Shot of the Month – May 2026

In the US, we celebrate and honor Mothers on the second Sunday of May.  Across the world, over 80 countries have some form of celebration to pay homage to motherhood and all that moms do for us.  Some countries have a unique day that they choose for one reason or another, while many countries celebrate on International Women’s Day (March 8th).

Of course, in the natural world moms are equally spectacular.  Among mammals, females have sole responsibility for raising the young in 95% of species!  Birdworld is a bit more progressive, with child care shared equally between both parents in about 90% of species.  In Fishland, so to speak, offspring are largely left to their own devices, with only about 20-25% of species having some form of parental care.  However, among that group, males assume sole responsibility for the young in a surprising 50-84% of the time.  As for insects, well, sorry kiddos, you are on your own – once the eggs are laid, they are abandoned.

So this month let’s celebrate a few of those great moms that I have captured over the years.

In the image above, we see the classic “mama bear” doing her thing.  Mama bears are so famous for their fierce protective nature that we have adopted the term into our culture.  In this scene, a mother brown bear is trying to catch salmon to feed her young (the two small fur balls to her right).  Another bear wandered too close.  Look at the death stare she is giving this foolish creature.  Her eyes and posture clearly say, “Come one inch closer to my cubs, and I am going to rip you up.”  The other bear got the message and turned around and walked in the other direction.  Wise move.

Female Pumas raise cubs on their own – catching prey and keeping their cubs safe is a full-time job.  Here is a rare restful moment:

Female lions have the benefit of the pride.  Child care and protection are shared across the sisterhood.  Lionesses in a pride often synchronize their reproductive cycles and pool their cubs into a communal nursery called a “crèche.” They will nurse, protect, and babysit each other’s cubs, greatly reducing the burden on any one lioness.

Here we see a mom lion walking with her two cubs just as the sun rises over the horizon behind them:

In Foxworld, the parents share kit-raising duty, and often older female siblings from a previous litter stick around to help with kit care.  They can groom, babysit, and bring food to the den.  Here we see a playful moment between a vixen and one of her kits:

In the world of Loons, the parents stay together for life and share chick-raising duties.  While the chicks are young, they will often ride on mom’s back to stay warm and safe from predators while dad is off catching fish.

Likewise, with Canada Geese, the parents share chick care.  Both parents are keeping a watchful eye on their tiny fluff ball:

Over a three-week period, I watched this heroic female Anna’s Hummingbird work tirelessly to feed her tiny offspring.  She built this masterpiece of a nest on her own and flew endless sorties every day for hours on end to bring food to her chicks.

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms for all they do to make this world a better place!

 

Until next month….michael

 

 

Nikon Z9, Nikon 80-400 mm (@400mm), f/5.6, 1/1000 sec, ISO 4000, EV -0.333