A great (rainy) day....

Nikon D-200, 600mm lens, 1/1000 sec @f/4.0, ISO 100

Last winter the famous tree holding the eagles nest along the Madison River fell.  Everyone was amazed when this mated pair came back to the same spot and built a new nest in a tree next to the where the old one stood.  They had been nesting in the old nest for years.  Tonight my time with them was fairly short.  Two reasons.  One is that I forgot my mosquito repellent. Man the bugs were eating me alive.  The second reason was that I was on the verge of making a public scene.  I thought it best that I leave.  There is a prominent sign in both directions that says there is to be NO stopping, standing, parking, or walking for the quarter mile near the eagles nest (the code number is noted on the sign).  The park is concerned that the nesting eagles will be disturbed and not return to nest here.  BUT NO!!!!!!  Like smokers littering anywhere they want, everyone but me was exempt to the posted restriction tonight.  A park ranger came through several times and moved everyone out.  As soon he would be out of site back they would go.     *(&^$%@#%^&

Nikon D-200, 600 mm lens, 1/1250 Sec @ f/4.0, ISO 320, EV +0.33

With the day mostly overcast the light was soft.  The soft light made exposing pretty easy.  Most of my subjects to were at great distances. That required me to use the D-200 on my 600 mm lens.  The net focal length is 900 mm.  Good reach for skittish animals.    The ducks in the photo above were fighting over something.  Maybe just having a family quarrel.  It put my manual focusing skills to the test.  You can see that when I was shooting them it was raining a bit.  Had to push up the ISO a bit and open the lens wide.  

Nikon D-3 24-70 f/2.8 lens, 1/50 sec @ f/13.0, ISO 200, EV -.67

I loved the effect that the mist/steam off the water gave to this scene.  Bad thing is the leading lines go one way and the subject is on the other side of the photo.  Oh well...I even waited a while but the elks never ame around.  I just like the colors and depth.

Nikon D-3, 200-400mm lens, 1/60 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 200, EV-.33

Ok our little secret.  If my wife finds out I will be grounded from Yellowstone.   Just up from Mammoth towards Swan Lake Meadows are a couple of big ponds.  Though they are down from the road pretty far, I heard that bald eagles "picked" fish from them.  This time of year the eagles are very busy feeding the little ones.  So I headed down.  Had my gear in my pack, vitamin water, a granny smith apple and my rain gear.  On the way down I stopped to rest and for a minute.  As soon as I started to walk again, coming over a slight ridge (about 50' away) was this cinnamon black bear.  A little less distance than the park recommended 1oo yards.   The last time I was anticipating the change of my pants when almost kissing a bear, I fell down  and froze.   I did not get a shot of the bear charging me.  Now the last time it was a full size grizzly mom (with three cubs).  This time the bear was a two year old cinnamon black bear.  Not too big?   We were both a little startled.  The photo above is my attempt to get a picture of a bear fifty feet away having a staring contest with me.  No time to set up the tripod.  Just handheld.  I would not normally post a picture with this much motion in the photo.  The two of us had a good talk.  I showed him my monopod and mentioned that I have been in fights before without the monopod and won.  "It's a great defensive tool", I explained.   I'm not sure he had heard too many threats from humans before.   With a small snort and the show of teeth (from the bear) and a grunt from me.  We parted ways.    Next time I will set up the tripod and ask him to wait a second and pose for me.