Tag: roosevelt arch

Pronghorn

Pronghorn Doe and Fawn, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of pronghorn mom and her young fawn.
New Life in Yellowstone

It’s that time.  If you like to photograph wildlife you should be in Yellowstone or on your way.  Bison calves are running all over the place.  Elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep are giving birth or will be soon.  The bears are also out and about, some with cubs.  It is the time to see and photograph baby animals.

This pronghorn fawn was born last May.  The doe kept it and its sibling between the Roosevelt Arch and the north entrance station for the first week after birth.   That’s when I left the park.  The area is bounded by three roads and a high steel fence.   It was crowded and noisy and wouldn’t seem to be a place for a wild animal to want to have babies.    It’s also about the last place around Yellowstone that I would want to be stationed for a week hoping to photograph some predators.  I don’t know if it was just happenstance or that mother pronghorn knew this was a good place to have her babies while they got stronger and were able to run fast enough to escape from a predator.

Pronghorn

Pronghorn Doe and Fawn, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of pringhorn doe nursing her fawn.
Feeding Time

This pronghorn mom and her two babies made a lot of visitors happy by staying between the Roosevelt Arch and the entrance station in late May.  I spent a lot of time observing her and her two fawns.

During the time I observed her, she kept the fawns well-separated except on one occasion.  I wonder if this is to minimize a predator getting them both.  She would visit each one every couple of hours and let them feed for a few minutes and then they would lie down again in a new spot until she returned.  They usually stayed perfectly still, but I saw one of them move once.  Movement like that can get a young ungulate killed I would think.  Each morning I would check to see if they were both there.  They were still there when I left the Park on June 1.

I wondered if the mother made a good choice in keeping them where she did.  I think so.  It’s a rectangular area bordered by roads on all four sides and by buildings on two sides.  There is a lot of human activity around there all day.  Maybe not as safe at night, but “safe” is a relative term in the pronghorn world.

Song Bird

Large Number of Mountain Bluebirds in Yellowstone National Park

Photo of mountain bluebird.
Proud Hunter

When I’m in Yellowstone in May I usually see a few mountain bluebirds and I usually try to get a decent photo of one.  I haven’t had much success until this year.  I’ve had some incredible opportunities this time.  I don’t know why this year has been different, but the number of bluebirds I’ve seen this year is much, much higher than I’ve seen before.

I photographed this male while waiting for the mother pronghorn just inside the north entrance (Roosevelt Arch) to come back to her young and feed and move them.

Photo of female mountain bluebird.
A mountain bluebird takes a perch while hunting.

I photographed this female at the same time.

Photo of a pronghorn doe and fawn.
Mom and One of Her Two Babies

Mom finally showed up and fed and moved her babies.  She hid them far from each other.  I think that is to increase the odds of fawn survival.  When she finished feeding and hiding them I went back to the bluebirds.