I took this photo a year ago. I’m posting it to show where this ewe gave birth. As you can see, the ground is fairly steep and the surface is made up of a lot of small rocks that have eroded away from above. Much of it will eventually wind up at the bottom of the canyon. The lamb has yet to stand up, although it has tried several times. They were on the east side of the Yellowstone River Canyon and I was on the west side. I shot this scene using a 500mm lens with a 2x tele-converter on a Canon 7D camera. That adds up to 1600mm or 32 power. The photo is also cropped a bit. I would guess that I was 200-300 yards away. Now, what I really want to show you is the next photo.
This photo was taken with a full frame sensor camera and a 100-400mm lens at 100mm. That would be 2 power. Can you spot them? From left to right they are just about centered. From top to bottom they are about 65% from the top. I’d say the lamb is safe from predators there, with the possible exception of eagles, but at some point they are going to have to walk out of there. What route would you take?
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This is really cool, Jim! It’s amazing that they give birth in such precarious places, and even more amazing that the newborn will be capable of walking out of that place! Seeing the full scene is great too — nice eyes spotting them!
Thanks Pat. I wasn’t the first to spot them. I just happened by shortly thereafter.