Dandelion Fields Forever

Most of us work hard at getting the last dandelion out of the lawn and overlook their value to insects or ignore their beauty. This unused pasture was filled with them which made for a great morning of exploring possibilities. My daughter found an apt quote "A weed is but an unloved flower." by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Pattison SP Postcard

   

This was part of the week filming prairie chickens and sharp-tail grouse. Not quite as exciting as wildlife. The editing challenge is getting sound to match the intensity of the action and setting a pace with the clips that fits the mood of the morning. Enjoy!

The Fight

This battle lasted most of the morning with intermittent breaks for rest and recovery. Only when the hen from the previous post arrived did the attention of these males turn away from fighting. I would have loved to captured this in slow motion but was afraid to switch cameras and miss the action. The light was also a little low for the higher shutter speed needed to record slow motion ( 1/250 vs 1/60).

Storm at the Lek

The blind was reserved 2 months ago, the weather is miserable, and the forecast is for 2-6 inches of snow. Now what? There really wasn't a question of whether to show up or not since the birds would still be there. It was also no problem deciding what to wear - everything! The result was a unique experience to witness how prairie chickens survive on the prairie under some very harsh conditions.

Trout lily bloom

 

Time lapsing clouds in southern Minnesota can be a little dull and I'm turning my attention to time lapse of the environment. Last weekend was a perfect opportunity to try a short term environmental time lapse. The beauty of time lapse is you never know exactly what you will see.

Technical: GoPro Hero4, 10 second intervals, recorded until the battery was depleted.

Trying to get a little rest

This youngster was not letting mom get any rest between its running around and nursing. She looks exhausted.  Her energy needed later when a small herd of bison moved in and she made a hurried exit. Grizzly bears have a mortal fear of bison although calves are used for food in the spring.

Grizzly on the path

 I was surprised at the amount of grizzly traffic on this paved trail. The new grass makes this a prime area to explore when they first come out of hibernation. There were three fences and a boiling pool between us as we stood beside the car. Nevertheless, we backed to the other side of the car as it approached.

Technical: Filmed at about 600 mm focal length, cropped 10%

Mom, Let's Play!

This mother grizzly was resting peacefully on a nice warm rock until her youngster had different ideas. This year old cub has another year with mom before being sent out into the world alone.

Technical: Post production stabilization  applied, the 20 mph cross wind was too much for image stabilization system in the long lens.

Shake those cobwebs out!

Happy Easter!

Tired Out

I got back for Yellowstone yesterday and feel like this napping grizzly bear.  With the assignment of filming spring grizzly bears we (fellow volunteer Angela and I) had unlimited access to the Park interior. Despite that 5 bears were seen within a hundred yards of a single parking lot. More to follow.

Technical: shot with a SonyA7r2 and 600 mm lens with 1.4 teleconverter, cropped significantly

Looking for Bear

I will be in Yellowstone NP for most of the next two weeks looking for grizzly bears. I have to admit grizzlies scare me. Fortunately most encounters are near the road and the safety of the car. I'm also reminded that bad encounters occur in wooded areas when they are surprised at a meal or with cubs. While the fear is rational it might be overstated. Now I have to find the bear spray and make sure it has not expired.

 

Learning a new technique

I have had a time-lapse feature on my trail camera but never used it until now. There are still some technical issue with camera motion but I like the technique and will be working on it more. The concept of seasonal transition intrigues me and this might be a way to represent it in motion.

Playing Lambs

 

We went to hike and photograph the landscape but were surprised to see a herd of desert bighorn sheep along the road on  our first morning in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.  We searched for the during the rest of our stay but did not find them again. Recorded with a 24-105 lens on a Sonya7Rii.

One sick raccoon!

Not all of nature is pretty and sometimes it is downright ugly. Predator/prey relationships have a certain synergy and although appearing brutal they are a part of the natural world. A less natural relationship is the interaction of domestic animals and wildlife. We usually think in terms of how pets are affected by wildlife and not the other way around.  My wife and I almost tripped on this raccoon last week and yesterday it was still alive. A Google search has lead me to believe it has a fatal case canine distemper.

March Clouds

When I looked at this morning's temperature of 6 degrees it was hard to recall the 70 degrees  on Mondaywhen this photo was taken. These clouds preceded a thunderstorm and extraordinary winds.  Is this the new March in Minnesota?

Technical: 1 stop graduated ND used in Lightroom

Blast Off!

 

I spent a day with snow geese and put this together. It started in the fog well before sunrise and ended at sunset.  I could still hear them singing when I went to bed that night. Their singing will either drive you nuts or make you forget the world for awhile. Multiple cameras and lenses were used with two cameras simultaneously recording in the fog sequence.

Synchronized Stretch

There are exercise classes everywhere but this was a new one to me.

Spring bath

These geese were in a bathing frenzy after arriving earlier in the day.  The action lasted until the bald eagle in the nest above them decided it had had enough and swooped down to scatter them.

Lining up for landing

These geese appear to have coordinated their landing plans. However, the best of plans falls apart when they try to find a spot to touch down.

 

Loess Bluffs NWR

I spent the last couple days recording snow geese as they await better conditions for continuing their migration. Loess Bluffs (formally known as Squaw Creek) is an undiscovered secret and there were locals watching the birds but only a couple other photographers. I had a chance to play with still photography techniques during the midday. Birds arrived over 5 hours and eventually were within 20 yards of the dike.