Animal Dreams

My short trip to Yellowstone was all about the animals. We have been there so many times that we don't even go see the geysers much anymore.



















I have a real affinity with Ravens so I love trying to get their pictures.















I love this close up of their feathers. For a black bird there is so much variation in the color of their feathers.














This is a Great Grey Owl, I was excited to see one of these. They are not really rare in numbers but we have tried finding them before but with little success, This was a first for us so that was really exciting.















We saw lots of bears. This black bear was just on the side of the road grazing through a meadow.















This is a grizzly, if you click and make the photo bigger you can see his paw on the left and those long claws. He had a tussle with a porcupine and has quills in that paw. When he climbed down that ravine he didn't put any weight on it. The ranger said he will figure out a way to remove them.













Here he is trying to maneuver himself to get down the hill side.












This is the same grizzly just grazing on the hillside.















We saw about 6-7 wolves at different times. One of these days i am going to get a close up wolf picture.













The same wolf a little closer. Usually I don't even attempt a picture, just look at the animal through the scope. This wolf was closer and my lens is pretty good so at least you can tell its a wolf. This wolf is from the Druid pack.














There were many Pronghorn or Antelopes close by. Usually you don't see them close to the road. They looked really healthy this year.















You always see Buffalo in Yellowstone and there were many in the areas that we traveled. They too looked pretty healthy this year compared to last year when the winter was really bad. There is something about seeing these beasts in the wild that brings back the old west when they were plentiful across the plains.














Some of the females had babies that looked just like this one. They are really cute to see. They always stick really close to their mothers.













We saw this marmot sitting on a rock like he was posing so of course I took a few shots of him too.












This is a bull elk whose antlers are in velvet. As they get bigger he will rub off the velvet on trees.














This was a yearling elk eating on the side of the road. I snapped this right out my window.
















This is a coyote and he was punching on things in this field and moving back and forth like he was hunting something.

We also saw some Ospreys sitting on their nest which was way too far away for pictures. The Sandhill Cranes were not on their nest yet. The 2 Great Horned Owl Nests we used to see were vacant of birds this year. Perhaps they have moved. I hoped you all enjoyed seeing these animals. I never tire of seeing them.