Road Trip 2016: Yellowstone National Park

September 29, 2016

Pongo and I took a drive around Yellowstone National Park on Thursday.  It was eventful, I'll probably let the pictures tell the story.  The day started with a rainbow over Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park.  That was a good omen.

Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY

Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY

Lewis River, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Lewis River, Yellowstone National Park, WY

River Otter -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

I was thrilled to see four river otters in the beaver pond near Lewis Falls.  I've seen a river otter in the wild once before but I wasn't able to get a photograph.  The otters were very active and often out of view behind the bushes that line the pond.  These aren't the greatest of photos but I'm still pretty excited by them.

River Otter -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

River Otter -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Tundra Swan

The best animal sighting of the day occurred on the Northern end of Hayden Valley.  The was a small group of photographers on the side of the road near a turnout.  I pulled over and asked some people walking toward their car what they had seen.  A badger was digging a burrow, they told me.  Holy cow!  I never thought I'd see a badger in the wild, and here was my opportunity.  I left Pongo in the car for this particular session.  He doesn't mind, to be honest.  He loves being alone in the car and it was a cool, overcast day.  He gets to guard it, barking at people that walk by and running back and forth from the back to the front.  He's also recently discovered the horn.  He was pretty good at honking it by the end of our road trip.

American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

The animal awesomeness wasn't over for the day, though.  While photographing the badger a lady told me there was a grizzly bear up the road a few miles.  Holy mackerel.  A badger and a grizzly bear on the same day?  Could it actually happen?

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Yep.

The bear was on the edge of a meadow a couple of hundred yards away from the road.  A large crowd was watching the bear from the road with a couple of harried rangers directing traffic.  All I could make out with the naked eye was a dark spot in the field.  My camera and 400mm lens did a little better.

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Yellowstone National Park, WY

On our way back to our campsite at Grand Teton National Park we encountered another large group of photographers.  They were all looking at a tree.  Well, not at a tree but at a bird in the tree.  It was a great gray owl.  Man, what a day!

Great Gray Owl -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Great Gray Owl -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Our final animal encounter of the day was with a small group of elk who were walking toward the ranger station on the Southern end of the South Loop.  They looked like they were checking out for the day.  Miller time.

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY

Soundtrack:

• Daniel Amos -- Alarma
• Echo & the Bunnymen -- Ocean Rain
• Jack White -- Blunderbuss

Thanksgiving 2015: Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge

November 26, 2015

Thursday was Thanksgiving.  Turkey.  Mashed potatoes.  Pumpkin pie.  All that.  Unfortunately for Pongo, that meant he'd have to spend the afternoon in the crate.  It was probably good for him given the excitement of the last few days.  We had a little adventure in the morning at Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge which is a few miles South of Salem.

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

Well, when I say little adventure, it was more little than adventure.  We only had an hour or so and there weren't a whole lot of birds to be seen.  A few tundra swans were floating around on one of the ponds.  Other than that, we saw some ducks and geese but nothing up close.

Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge, OR

OK, there was one BIG sighting . . .

Emu -- Jefferson, OR

An emu!  This big bird was in a pasture across the street from the refuge.  Pongo was intrigued by the bird.  He didn't get too excited about any of the wildlife sightings on this trip.  I'm not sure why.  The emu was the most interesting thing he saw from what I could tell.

Emu -- Jefferson, OR

That's pretty much it.  Well, I'll add a picture of the family members that attended this year's gathering.  It's a pretty big group.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

January 25, 2015

Pongo and I made a trip to San Luis National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday.  It's one of the places I like to visit when I'm not moving very well.  The auto tours are long and varied.  Tule elk can be seen on every visit, although good photo opportunities are not guaranteed.  The bird life is abundant at all times of year, but this place really shines in winter.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis Wildlife Refuge, CA

San Luis Wildlife Refuge, CA

A lot of times, as in the photos above, the wildlife is a little too far away to get good photos. Even so, I find these photos appealing.  There's something comforting about the drab colors of the tule reeds, which also provide a direct connection to the Native American past of this area.  These reeds were used by the tribes for making shelters, baskets, mats and even boats.  I wish the Native American culture was celebrated more in the Bay Area and the Central Valley.

Northern Shoveler -- San Luis Wildlife Refuge, CA

I broke the auto focus on my 250mm lens last weekend.  While definitely a bummer, it gives me an opportunity to work on my manual focus technique until I make a move on a new lens.  I don't really see any sense in trying to fix this lens, the cost would probably be comparable to replacing it with a similar model and I think I want to move up to a longer, fixed length lens.  This one just doesn't quite have the reach I'd like.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis Wildlife Refuge, CA

I've taken my best hawk photos at this refuge.  I got a few nice opportunities yesterday.  I saw dozens of hawks while driving the auto tours.  I was amazed to see so many in one area.  I expect to see a lot of hawks and harriers here, but yesterday's numbers were astounding.

San Luis Wildlife Refuge, CA

Tundra Swan

San Luis is a good place for seeing tundra swans and sandhill cranes.  The tundra swans were close enough for some OK pictures, unfortunately the cranes were keeping their distance from the roads.  I didn't see any deer or coyotes on this trip.  I think the presence of hunters has them maintaining low profiles.  In the summer it's not uncommon to see multiple coyotes on a single day.  Some people consider coyotes to be nuisance animals, but I think they're pretty amazing.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis Wildlife Refuge, CA

I saw a barn owl out here once, so I always try to wait until the sun goes down before heading home in hopes of seeing another.  No such luck yesterday.  Still, Pongo and I had a nice relaxing time driving around the loops and seeing what we could see.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

Back to San Luis

February 14, 2014

I've made four visits to San Luis Wildlife Refuge since September.  I've followed how the place changes over the winter.  From the looks of it, winter is winding down, at least based on the populations of some of the birds I saw.  Well, what I didn't see, really.

Double-crested Cormorant -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The pintails are gone.  So are the snow geese.  Pintails are early migrators.  They're usually in the first wave of birds to arrive in California in the fall and the first to leave.  I don't know what the geese's deal is.  They may have just moved farther up the valley.  San Luis flooded their fields later in the year than the reserves North of Sacramento.  I assume that's how it works in general, the birds show up here later because it's farther South and they empty out sooner.

Sheep -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

The herd of sheep surprised me.  They were contained inside a temporary fence on the auto tour route.  I'm not sure if they're there to keep the grass down or what.  Goats are used for grass maintenance in the bay area.  There's a guy who drives his herd around and sets them up wherever people need the grass eaten down.  You never know where you'll bump into those goats.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

I saw a lot of hawks and other birds of prey on this tour.  No eagles, though.  No owls, either.  Bummer.  The hawks and harriers and kites and kestrels were cool, though.  I suppose the hawks are easy to see in part because the trees are so bare.

There was a particularly interesting interaction between a red-tailed hawk and a northern harrier.  I initially encountered the hawk seen in these pictures as he was sitting in a tree.  He (or she) let me take a lot of pictures from what turned out to be a pretty close location.  When the hawk flew off I thought it was because he'd tired of my presence, but after looking at the pictures I was surprised to see a build up of mosquitoes around the hawk.  I suspect the bird moved off to the nearby pond shore because of the insects.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA (did I just miss a great shot or what?)

Enter the northern harrier.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA 

For whatever reason, the harrier didn't like where the hawk had decided to land.  So, the harrier buzzed the hawk a couple of times.  The hawk didn't seem to be too bothered. The harrier landed on a bush a couple of hundred yards away and it looked like that was the end of the tiff.  The hawk went about its business getting a drink of water and the harrier sulked over in the corner.

Northern Harrier -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA 

The hawk hadn't forgotten and he (or she) hadn't forgiven.  After taking a long, reflective drink of water, the hawk lit out after the harrier and the two disappeared in in the distance.  For all I know they're still duking it out.

Red-tailed Hawk -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

White-tailed Kite -- San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge, CA