Jun 30, 2014

Tough Guy

Adult Male Burrowing Owl

Whoa!! What's that?


The Valley

Me in one of my favorite spots in the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park

Places to be...

Wolf in Yellowstone National Park

CWF 2015 Calendar Available Now!!!

Let's see how well you know my style....which two photos are mine?

Make a donation to CWF through the ‪#‎GreatCanadianCampout‬ website to get your 2015 Wildlife Calendar, while supplies last! http://buff.ly/1lcgLz9

Jun 28, 2014

Cow Moose


Pika!!

Pika in Yellowstone

Hello There!!

Marmot in Yellowstone National Park

Boisterous Badgers

Badger and her baby in Yellowstone

Poser

Coyote in Yellowstone National Park

Oh Deer!!!

She seemed quite shocked to see me standing there :-)

Jun 27, 2014

Yawn

Very tired Marmot :-D

Magic In Mammoth

Lower Terraces in Mammoth, Yellowstone National Park

Jun 26, 2014

Surveyor

Came across this fox and it's mate in Algonquin digging a den....really hoping they decided to stay!!

Dreamer

Burrowing Owl in Florida

Friends


Jun 25, 2014

Itchy Butt

While I was desperately trying to find Gary's family in Myakka State Park, I came across these deer and couldn't pass up the opportunity. 

On the move...

Wild Red Fox in Ontario, Canada

Family Time

Wild Red Fox & Kits in Ontario, Canada

Starry Night

T.A. Moulton's Barn in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Curious

Wild Red Fox - Ontario, Canada

Jun 24, 2014

The Boys

Wild Elk in Ontario, Canada

Owlet & GoPro

Burrowing Owl & His GoPro in Florida


Three's A Crowd

Burrowing Owlets in Florida

Tetons Bear


Badger and her babies in Yellowstone


Wolf in Yellowstone National Park


The Smith Mansion

We passed this on our drive to Cody and I had to find out more.  I wish I could have taken more photos but it's private property and there were no trespassing signs everywhere....and that's something I will not violate so I took this photo from the main road.  Once I found out more about the property - all the signs made sense.  This house already has a sad history and the owners do not need the possibility of future liability claims if someone is injured on their land.

Here's the information I was able to find:

The Smith Mansion is located in Wapiti Valley, Wyoming. It sits approximately 15 miles from the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park. Construction started in 1973. The creator/builder, Francis Lee Smith, was an Architect/Engineer. He spent nearly three decades building his mansion, his life's work. Smith fell to his death while working on the mansion in April of 1992.

No one knows what it is when they drive by. People are so curious about the house and its purpose. Everyone in the valley gets tired of the same old question. "What is it?"

The mansion is built primarily by hand tools, handmade pulley systems, and a lot of hard work. It stands high, over 75 feet tall. The mansion is built in the direct center of the valley. All the timbers used in its construction were hand picked from Rattlesnake Mountain, in Cody. Five to seven logs were hauled out at a time, using a small half-ton pick up.


GT

Ford GT at Orange Spring Mound in Yellowstone National Park

Jun 23, 2014

Reflections

Chapel Bay in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Blue

Wall Pool & Black Opal Pool in the Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Angel Terrace

Angel Terrace in Yellowstone National Park

Under Pressure

White Dome erupting in Yellowstone National Park

Puffin Fight Club

Atlantic Puffins in Newfoundland, Canada

Pretty Puffin

Atlantic Puffin in Newfoundland, Canada


Jun 21, 2014

I See You!

Burrowing Owl in Florida

You again?!

Adult Male Burrowing Owl in Florida

Owl

I'm trying to catch up on my editing....lots of trips, local shooting, too many photos to count and never enough time to process them all!! I'm not complaining though - it's been a great year so far and being busy is good :-)
 
 

Well that's just plain rude!!


Elk in the Madison Valley, Yellowstone National Park

Oh, Hello!

Wild Red Fox

Little Chief Hare

Pika in Yellowstone National Park

Jun 20, 2014

Built For Speed

Pronghorn Buck in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Hello Baby!!

What's better than photographing Marmots? Photographing BABY MARMOTS!!!

Who's watching who?

Yellow-Bellied Marmot - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Hell's Half Acre

Grand Prismatic in the Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

Jun 19, 2014

Where's my dinner?

Red Fox and Kits - Ontario, Canada

Jun 18, 2014

Marmot

Yellow-Bellied Marmot in Grand Teton National Park

I saw my first Marmot in Glacier National Park in 2010 and I've been in love with them ever since. On this trip they were everywhere and literally throwing themselves at me. When we were on the Beartooth, we had one launch himself off a 10+ foot snowbank and land right in the middle of the road. We hadn't even seen him coming until he was flying through the air. Silly Marmot.

PIKA!!!

Last September this was one of my must-see species on my Yellowstone trip...and I managed to find some and get a few photos but not nearly as many as I would have liked. 

So they were high up on the must-see list for this trip to the Tetons & Yellowstone.  I found one up on the Beartooth but he took one look at the crazy girl hanging out the car window and screaming "STOP THE CAR"  "IT"S A PIKA"  "PIKA, PIKA, PIKA" and he disappeared and didn't return.  I was excited.  I may not have controlled that excitement very well.

Thanks to my friend Dave, I had another opportunity.  We went to a known location and searched the rock piles and he found a few within minutes.  Then he acted as my spotter and was trying to help me follow them around with the 500mm.  Not the easiest task for either of us....these little guys are fast!!! In the end I got the photos I'd envisioned in my head and it wouldn't have happened without Dave.

Wiki Info:
As they live in the high and cooler mountain regions, they are very sensitive to high temperatures, and are considered to be one of the best early warning systems for detecting global warming in the western United States. Pikas can die in six hours when exposed to temperatures above 25.5°C (77.9°F) if individuals cannot find refuge from heat. In warmer environments, such as during midday sun and at lower elevation limits, pikas typically become inactive and withdraw into cooler talus openings.


Pronghorn

Pronghorn in Grand Teton National Park

Wiki Info:
The pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, cabri (native American) or simply antelope because it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and fills a similar ecological niche due to convergent evolution.


Jun 17, 2014

Bare Necessities

Usually I drive past sightings in Yellowstone when there's a group of "watchers" with binoculars and scopes. I don't know what made me stop for this one but I ran into someone I knew there and was told they had just seen a grizzly and were waiting for her to come back.

Next thing I knew....something came over the ridge and it was NOT a bear. A wolf started walking down the hill and reaches the flats in front of me while I struggled to grab my camera and take a couple of shots. I had time for two frames before the Black Lamar Female walked behind the bushes and I lost sight of her. Both photos are blurry black blobs. D@#m.

Not even a minute later, this beautiful bear appeared right in front of me. She had no interest in us and was busy eating clovers. This was the bear the others had seen and misidentified as a Grizzly.


Jun 16, 2014

Little


Coyote Pup in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Predator & Prey

Badger bringing back lunch to her babies in Yellowstone National Park