.
Fun fact of the day: A bull moose's antlers can span 6 feet and regrow completely every single year.
Protected — watch onlyHaliaeetus leucocephalus
Federally protected. Never approach a nest — use a long lens from public viewpoints. A fish-grab sequence is the ultimate east coast capture.
Where: Rivers, lakes, and reservoirs — a comeback story across all four states.
Fun fact of the day: An eagle's grip is about ten times stronger than a human handshake.
Watch only — nesting sensitiveGavia immer
The haunting voice of the north woods. Never approach a nesting loon by boat — drift quietly and let curious loons come to you.
Where: Adirondack lakes and quiet northern waters.
Fun fact of the day: Loon bones are solid, not hollow — perfect for diving 200 feet but requiring a quarter-mile runway to take off.