Statistically, it shouldn’t be the case. But each winter, we have a flock of flickers at our feeders. I’m not talking a half dozen or even a dozen, right now out our windows, Sharon & I count 27! They are so much fun to watch and even more so to photograph. They are incredibly vocal, that’s until either the Coops or Gos appear in the canopy, and especially when the Pileated lands on the feeder. Then it’s silent, until they are gone. With all of them around, some checking out old cavities, some making new, in and out of the owl boxes, we expect to have them nest on the property. But so far, not a one. In fact, once winter lets go of the land, they vacate the property. They come and go with the snow.

The Pine Grosbeak is a gorgeous, large bird that visits the Bitterroot very infrequently in the winter. I’ve photographed them in Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and this one in Minnesota. When I heard they’d been seen recently in feeders up the road, I got real excited. The current weather seems to be pushing them to me. I’ve been glued to the feeders looking for that spectacular red to appear. I’m patiently waiting.

They’ve put on crazy amounts of fat, their coats are thick and luscious, I’m ready for winter and so are the Bison! Snow and cold has been promised here in the west, we were to wake up to 1-3″ of fresh white but the rain gauge says less than 0.01 fell overnight. The game camera at our water feature captures a parade of critters coming in for the free water. The cycle so many take for granted is a fragile one and our wildlife can’t run to the store and by a bottle of water (whose plastic bottle goes into a landfill). Some regions are flooding which typically don’t receive much moisture, other locals that are normally wringing wet, can barely scrape up a drop. Winter is an important part of our world, its moisture a key to life. And so we wait.

First its mate hopped up on the rock, next it did, both taking a turn at the puddle in the bowl of the rock. The second Coyote kept an eye on me as it took a long, long drink. It’s winter and some water is locked up in ice already. Other water long ways from a creek or river is, well, rather bad. I know I wouldn’t want a long drink from a puddle Bison have been at. Animals need water just like us and clean water (by their standards) is a treat. From my vantage point, when they jumped up on the rock, I was wondering what they were doing. Once their head went down, it was obvious. Free water!

Great Gray Owls had a good year with lots being seen in Montana and by most folks in Yellowstone. With that said, when one has the opportunity to photograph a Great Gray, we try to make the most of that opportunity. We want to come back with that prize photo of this spectacular member of our wild heritage. That can be easier said than done at times. When they are hunting as this individual was, they are on the move, it takes very little if any, “push” for them to move to the next perch. Since they are hunting open meadows from the trees on the ecotone, they tend to perch in photographically busy locations. Nothing is more frustrating than having a Great Gray surrounded by branches. What to do?

In the perfect world, you can zoom with your feet. Getting closer is a great way crop out those busy elements. That wasn’t an option in this case. That obnoxious branch in the lower right corner (bottom photo) was driving me nuts! Then there were the dead pine needle clump and finally the interesting trunk on the left. I couldn’t get closer physically but I could optically. Without hesitation I added the Z2x to the Z600f4TC, which was already at 840mm. Shooting now at 1680mm, I moved a tad to my right to grab as much darkness as I could (exposure range is a great tool for isolating a subject) and went vertical. With that, I made the most of this very special moment with an incredible critter. It all came together in the camera with the magic of isolation.