Yellowstone

I arrived in Yellowstone yesterday and spent today exploring the Lamar Valley area.  There are almost no cars on the road this early in the season.  Roads over the high passes like Dun Raven and Sylvan are still closed for a few more weeks.  I report to work tomorrow and will be moving to Lake Yellowstone.  We will be in training for ten days and open the Lake Hotel on May 20th.

Found this healthy looking black bear hanging out near Tower Junction.

A group of Big Horn Sheep were along the road just beyond the bridge over the

Yellowstone River. I'm not sure what this ram was eating.

Once the Hotel is open and I'm on a schedule I plan to post an entry each week.  If you would like to receive email notice please go to the blog site and enter your email there.  From there you will receive an email confirmation that you will need to respond to.  I will be posting additional pictures to this link.

More Babies from Circle B Bar Reserve

Another Sunday morning trip to the Circle B provided an opportunity to meet more new arrivals.  This Sand Hill Crane is growing up fast but still staying close to mom and dad.  They can usually be found along the Eagles Roost trail or on Wading Bird Way

This Red Shouldered Hawk's nest is on the Alligator Alley trail just before the bend at the lake.  It is some distance off the trail.  There are three babies in the nest.  The below picture was digiscoped using a Kowa spotting scope and a digital SLR camera.

I will be leaving next week for a summer in Yellowstone Nat'l Park.  I plan to post a picture of the week each week while there.  If you'd like to receive email notices of these posts please enter your email address at the top of my Blog.

More of the Babies at Circle B Bar Reserve

Another great day at the Circle B.  We found the Sand Hill Crane family along the Heron Hideout Trail.  It is amazing how accommodating they can be for photographers.  From Heron Hideout we could see four Bald Eagles circling over the marsh.  This was the first time I've see this many together.

We then headed down Alligator Alley to check on the baby Barred Owl in the old tree snag. It was there right on top for all to see.  After some time mom came swooping in with lunch.  Mom spent some time showing the little one what she had then flew to the ground to consume her morsel.  Little one would get lunch a little later.  At this same spot we also observed a Red Shouldered Hawk nest.  Once in a while two little white heads would pop up about the nest edge. 

 We did have a little scare when a six foot gator crossed the trail within ten feet of our position.  Luckily one of our members noticed it as it began to come up on the trail so we were all ready to run.  It crossed the trail quickly diving into the water on the other side.  As our cameras were all focused on the owl we quickly tried to get a shot of the gator.  This is an untouched photo of him taken at a focal length of 135mm. 

Time for babies at the Circle B Bar Reserve

On Sunday we found the two baby Barred Owls on Alligator Alley near the bend at the lake. Getting a good photograph is hard because of the trees between our vantage point and the nest. We did briefly see both chicks and one of the adults.

I couldn't pass up this picture of the Blue Heron keeping a watchful eye on the nearby gator.

While watching for the owls on Wednesday this Green Heron was begging to get his chance with the camera. 

And finally my favorite picture of the week is a week old Sand Hill Crane with mom close by.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

I'm also watching two hawk nests (a Red Shouldered and possibly a Northern Harrier) and hope to post pictures soon of chicks. 

Owls at Circle B Bar Reserve

Two weeks ago I visited the Circle B on Sunday morning.  After a few hours and only a few pictures an owl flew overhead.  I saw him land nearby so got the picture below.  He flew off quickly so I continued to look around in nearby trees and was surprised to find the young owl perched nearby.  I watched him for over an hour (and he watched me)

                                                               
                                                        Great Horned Owls

Click on pictures to enlarge



Cumberland Island, Georgia

Last week I had the opportunity to spend four days on Cumberland Island, GA.  It was great to spend time exploring Georgia's southern most barrier island.  A big thanks to Bill for allowing Kevin and I to accompany him on his 16th spring vacation on the island.  Also a big thanks to Kevin for sharing his extensive knowledge of birding.  Our final bird count will likely reach 40+ and there were also the wild horses, pigs, racoons, alligators, etc.

 We observed several flocks of turkey with these two impressive Toms strutting there stuff near the southern tip of the island.

One of our best finds was a pair of Oyster Catchers along the beach.  They were beautiful birds we observed on two occasions.

To see more pictures from Cumberland Island visit Cumberland Island Pics

Circle B Bar Reserve

 Earlier this week we visited the Circle B to see what was new.  Along Marsh Rabbit Run we found a nest of new alligator hatchlings.  We counted 14 but there were likely more out of sight.  Mother gator was close by but did not appear threatened by our pressence.  Further along the trail we found this Blue Heron trying to consume a banded water snake. 

I can just never pass up photographing the Bitterns along the same trail.

 This Anhinga had just speared dinner.  He was eventually able to swallow it whole. Amazing..

Remember to see pictures full size just click on the picture.