10 of the best from 2009

Its reached that time of year again where I list the 10 best nature moments of the past year for me. A few of these haven't featured on the blog yet but will and a few haven't and won't as they weren't really photo opportunities but they were favourites:

1. Giant anteaters across the Savannah
2. River dolphins and sundowners on the Orinoco
   
3. Chilling with a beverage in the Signature Lounge of the John Hancock Tower in Chicago, looking out to enjoy the view and spotting a peregrine at eye level which suddenly went into a full stoop dive allowing us a unique perspective on the fastest bird in the world.
4. Great views of the biggest lizard in the Americas from the lap of luxury on Guana Island
5. Anaconda!
6. Self-found Burmese Python (and its great supporting cast)!
   
7. My last dive in the Caribbean; sharks, sting rays, turtles and then, in the last 30 seconds of the dive, the biggest eagle ray I have ever seen.
8. Watching the distinctive twin dorsal fins of a big female lemon shark break the surface downwater from our chum trail in the Florida keys.
9. My first tapir sighting, Venezuela.
   
10. Riding an interisland ferry and seeing the huge head of a leatherback turtle slide underwater off the starboard bow, Virgin Islands.

It was definately a reptile year for me this year. Almost all the big moments were in some way related to reptiles or in reptile habitat. I doubt the same will be the case next year but we will have to see what the year has in store. I'm not going to meme the list this year but feel free to add links to your top tens in the comments if so minded.