When Coyotes track prey like meadow voles, they rely on their keen sense of smell and acute hearing because the snow hides their target from view. They spring into the air and plunge face down into the snow but they don’t always hit their target. With the tip of its nose caked with snow from the plunge, the Coyote continued to search for its prey but came up with nothing so it trotted away to find a more fertile hunting grounds.
The Coyotes of Yellowstone National Park are nothing if not focused. Once they are on a mission, they are not deterred. Concentration on the task at hand helps them survive, especially in the harsh conditions of winter in Yellowstone. The meadow voles that are a favorite target of Coyotes there burrow in the snow. The Coyotes hear their movements as they travel through their snow tunnels by intense concentration that allows for the precise moment to pounce.
On our last morning in Yellowstone National Park, the temperature dropped enough so that the steam vents in the distance put on quite a show at sunrise. On the left is Fountain Paint Pots, spewing lots of steam into the morning air. On the right, Grand Prismatic Spring glows in the morning light. Seeing both of these well-known features in the park from a distance and at the same time created quite a different view of them than I have photographed in the past.
When we stopped at one of the pullouts in Yellowstone National Park the other day, a Common Raven was there, perched on a fence railing, and obviously used to people. It was more than likely waiting for a handout or for an open snowcoach window or an unsecured backpack on a sled where it could find something to eat. When it realized I was only going to photograph it and not offer a treat, it flew off. The snowcoach and I are reflected in the Raven’s eye.
Our last day in Yellowstone National Park did not disappoint! We started the day with fresh wolf tracks crossing the road. A few Coyote tracks were sprinkled in the same spot. While we waited for wolves to appear, a single Coyote trotted along the roadway seemingly on a mission, heading down the groomed roadway. It was not deterred by the other Snow Coaches pulled over or the rows of Sledders lined up on the edge of the roadway. We got back in the snow coach and drove to the next pullout, waiting for the Coyote to appear, minutes later up the road. It reminded me of my first trip to Yellowstone National Park in winter, 8 years ago in 2016 when we encountered a lone Coyote on a mission, as it took the path of least resistance, the groomed road. At that time, Moose had the snow coach driver move to the next pullout down the road and we got out with our cameras (with the Nikkor 300mm PF, new at the time, mounted) and here came the Coyote. In a deja-vu all over again moment, I had the new Nikkor Z600mmPF lens with the Z1.4X teleconverter attached, the difference being that I took this image a bit further away than with the 300mmPF lens. It was a great way to finish a great trip.
It’s always fun to create a blur with fast moving water, especially water tumbling over rocks like the Firehole Falls in Yellowstone National Park. Slowing the shutter speed creates a silky look to flowing water. For this image, I handheld the @nikonUSA #NikonZ8 with the #NikkorZ24-120 set to f/22, the ISO to 32 (Lo 1.0) with a shutter speed of 1/3 of a second. This combination created the silky cascade and the blurry roil of water at the base of the falls.
What remained of the carcass of a bull Bison, taken down several days previously by the Firehole Pack of Gray Wolves along the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park, lay on the edge of the river where it had been dragged to the opposite shore. The Gray Wolves did not appear while we were there Wednesday, but Common Ravens and Coyotes stripped what edibles remained and the rib cage seemed to be a favorite of this Coyote. After witnessing the feast of the Coyote and Ravens, I, too, chose Bison Short Ribs for my dinner Wednesday night at Bullwinkle’s in West Yellowstone. I hope the Coyote’s ribs were as tasty as those served to me.
So far this winter in Yellowstone National Park, the dogs have been front and center. Wolves and Coyotes are the stars of this visit. Gray Wolves started our first morning and ended our second afternoon. Coyotes have been cooperative subjects. This Coyote spent time mousing as we watched. While it was not always successful in its quest, the pounce just before I took this image resulted in some tasty bits of meadow vole.
Most of the time when I photograph Woodpeckers, they are in profile as they climb a tree trunk in search of grubs under the bark. A profile view of a Woodpecker leaves no doubt that it is a Woodpecker. Because I also saw it in profile before I took this image, I know this to be a female Hairy Woodpecker . But what a difference when she looks straight into the camera lens, feathers all fluffed against the chill. A head on view is so different from how I’m used to seeing Woodpeckers and this view is almost comical.
There were two big attractions at the Admiral Road feeders at Sax-Zim Bog this year. And although we went to Sax-Zim Bog for the birds, neither big attraction at those feeders this year was birds. No, it was the Pine Marten who was a regular at the feeders and was drawn to them by the other big attraction at the Admiral Road feeders, peanut butter, put out by the Volunteers at Sax-Zim Bog. The Pine Marten’s primary food source is the equally adorable Red Squirrel but the peanut butter seemed to keep its mind off the squirrels while it searched for peanut butter near the feeders.
The word “popinjay” describes a strutting supercilious person but it is also a sport from the 15th century that is played to this day in some parts of the world. The object of popinjay is to knock artificial birds off their perches with arrows. When I saw this Blue Jay in the Gray Alder with snow flurries in Sax-Zim Bog a week or so ago, the word “popinjay” came to my mind not because the Jay seemed supercilious or that it looked like a setup for an archer but because the Blue Jay popped from the background—a “popping jay” if you will.
This beautiful Red Fox that I saw in Sax-Zim Bog last week seemed undeterred by our presence. It knew we were there but somehow, maybe because we were being shielded by the vehicle, it went about its business. When I first caught a glimpse, it was sitting still, looking around, so I began to take photographs through the car window. I especially love those gorgeous eyes.
As the wind picked up in Sax-Zim Bog, the snow flurried sideways as did the breast feathers of the Great Gray Owl. The owl had flown from one branch to another branch to the top of a fir tree and finally to the top of a snow covered brown porcelain insulator as we watched. Lucky for us, each perch provided an unobstructed view of this magnificent creature.
As the snow falls around it, a Black-capped Chickadee, feathers fluffed against the cold, sticks its tongue out. I doubt this bird has the same tendency as kids (or even some adults, but I won’t say who 🤫) to try to catch snowflakes on its tongue but then, you never know.
This Pine Marten was a big attraction in Sax-Zim Bog at the Admiral Road feeders. Animated and adorable, it played peek-a-boo around the trunk of a pine tree near the feeders. One of the main prey of a Pine Marten is the equally adorable Red Squirrel which also lives in the bog. But, thanks to the volunteers at Sax-Zim Bog, who fill the bird feeders and slather peanut butter on logs, the Pine Martens have other options. This little guy loved the peanut butter on the back of this pine tree and that kept its attention away from the Red Squirrels, at least for the moment.
Our encounter with this gorgeous Red Fox last week in Sax-Zim Bog is just one of my favorite memories of the trip. Seeing this fox, its red coat creating such a contrast against the starkness of the snow, was a beautiful thing. Shooting from inside the vehicle through the open window, the fox, concentrating on the hunt, came much closer than if I’d been outside. I was on the edge of the 13 feet minimum focusing distance of the Nikkor Z600PF lens so the fox almost filled the frame.
In a sort of speckled on speckled tableau, a pair of European Starlings in their speckled winter plumage takes refuge in a Speckled Alder (AKA Gray Alder). The reddish-purple cast of the alder’s catkins and seed pods make an interesting backdrop for the birds as they puff their feathers against the cold.
As the snow fell around her on a cool morning in Sax-Zim Bog, this Hairy Woodpecker tipped her head back to look. Is she thinking, “the sky is falling?” We’ll never know but I can’t imagine this bird, small as it is, running around like Chicken Little exclaiming “the sky is falling!” After watching this Hairy pound the tree trunk of this pine with such ferocity that the bark flew every which way, and which pounding resulted in precision holes in the trunk, there is no doubt it wasn’t worried about a few snowflakes.
About two hours into the fourth and final day of our adventure here in Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota, and after three days of only fleeting glimpses, there he was, the star of the Bog——the Elusive One, the Great Gray Owl! What a stunning, mesmerizing creature, more than two feet in length with a 52 inch wingspan! It’s hard to believe that these owls can be so elusive with their size but they are expert at disappearing into the boreal forest. We came across a line of photographers staring intently into a stand of trees and as we drove slowly by we saw him, perched on a stump by the side of the road in plain sight. No parking was allowed along the road so we parked about a quarter mile away, set up our gear and walked down the road to the group already there. He was undeterred by the gaggle of photogs and even changed perches a couple of times but we still had an unobstructed view. It took the snow plow to flush him further back into the boreal forest. The snow plow flushed us as well, across the street to avoid being covered in salted snow that the plow scattered forcefully onto the side of the road where we had just been. Notwithstanding the close encounter with the snow plow, our close encounter with the Great Gray was a fabulous end to our time in the Bog.
We’re in Sax-Zim Bog to photograph birds, in particular owls, and more specifically, Great Gray Owls. While we’ve photographed quite a few birds so far, we have only seen, but not photographed, the Elusive One. We have, however, seen or photographed quite a few different mammals here which is not usually the case. And late yesterday afternoon after a great day of shooting birds, we drove past a single car pulled over and a person laying in the snow photographing an extremely cooperative Red Fox. We continued on, got our camera gear in our laps and pulled slowly back to the spot. The Red Fox still sat in a patch of snow, watching its surroundings. I shot out the window of the car. Who could resist that gorgeous face? Not I.