These pint size balls of fluff are one of the funniest critters you’ll spend time with! The Burrowing Owl is unique in so many ways, tops is its living in “burrows,” underground. Whether modifying an abandoned burrow or digging its own, this diurnal owl can fly with ease yet prefers to walk and live under the earth. Their burrow complex can have many tunnels, a couple of entrances and placed is the oddest of places. That brings me to these goofballs.

We found about a dozen (hard to count when they play wack-a-mo) at a sports complex last week. Taking care not to disturb them the first time we ventured to their burrows, we were quickly rewarded by their presence. As the sun slowly sank in the west, it got later in the day. School was soon out and soccer practice was in the throws of starting up. Soon, green soccer balls were rolling on the field and up to the burrows. My first thought was, “There goes the shooting, the owls will go underground and that will be it.” I was so wrong, rather, the goofy owls seemed to be watching the balls roll within inches of their burrow and continued to watch as a munchkin ran over to kick it back unto the field! Seriously, they seem to be actively watching the soccer practice! They are a hoot to watch, even more to photograph and at this sports complex left me thinking the earth has eyes.

I love Wood Storks! They are such a large, goofy, gorgeous, gregarious bird that is a wildlife photographer’s best friend. When I have the opportunity to photograph them, I’m all over it. And when they are the right height to place the morning sun behind them, I can’t move fast enough to find the right individual that morning for the brief sun shoot. What’s the right one? I want the sun just as it says hello for the day. I want a Stork that is not sleeping, somewhat animated. Then I need a place to stand to merge the two elements in the frame. Yesterday morning I got really close to what I’m wanting, excited to see what today brings as I have a real bad fireball attraction.

All the blood you see here is all there ever was. The silence you hear from the photo is all the sound present just seconds before the cow took its last breath. The Gray Wolf is a very efficient ender of life, it was hard to tell if the cow even felt all those jaws barring down on it. I’m not sure what I was expecting to see, or hear in the takedown. Perhaps more like the lions taking down the zebra when we were in Africa perhaps. If you weren’t looking in the right direction, the peace and calm that is Yellowstone in winter are all your senses presented. It has been a few weeks since the takedown and yet I can’t stop examining the photos, thinking through the moment. That one cow fed twenty-four wolves as well as permitted the rest of the Bison herd to move off to safety. It’s a process that’s brutal and beautiful all at the same time. It keeps me rather focused, it’s just seconds now.

Common Ravens mate for life, the male is the smaller one on the left. Sharon & I call them Edgar and have a deep affection for them because all the decades we have enjoyed their antics. Whenever we see them, wherever, we stop and watch. Last week was no different when this pair seemed to having quite the conversation. At least, the male was busy talking, the female was just listening. It was a long conversation.

I’ve been desiring and chasing photos of bird’s breath for a long time. It sounds so simple until that’s your focus. This last spring I spend many hours for example with Yellow-headed Blackbirds trying for the shot. You basically need a dew point low enough so you can see your breath. Then, you need a darkish background so the breath can be seen. The most important thing is you need to lay the finger on the shutter release. The breath travels real fast and catches the right “puff (cause some shot they appear to have been smoking cigarettes). It was simply a delightful twenty minutes but I’m left wondering what was the conversation?