Posts Tagged ‘Blacktail Ponds’

Aug
02
2010

Yellowstone Diary: May 20, 2010

The images above of a coyote executing effective  mousing technique were recorded at around 12:00 on May20, 2010, using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR lens at 400mm.  Handheld.  Exposure was f/8 at 1/2000s, ISO 1600.  I see that you think that perhaps 1/2000s was overkill…  Spend a few days shooting wild critters and you’ll come around.

The rain abated long enough for us to make a run for Artist’s Point to record images of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.  It’s simply an awesome location – easily as elegantly beautiful as the, well, real Grand Canyon, without the hoard (but do note the time of year).  Do not miss this.

Finally, and as promised, the now long-awaited story of the incident at Blacktail Lakes…  Driving back westward from the Lamar Valley we encounter a traffic jam at Blacktail Lakes.  As I run the truck up slowly behind the jam, we hear the unmistakable call of the wolf : Loud, solo, and clear.  Then other members of the Blacktail Wolf Pack respond, and soon a cacophony of howls and barks fill the air.  Spooky in a kooky species-memory sort of way, and unforgettable.

The sow bear and her big cub were defending the carcass from nine members of the Blacktail wolf pack.  Four wolves remain close to the bears, menacing and harassing them continuously.  Three other members of the pack pose a little further away, and two more a bit further yet.  The interaction of wolves and grizzlys is as wild as it gets I suspect.  Griz may be the king of the park, but the wolves haven’t got the news, and most probably couldn’t care less.  The wolves are interested in the protein, and apparently being no more particular about the freshness of said protein than Griz, they aggressively challenge the bears for the chance to feed upon it.  The bears are powerful and quick.  The wolves are less powerful, but smarter, well-organized, and quicker.  Its facinating to see how the skill sets interact.

The bears become agitated with the presence of the wolves, and occasionally turn and charge them as shown in the image below.  The wolves give up only minimal ground and return to close proximity as soon as the bears turn back to the carcass.

As remarkable as it was to view this remarkable interaction, things got even more interesting.  A third bear descended post haste upon the ponds from the high ground to the north.  Watching this animal descend the hillside provided clear evidence in support of the adage that you cannot outrun Griz – not a chance, not even close.  This larger animal intimidated the sow and big cub, who moved off the carcass without putting up any sort of protest (see below).

The bear does most of the feeding, that is certain, but by my conservative estimate, Ursus Actos Horibilis get nipped in the backside about every 30 seconds for the privilege.  Dude, those wolf bites are gonna smart some in the morning…  When the bears do finally get their fill, the wolves were on site to consume everything left.  Curiously, I never saw a wolf or coyote venture into water, not even paw-deep.  Canids generally seem to tread water without fear, members of  Canis lupus familiaris even seem enjoy a good swim, so it is a little odd that the wild cousins are apparently hydrophobical (hee hee).

Images of Grizzlies and the Blacktail Wolf Pack were recorded at between 21:00 and 21:30 MDT using the D3s and the 200-400mm lens at 400mm.  Yeah, that was around 21:00.  Checking the almanac, sunset was at 22:00, but with the overcast sky, it seemed much darker than anticipated.  Exposure was in the range of f/5.6 to f/8, with shutter speeds in the range of 1/5s to 1/15s, with ISO set at 25600.  Being able to recorded images under such low light is excellent, but there are issues.  Chief among them are WB and apparent exposure level.  As the images above reveal, I am still experimenting with WB.  Auto WB produces images that seem too blue-green, but what do we think is appropriate? Right now I’m thinking that late evening coloration might be best.  Ditto on the apparent exposure.  I’ve also been experimenting with BW conversion – stayed tuned for some examples.

Copyright 2010 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

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Posted in Adventure, National Parks and Monuments | 4 Comments »

Jul
26
2010

Yellowstone Diary: May 19, 2010

YNP is the sort of place that will confuse a photographer.  From Mammoth Hot Springs for example, one can walk over and visit the many excellent thermal features, take a drive north along the Gardner River to the northwest corner of the park and beyond, or head eastwards, first to the Blacktail Deer Plateau, then to the Tower-Roosevelt junction, and then further on to Specimen Ridge and the Lamar Valley.  What to do…  What to do…  The weather on the morning of May 19, 2010, was not too promising, and as a hedge against making the wrong choice, we decided to begin the day wandering through the hot springs.

The image above of Palette Spring was recorded at 09:30 MDT using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens at 58mm.  Exposure was f/16 at 1/25s (+0.67 EV), ISO 200.  The subtle coloring of the spring is apparent even in the rather moody morning light.

The image above of the HP was recorded at 11:30 MDT near the Main Terrace using the D3s and the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR lens at 29mm.  Exposure was f/16 and 1/200s (+0.33 EV), ISO 640.  This is an excellent location on a cloudy day – the mist from the spring dissipates seamlessly in the clouds.  The mineral colors here are intense and form remarkable combinations of light and dark hues.

From Mammoth Hot Spring we headed eastward along the Grand Loop Road (Montana/Wyoming Highway 212?).  As is often the case in the National Parks, a large group of cars being herded around by a Park Service Ranger alerted us to a potential animal encounter.  And what an encounter it was!  A Black Bear sow and two cubs had committed to forage alongside the highway, and then by default decided to let about 200 spectators join in the fun.  Things began to get interesting when the trio decided to cross the road from north to south.  It is rather remarkable that many of the critters in the park seems to have no fear about crossing two-lane highways.  The traffic even this early in the season is far from light.  At any rate, cross the highway they did, and not only that, but also trotted along the road southward bringing themselves very close to where the Dude had set up for a shot of the group.  The ranger on duty decided that the bears had become uncomfortably close to the human, and began clapping his hands in an effort to move the bears from the vicinity of the road.  This had the effect of triggering an instinctive response from the bear cubs: which is to dash for the nearest tree, and pin themselves to the tree trunk in preparation for a rapid retreat up and out of harm’s way.

Later in the day, we had the opportunity to again view the cousins of the Black Bears, the two Grizzly Bears at Blacktail Lakes (or Ponds, it appears to be labeled ‘Ponds’ on maps, but there is a sign at location indicating ‘Lakes’).  As on the previous day (May 18, 2010), the two animals searched and searched until they located their prize, a mostly-consumed Buffalo carcass submerged in the lake.  It is an absolute joy to have so much wildlife in such close proximity.  In particular, it is evident that the behavior of Black Bears and Grizzly Bears is remarkably distinct.  While black bears seem well setup for life in and around trees, and at any rate they never seem to venture far from the confine of the forest, Grizzlys seem to favor open valleys and meadows – but probably just about anywhere they can locate a reeking something to eat…

The images above and blow were recorded on May 19, 2010 at about 18:30 MDT using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G ED VR lens at either f/8 and 1/3200s, ISO at 6400 (above, experimental conditions?) or f/8 and 1/800, ISO 3200 (below) using the Nikon 200-400mm lens at 400mm.

Copyright 2010 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

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Posted in Adventure, National Parks and Monuments, Wildlife Photography | 1 Comment »

Jul
07
2010

Yellowstone Diary: May 18, 2010

On May 18, 2010, we drove from Old Faithful Inn north to Mammoth Hot Springs in the northeastern sector of Yellowstone National Park.  In the spring through summer of 2010 the road between Madison to Norris  was closed from 10pm through 8am, with 30 minute delays at other times.  We were only stopped once on the transit, for approximately 15 minutes.

Near Twin Lakes we encountered a crowd of onlookers viewing a cow elk standing in south Twin Lake.  This elk had been attacked earlier in the day or on the previous day by one or several wolves and had sought refuge in the lake.  I never thought about it before, but although I’m quite certain that wolves can swim well, they would never be able to mount an effective amphibious assault on an elk.   A simple but effective temporary defense on the part of the elk, however we later learned that the it had been taken by the wolves a day later.  The image was recorded at 11:23 MDT using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED lens at 400mm.  Exposure was f/8 and 1/1250s, ISO 1600.  Cropped.

After a brief stop in Mammoth, we drove to Gardiner (~5 miles north) to pick up supplies.  As rain appeared quite likely, and we had forgotten to bring umbrellas (okay, get umbrellas on the master list!) we also picked up a couple of inexpensive specimens ($5!).  Passing back through Mammoth, we ventured eastward into the heart of the northern section of the park.  Literally within minutes after leaving Mammoth we were rewarded with the most excellent opportunity to view a pair of Grizzlies (sow and a 2nd-year bear) devouring a bison carcass at Blacktail Ponds.  Much of the roadway between Mammoth and Tower-Roosevelt is elevated, and in the area near Blacktail Ponds it is approximately 50ft or so above the pond level, providing a favorable perspective on anything that might occur there.

The images above and below were recorded at ~16:00 MDT on May 18, 2010, using the D3s and the 200-400mm lens at 400mm.  Cropped.  Exposure was f/8.0 and 1/800s, ISO 12800.  Yeah, that was 12800.  No noise remediation in these images.  I’ve found that all of the known noise reduction packages produce a weird and unrealistic softening of the image, whereas, at least with images out of the D3s, just working up the image in the normal way leaves a sense of graininess that is reminiscent of high ISO film.  For my $, I prefer the latter.  Of course it rained during entire session with bears – thankful we got the umbrellas.

Later in the day and further east near Tower-Roosevelt we encountered a young moose in a ravine along the side road to the Petrified Tree.  As above with Griz, the road elevation helped make the relatively short direct distance between wildlife and photog safe for both.  The image below was recorded at 19:20 MDT on May 19, 2010, using the D3s and the 200-400mm lens at 380mm.  Exposure was f/8 and 1/500s, ISO 12800.  No noise reduction.

Copyright 2010 Peter F. Flynn. No usage permitted without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

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Posted in Adventure, National Parks and Monuments, Wildlife Photography | Comments Off on Yellowstone Diary: May 18, 2010

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