Month: November 2025

Now you see it, now you don’t. Well, it doesn’t show up as much in the second image, anyway. What I’m talking about is the piece of stiff grass or straw that is visible in the first image that appears to be embedded in the feathers next to this Great Gray Owl’s beak. We spent some time with this Great Gray near Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone a couple of weeks ago. The straw remained in place despite this magnificent creature changing locations several times during the hour or so we had it in our viewfinders. While it was on this particular perch, the second to the last perch of the morning, it faced the sun and whenever it turned its head, the eyes either closed or the nictitating membrane covered the eye so I was never able to get a head on view. But, at least when it swiveled to the right, the straw didn’t reflect the sun, it just created a light shadow.

This is my favorite view of Mount Moran in the Tetons. This, the eastern slope of Mount Moran, is visible through the gigantic picture window in the main lobby of Jackson Lake Lodge and the view is one of my fondest memories of my two summers working at that lodge in the mid 1960’s. Skillet Glacier is the largest of several glaciers on Mount Moran, and, to me, defines it.

Yellowstone’s Ravens are everywhere people are. They are wise and know that some people will feed them. Many travelers don’t seem to realize that not only is it against the law to feed wildlife in any national park, feeding wildlife is ultimately detrimental to their health and well-being. Feeding also causes the birds to become nuisances. At times, especially in the winter, Ravens will break into snowmobilers’ backpacks if left unattended and even squeeze through partially open windows of snow coaches in search of something to nibble on. This Raven posed for quite a while atop a fence post near where we photographed the Moose. Although he was hoping to get fed, I treated him only to a portrait session, nothing edible. I think he realized that I got the better deal.

We had lots of snow in Yellowstone two weeks ago. Well, we had snow and then we had Snow. The snow that fell from the sky was light and sporadic and for the most part, didn’t stick, especially in the lower elevations. The Snow we had near the Nine Mile Trailhead was in the form of an 11 year old 350 pound Grizzly sow well known to the park’s bear management team. Unlike the other snow, she stuck around and created quite the bear jam on the road. When she began to move forward toward the people congregating up on the edge of the roadway, a bear manager shouted sharply, “No ma’am! No ma’am!” His loud admonition startled me and it certainly startled Snow who quickly reversed direction and ran back to a more acceptable distance. It was obviously not her first encounter. She soon climbed under some branches of some downed trees and took a nap.

Our relatively brief Moose encounter on the first day of our visit to Yellowstone two weeks ago resulted in lots of marvelous images of this bull Moose, and a cow and a calf that were with him. They foraged for a while and when the cow and calf moved up the slope and into the dense pine forest, the bull was quick to follow. In this image, he comes around a tree and looks our way before following the cow and calf up the hillside and disappearing.

The downslope migration had begun in late October in Yellowstone as the Bison herds headed down from the higher elevations to places in the park where the snows aren’t as deep in winter and the Bison have an easier time foraging for what little sustenance is available. This calf stuck close to mom as she followed the rest of the herd.

The morning mist and the gorgeous color of the sky made for a glorious sunrise in Yellowstone National Park a little over a week ago. This is the sunrise that was accompanied by the equally glorious song of the Wapiti Wolf Pack making this an unforgettable memory of Yellowstone.