When is a lake not a lake?

In winter I live a 10 minute walk away from a lake.

In summer I live a 10 minute walk away from a field.

And twice a year as one shifts into the other I live a 10 minute walk away from a marsh.

The marsh time is my favourite, and the horses, which always have the choice of dry land, often favour the marsh as well.

I've taken some snaps of the wildlife of the lake/field/marsh over the years, perhaps most surprisingly the kingfishers which appeared for a week or two in two of those years, but it was only recently I thought about making more of a project out of it, now I have more time.  So here is instalment 1, spring marsh.

As you look out over the grass small (mostly) mounds stand out.  At first they are bare, a result of my appearance, but wait a minute and the occupants sneak back.

It's nice to see coots at peace for a change, but as always they can manufacture a squabble anywhere.

Interestingly when a horse walks up - much nearer than I ever am - the birds remain glued to their nests.

Other occupants of the marsh also ignore the horses.

The egrets are a bit skittish, but come in if you are still and quiet, breeding colours evident on some.

The grey herons are more nervous and tend to hold back,

and the little grebes are …… well they're like all little grebes, shy and inquisitive at the same time, popping up unpredictably and revelling in my inability to get a decent snap.

The swans built a massive mound, which like most of the nests is now vacant.

The odd coot egg seems to have been predated, probably (whisper it) by a corvid of some kind,

but I hope at least some youngsters have made it through and headed for the nearby reen which rarely dries up.  The lapwings are still chasing the crows, so I hope that's a positive sign for them

and the shelduck are paired up, but not apparently yet hidden down rabbit holes.

The rabbits watched them, but the fox was a few fields away, so they were ok for now.

A lone greylag stood on a coot mound yesterday for minutes, looking around then called a few times before wandering off, still alone.

To see larger versions just click on a picture.

Top dogs

No wolves on this trip, but again some great times with canids,

The best of the encounters were with coyotes, but we had one day when foxes seemed to be all around - maybe not as close as this one in 2018 ………

but with a big lens you could still get some nice shots.

One even crept into my long lens flora shot. (What do you mean mis-focus).

The coyotes though supplied the closest and longest encounters - some of them are just so accommodating.

One was exploring a small island near the road, but I felt didn't make the most of the chance.  I hadn't realised how close it was when I got out of the Bombardier and in hindsight I wish I'd grabbed the 100-400 to allow a bit more space.  Still you can feel the apprehension before it walked the log.

My favourite was the one we watched hunting in a meadow.  Being in one of the more thermal areas there were patches of vegetation peeking through the snow which added a bit of colour, and I just loved the way it systematically worked the area, listening, sniffing, poking it's nose into gaps and even catching a few rodents.

Then to top it all it came and had a closer look at us.  Just brilliant.

If you want to get a feel for what the Yellowstone experience is like check out this video by Steve Mattheis - https://youtu.be/56t6TKzqm_k  He is based one of the Parks making up the Greater Yellowstone area.

If you like this one look also at his bison in the snowstorm video - again may help you understand why this place has really captured me.  https://youtu.be/0vM7MHqQh50

Yellowstone 2019 - Part 2

More whitewalkers …..

On my first trip to Yellowstone last year one of the disappointments was the lack of really cold weather.  We had bison in snow, but not in the hoar frost.  3 days into this years trip we headed down the Lamar Valley at dawn, and the dashboard temperature reading just kept falling.  By the time we stopped to snap this inversion we had hit -32 Celsius.

Further down the road we found the old bull again, and I pointed a lens at my first 'proper' heavily frosted bison.  He was lying down at first. a warm brown eye contrasting with the white crusted face (the version here is too small to see - trying clicking the image for a larger view).

He got to his feet allowing a range of shots although in hindsight I didn't really get the best angle, not low enough - sloping land, deep snow and the need to keep out of other snappers sight lines were part of the explanation, but I think I missed a trick.  Not sure if I prefer the colour version or the black and white view.  Again the detail is best seen on larger views.

We never otherwise quite reached the dizzying depths of that morning, but there were a couple of other chances to get shots of frosted bison in the Lamar Valley.  These were all single animals, and the biggest frustration tended to be the habit of a feeding bison to keep it's nose pretty firmly nailed to the floor - not unlike badgers; you just have to wait until you can grab a snatched shot.

When we were in the interior the temperatures had picked up a bit again, but we did get one session with some bison in a thermal area, the mist condensing and freezing providing that sugar coating again.  The downside was the relative lack of snow on the warm ground ……..

but by lying down (and a small amount of cloning) I got what I actually think is my favourite frosty bison shot to date.  Most of the time I like the views that emphasise the power of these animals, but this view is a much more peaceful perspective with a bit more of a story.