Robert M. Palmer of Milliken, Colorado: A young swift fox makes a dash for its den, a kangaroo rat clenched tightly in its teeth. Earlier this year, Palmer stumbled upon the kit's mother and followed her back to her den in eastern Colorado--a rare find, since swift foxes have vanished from 90 percent of their historic range in the United States. Over the next month or so, Palmer, a product manager, returned often to the site, taking hundreds of photos of the young fox family. "Once they got used to having me there, they acted like I was part of the family," he says. Palmer made this digital photo with a 500mm lens and a 1.4x teleconverter.

Jerry Horowitz of Marlboro, New Jersey: Horowitz photographed this brown bear on Alaska's Kodiak Island.

Nick J. Dunlop of Sebastopol, California: Dunlop photographed this belted kingfisher near his home. The real estate appraiser

Craig Hilton of Lakewood, Colorado: On a trip to Utah's Bear River, Hilton was surprised to see a pair of hungry American white pelicans herding several carp-bigger than the birds' bills-into the shallows. Hilton captured the moment with a digital camera and a 200-400mm zoom lens. "What I love about the picture is the expression on the pelicans' faces. You know they're having a good time," he says.