Jim Coda Nature Photography

May 24, 2012May 27, 2018Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane near Blacktail Pond, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a sandhill crane. — A Sandhill Crane Near Blacktail Ponds

When people think of the wildlife in Yellowstone they think of wolves, bears, especially grizzlies, and elk. But there are lots of other critters. You can probably think of many others, but you may not put the sandhill crane on your list. Yet there are quite a few to be seen there. This crane was with a couple of others near Blacktail Pond. One other large bird I’m used to seeing here is the trumpeter swan. However, I haven’t seen any this trip and don’t recall if I saw any in my other recent trips.

May 23, 2012Uncategorized

Any Day in Yellowstone …

Photo of two black bear cubs. — “Put Yer Dukes Up.”

Any day in Yellowstone is a good day. That is especially true in the spring. In the six days I’ve been here I’ve seen numerous bears and several wolves. Black bears are so numerous that I’ve stopped keeping track of sighting them. I photographed the spring cubs above the first day. I haven’t seen nearly as many grizzlies, but I’ve seen two sows with one cub each and a few other adults. They tend to be much farther away than black bears.

It’s a little early for babies, other than bison calves and bear cubs, but a newborn elk calf was in hiding just inside the Roosevelt gate this afternoon. I’ve been looking for them and bighorn lambs and pronghorn fawns. News of the elk calf will get me looking for babies more intently. The elk calves and pronghorn fawns stay hidden most of the time for the first week or so, but the bighorn lambs can keep up with their mothers the day of birth as well as the bison calves. Deer fawns arrive about a month later.

I’ve had my eyes peeled for badgers, but haven’t seen any yet. I was telling a guy that two days ago and he told me he photographed three of them earlier that day. Needless to say, I’m looking harder now. I got really close to a sandhill crane today. I’ve also been photographing a lot of marmots. Like I said, any day is good in Yellowstone.

June 17, 2011May 27, 2018Rocky Mountain Elk

Elk Calf in Hiding, Montana

Photo of an elk calf lying perfectly still. — Elk Calf Won’t Move

This calf was seen very close to the road just north of Yellowstone National Park. For the first couple of weeks after birth elk calves stay hidden like this for much of the time. If they don’t move they are hard to spot. Grizzlies are known to run grid patterns through elk calving grounds until one panics and tries to run.

June 19, 2010Uncategorized

The Bison of Yellowstone

In my last post about baby bison I said that seeing and photographing them gave me a new appreciation of the adults. But for that I might not have stopped to watch and photograph this cow bison as she grazed on the succulent grasses in this pond. I wonder what the starlings are saying?

A Cow Bson Feeds on Succulent Grasses in a Small Pond — Cow Bison, Yellowstone National Park

Bison sometimes get into trouble when they enter the waters of Yellowstone. Not far from this tiny pond is Blacktail Pond. At the time I took this photo (May 2010) there were two bison carcasses in Blacktail. I’m not sure how they got in there, but once they got in they were in trouble. Blacktail is much deeper than this little pond and it has very steep banks. Because of its body shape, I think a bison would have a tougher time getting out of Blacktail Pond than any other species of Yellowstone. Their deaths, however, provided needed protein for several predators this spring. I saw grizzlies, wolves, bald eagles, ravens and at least one coyote feed on those carcasses.