It sure feels like winter is over in Yellowstone.  Day time highs are warm, the snow is melting off the roads, most of the facilities in the park are now closed, and the remainder of the roads will close in a few days.   I haven't posted much lately so I thought I'd post a few photos to recap the winter.

Above is a bull elk near Blacktail Creek.  This guy was biggest of the six bulls hanging in this area.  The image was made with a Canon 5D Mk2 and a 500 mm lens.

This shot of a young moose peering around a tree was made in Silver Gate, just outside the Northeast Entrance.  I saw four moose there on this particular day.  I can't remember the equipment I used, but it was shot out the car window.

Above is a Golden Eagle seen in Lamar Valley.  This guy was actually just on the side of the road.  I looked away for just a second and the eagle flew off.  I hope the guy in the car in front of me got a shot of that.  Photo made with a Canon 50D and 500mm lens out the car window.

And lastly, another wolf from one of my lucky wolf encounters.  This was shot with a Canon 50D and 500mm lens.  I can't remember if I used a TC on this one or not.  Equipment was mounted on a tripod.

On a side note, my Europe trip has been cancelled, so I am taking orders as usual.  However, I'm not much in a position to take photos right now, so Photos of the Week for a couple of weeks will probably be older images.

With warmer temperatures across Yellowstone (it was in the 40s today at Old Faithful) and minimal snow pack, Yellowstone's bears have begun emerging from their dens.  The Park Service has put out a statement, Yellowstone's Bears are Waking Up .  In it, it states that bear tracks have been seen on the Blacktail Plateau.  This region is a bear management area and is closed in the early spring each year due to bear activity.  I've also heard unconfirmed rumors that a bear has been seen at Beaver Ponds, near Mammoth Hot Springs, and down at the South Entrance.  I've posted a couple of bear photos to kick off the up coming bear season!  These photos are not recent.

The image at the top of this entry was taken a few years ago in Mary Bay.  The young griz looks almost disproportionate with his long snout and large ears.  This image was taken from my vehicle with a long telephoto lens.  The image below is of a cinnamon colored black bear on Dunraven Pass a few September's ago.  Again, the image was taken with a long lens.  The backlighting was really nice and I really liked the result.

With the winter season about to come to a close for me, I thought I'd post a few photos of some of the wildlife scene in the park.  The above image is a grey wolf that crossed the road near where I was parked.  I rolled down my window and shot through it, using the window to hold the lens steady.  This image was made with a Canon 5D mk 2 shot at 500mm.  The wolf crossed the road near the Slough Creek turn off.

Bald eagles can usually be found near winter kill or wolf kill carcasses.  These two bald eagles were in this dead tree at Mammoth waiting for a turn to feed on a wolf kill carcass.  Again, in order not to scare off the eagles, I shot through my car window, braced against the window, using a Canon 50D and shot at 500mm.

These bison were blocking the road in Lamar Valley.  Often when stuck behind cars due to animals on the road, I pull out my camera while waiting.  I shot with the window down using a Canon 5D mk 2 and zoom lens.   The near bison was on the far side of the road while the distant bison was out in the valley.

And finally, this coyote, was shot in Little America late one afternoon.  I used a Canon 50D  and 500mm lens to capture this image.  Again, the image was shot from the car.  The coyote was howling to its mate, which was further down the road.  I shoot from the car alot for several reasons.  First, if the animal is close to the road, it's safer for me and the animal if I stay in the car.  Second, animals in Yellowstone are more accustomed to seeing vehicles so they are less likely to flee and act natural if there is a car pulled over on the side of the road.  Countless times I've been photographing this way only to have another car pull up and the occupants climb out causing the animal to run off.

I spent the past weekend up in the Northern Range of Yellowstone so I could do some wildlife photography.  My goal was for whatever critters I was lucky enough to see, but I had heard of a bobcat hanging out near Phantom Lake.  As much as I'd love to photograph one in the winter, I still struck out.  But I did get lucky with wolves this week, for the first time this winter.

One afternoon, while driving back towards Slough Creek, a grey wolf came down a hill near where I was parked and crossed the bridge over the Lamar River.  She was in heat and was followed by several other wolves, but they never approached the road.  Once the wolf was safely across the bridge, I went across too and parked in a pullout there.  The wolf walked about 100 yards off the road, found a place to nap, and slept for almost two hours.  I watched this by myself for about 90 minutes or so before others finally noticed her.  When she awoke, she howled to the other wolves for several minutes before moving off to rejoin them.  I was going to use the above image, "Winter's Call" as this week's Photo of the Week at www.travelsinbearcountry.com, but after going through some of the other images from that encounter, I've opted to use something else.  Meanwhile, here's two other images from that afternoon.

All of these images were made with a Canon 50D using a Canon 500mm L lens and 1.4 teleconverter mounted on a tripod with a gimbal head.

It really feels like the slow days of winter here right now.  It's been cloudy, warm (by Yellowstone standards), and very little snow has fallen.  Plus I've been sick for the last three weeks, which has slowed me down too.  But I'm finally feeling a bit better and I'm headed out to Lamar Valley for a couple of days and hopefully will come back with some nice wildlife shots.  The image above was made on a cold morning a few weeks ago.  The Firehole River is backlit and reflecting the colors of the rising sun.

The image above was made near sunset.  I never realized this area had a name until I photographed it and then looked it up in my "geyser reference book".  The above area is referred to as the Chain Lakes and is a series of hot springs that have been known to erupt to considerable size.  No eruptions on this day, but some nice late day backlighting and steam.

The third image illustrating the use of back light shows two pine tree saplings barely peaking through the snow.  These two saplings isolated against the empty vastness of the snow drew my attention as I skiied past, but the backlighting gave the image depth and character.