Baby bisons. Always a delight to see in the spring.
So tiny.
After taking a break for lunch we returned to the spot of the bison kill hoping to see some wolves. We arrived around 3pm and were expecting to wait a few hours before seeing anything. Before we even had our tripods set up these three wolves came running down from Bunsen Peak. I believe these three wolves are part of the same pack we saw earlier in the morning. There was a grey, a black and another gorgeous white wolf. The light was horrible for taking photos, mostly due to the heat waves rising up from the ground, but its never a bad day when you're watching wolves.
The white wolf. From this angle it looks like someone let their dog loose in the park.
The three wolves wasted no time. They started to feed immediately. Of course they would take breaks every now and again to chase off the pesky ravens.
The black wolf seemed to be the most annoyed with the boldness of the ravens.
More chasing.
Eventually the black and white wolf moved off away from the kill, apparently with their appetites filled.
Yum.
The white wolf went off and laid in a patch of snow. I wish this had happened closer. Such a beautiful scene.
Ready to go the next morning.
Wildlife photography requires a lot of seat time in the car. Photo courtesy of Paul Raymaker.
Pronghorn.
A nice sized bighorn sheep ram modeled for us for a bit in the evening.
A nice pronghorn walking through sagebrush.
* This photos is available as a limited edition fine art print *
Collared coyote on the prowl.
Another shot of the same ram with some nice late evening light.
A close up of the mighty ram
We came across another black bear.... horrible shooting conditions but still great to see!
A bald eagle soars above us on a nice blue sky day.
A lone coyote walks up a hill in Yellowstone.
We only saw one grizzly on our trip. It was in the middle of the day with horrible light, but grizzlies are one of my favorite animals so I was happy.
A group of bighorn sheep move through a valley with a bison.
Lamar Valley bison.
The last morning of our trip we headed back to Swan Lake Flats hoping to see wolves again. The wolves never showed but we were greeted with an unbelievable sunrise. It was a beautiful morning with the amazing light and fresh dusting of snow.
* This photos is available as a limited edition fine art print *
Skies on fire over bunsen peak. Everywhere we looked there were amazing skies.
Bunsen peak sunrise again.
Yellowstone... a truly amazing one of a kind place.
By late morning we gave up on the wolves. Paul and Ian had to get back home anyways, so we headed back towards West Yellowstone. On our way out we saw a bull moose running along a ridge. A very pretty scene.
The same bull moose a few moments later. It took a detour from the mountain and came out of the woods right in front of us.
Paul and Ian headed back to seattle and I started on my way back to Colorado.... Mountain roads are tough on windshields.
Sunset in the mirror in Utah.
Last light over the Wasatch Mountains. Life is good.
Desert sunrise outside of Moab. Almost home.
Home sweet home!
I made it back to summit county and no surprising to me, there was about a foot of fresh snow blanketing the mountains. Gotta love spring here.
All in all it was a great trip. It's always fun to get a chance to shoot with my friends. Can't wait to go back!