Clare 🐻‍❄️❄️

A bighorn sheep ram stares directly at the camera in front of a blurred canyon wall. He has large horns that are just starting to curl back inwards towards his face. Only his head, neck, and shoulders are visible in frame and take up half of the frame.

Portrait of a bighorn ram 🐏

#mammals #wildlifephotography

Two burrowing owls standing next to a raised hole in the ground. Both are facing to the left in full profile. The female is standing on the ground and the male is standing on her back, flapping his wing to stay in the air above her.

Lovebirds

#birds #wildlifephotography

I’m so sorry *hugs* 💔

I hope so too! Unfortunately federal cuts in the U.S. are going to make it harder for federal, state, and tribal biologists to conserve the ferrets going forward.

A black-footed ferret standing on top of a prairie dog hole. The ferret has a long body with short, legs, and a long, thin tail. The ferret’s head is turned 3/4 to the camera and you can see the characteristic black “bandit” mask across the eyes. The prairie dog hole is made of dirt piled in a raised mound off the ground, creating a small plateau with a large hole in the center.

Black-footed ferrets are one of the rarest mammals in North America. They are critically endangered with fewer than 500 wild ferrets across their former range.

I was very lucky to see this ferret hunting prairie dogs outside of Denver on Friday morning! #mammals #wildlifephotography

A lot of my college professors (for wildlife biology) dedicated the last class of the semester to “why I still have hope” presentations since everything else we’d learned was so bleak.

An orange/red blood moon during a lunar eclipse. The moon stands out against a dark background, with a few stars visible.

From 2022, because we had a winter storm rolling in last night 🌕

#nightsky #lunareclipse #bloodmoon

Two sea lions fighting. They are in shallow water, and you can see their chests and shoulders out of the water. One is leaning backwards, away from the attacking male, with his mouth open wide and eyes closed. The attacking male has his eyes and mouth open, lunging forward to try to bite the rival male.

Happy #TwosDay from these rival New Zealand sea lions!

#mammals #wildlifephotography

Two sandhill cranes stand in the foreground with hundreds of other cranes behind them. The large crane on the left stands straight up with a profile view, while the bird to the right has its head up, but crouches in a slightly hunched position as it walks towards the other bird. The birds are about 4 ft tall with bright red foreheads. The birds in the back are heavily blurred so that the viewer can only make out vague shapes. There is a large, snow-covered mountain well in the background, and the birds are in a plowed grain field.

Greater sandhill cranes are coming through the San Luis Valley! These birds winter in southern NM, then pass through the valley in March to fuel up before continuing north to their breeding grounds in the northern U.S. & Canada.

📍Monte Vista Nationa Wildlife Refuge

#birds #wildlifephotography

They get really floofy in the winter and look a lot bigger! But the pointy ears and narrow muzzle are still classic yote.

A coyote with a fluffy winter coat runs down a snow-covered road while staring at the camera. The coyotes tail is down, but the ears are pricked up and forward, paying attention to me as they run past. The coyote fills a quarter of the frame, and the background is a large bank of snow that takes up the rest of the frame.

A coyote using the road to travel to avoid expending more energy through heavy snow.

#mammals #wildlifephotography #protectpublicland

Some more info: I travel and hike a lot with my camera + lenses so portability is key for me. I’m a little worried about the weight of telephoto f-Mount lenses.

Debating making the jump to mirrorless—wildlife photographers who switched or stayed with dslr cameras, what do you recommend?

I currently use the Nikon D850 with the 200-500mm zoom lens, and I want to upgrade to a prime lens. If I’m going to spend the money this may be a good time to switch? 😬

Two bull bison walking in single file down a snowy road. The front bull’s face is covered in snow and he’s looking directly at the camera. The second bull’s face is hidden behind the first bull, but his horn and body are visible. Both bison’s backs are also covered in snow.

Sharing the road 🦬

#mammals #wildlifephotography

A red fox’s head and shoulders fill almost the whole frame of the photo. The fox’s head is tilted upwards a little bit as I took this photo while he was in the process of lifting his head to sniff the air. His huge, triangular ears are pricked forwards and he’s looking directly at the camera. This positioning gives him a very “cute” and curious expression.

I didn’t see any foxes on my October trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton until I spotted a family of 5 in Colorado on my drive home. This one was happy to pose for me while the others played in the bushes nearby. #mammals #wildlifephotography

That is so cool!!

Haha oh no! I like hearing them 😂

Thank you!

I love the raven one! Such a cool perspective.

Me too! So cute

A pika is large in frame and turned slightly away from the camera, giving a 3/4 view of its face. Its visible eye is looking at the camera and its mouth is open in a small “o” shape making their characteristic loud “chirping” alarm call. It has soft-looking, fluffy fur and large, round ears. The pika is standing in a field of small to medium granite rocks.

An American pika chirping in Rocky Mountain National Park #mammals #wildlifephotography

A mule deer buck, large in frame, staring at the camera. His huge ears are pricked forward and he has large antlers with 7 visible, branching tines. His legs are out of the frame, but in the background you can see he is standing on a snow-covered meadow in from of a stand of pine trees and aspens. A few grass inflorescences rise up next to him in the frame.

We’re right in the middle of the mule deer rut, and this guy made sure not to let a nearby female get to far away while grazing #mammals #wildlifephotography

A white-tailed buck is small in the frame, lying in yellow, fall grass. His head is turned at a 3/4 angle from the camera with his ears pricked forward. He has a medium to large rack with 7 points visible, although he was an 8-point buck. The field of yellow grass is dotted with orange-red bushes, and there are a few, small remaining patches of green grass going up the hill behind the buck.

This is one of my favorite fall color shots from last year! A white-tailed buck rests during the rut in the CSKT Bison Range in MT #mammals

A breeching orca whale with its whole body out of the water parallel to the surface. The orca is facing away from the camera so you can see the dorsal fin and blowhole, as well as partial white eye patches and white underside. The left pectoral fin is pointing at the water, but the right pectoral fin is hidden from view. The water is calm and you can see the shoreline of Vancouver Island in the background covered with pine trees and a thin strip of rocky shoreline.

A young transient orca having a whale of a time just off Vancouver Island #mammals

#mammals

While watching this quail for awhile, I sensed something behind me, and turned to see this guy trying (and ultimately failing) to hunt a rabbit!

A male California quail walks across a dirt road toward a patch of dry, yellow grass. He has a black face outlined with white stripes and a large, comma-shaped crest projecting from his forehead. He is mostly grey in color, but has a rich, brown-colored chest with white stripes.

A male California quail struts across a dirt road in Carmel Valley, CA. I had to wait very quietly next to this path for a long time before the quails felt comfortable enough to come out of the trees again. #birds 🪶

A bright yellow full moon in the top left corner of the photo in front of a sunset. The sunset is subtle—the sky is cloudless and tinged pink at the top and blue at the bottom. There are small mountains in the foreground of the photo covered in pine trees and patchy snow. Behind these mountains you can see the beginning of the eastern Colorado plains.

Friday’s super moon rising over the Colorado foothills. Taken with my iPhone.

A standing mule deer fawn staring at the camera in a field of big sagebrush. The fawn still has his juvenile pelage (orange with white spots) and is alert with her ears pricked forward. If you zoom in you can see that he’s got her tongue sticking out very slightly in a small “blep.” The fawns’ hindquarters are obscured behind a sagebrush so only the shoulders, front legs, and head are visible. The big sagebrush is a pretty silver-green all around the fawn.

This sweet fawn still had his juvenile pelage in mid October. By now, he’ll have lost his spots and be transitioning into a fuzzy, winter fawn. #mammals #wildlifephotography

A bull elk is running through a meadow with his head tilted up to the sky just left of the middle of the frame. He is in front of a silhouette of pine trees, and he is outlined by the light of the sun rising behind him. The whole photo has a burnt orange tint due to the smoke that is visible in the sky above the treeline.

A bull elk runs through a meadow in the early morning light. The smoke from the Pack Trail fire hung very heavy over the valley that day.
📍Jackson, WY #mammals