Has it been a tough winter in Minnesota? Ja, sure ya betcha! Up near Lake Superior we had 84 days that were below zero, Eleven feet of snow, Minus 50 degree windchills, a couple days of minus 40 air temps, and snow on the ground until Mid May. In fact, when we left from Wrenshall on May 11, I still had snow in my ravine! So what’s a little more winter in Yellowstone? Temps ranged from 22 degrees to around 60 degrees, but there was still much residual snow from winter in the Hayden Valley. The Lamar Valley was snow free. It all depended on your elevation.

Twelve-foot high snow banks greeted us in several passes in the Hayden Valley on May 12th! I’m jumping as high as I can and nowhere near the top.

Is there a more beautiful blue in Nature? The Mountain Bluebird actually seems to glow when seen in the right light. Though not technically iridescent, the blue color is created by tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers which scatter incoming light. So we are seeing reflected light, not blue pigment in the feathers. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1250, braced on car window frame]

The Hayden Valley in mid May. Snow-covered and beautiful. [Canon 7D with Sigma 10-20mm lens, f10 at 1/400, handheld]

Ryan Marshik and Sparky dwarfed by a twelve-foot snowbank in the Hayden Valley.

Sandhill Cranes nest in the Park. We found this guy between Mammoth and Norris. I like how the S-curve of his neck matches the curving stream. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f6.3 at 1/6400 (not sure why I had such a high ISO…A mistake for sure), braced on car window frame]

Juvenile Yellow-bellied Marmot. Adorable!

The three above are the very personable Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris), a mountain-dwelling rodent that lives in talus slopes and boulder fields of the western U.S. The closest they get to Minnesota is the Black Hills of South Dakota. Their cousin the Hoary Marmot is found in British Columbia and Washington state (Marmota caligota).

Marmots have a “harem-polygynous” mating system in which the male defends two or three mates at the same time. They hibernate from September to May, which explains why we never see them on our fall trips in late September or early October. They are omnivorous but eat mainly plant material supplementing with grasshoppers, bird’s eggs, etc. Each colony is 10-20 individuals. Marmots can live to 15 years! When alarmed they give a high-pitched whistle, which is how they got their nickname..”Whistle Pig.”

We found out that there is a Great Horned Owl nest near the natural history museum/visitor center at Mammoth…and it has been there for years. We just stumbled upon it when we saw a photographer shooting something and went to investigate. A Black-billed Magpie was mercilessly harassing the owl…from only a foot away! (I got some video). [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1250, tripod]

Male Pronghorn just sitting around chewing its cud…literally. When I watched my video of this buck, you can see the wave in his neck as he regurgitates food into his mouth to chew again. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f7.1 at 1/160, tripod]

It usually pays to stay out in the field until the sun goes down. We found this Coyote hunting the Hayden Valley sagebrush flats in golden light. He came quite close to me as this shot is barely cropped! [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000, Handheld]

He made some magnificent leaps in order to break through the crusty snow to get at small rodents but all were too far away for good photos…but I did get some video and this HIGHLY cropped image.

Living in northern Minnesota, there are few ducks we don’t regularly encounter. But this May trip to Yellowstone National Park was special in that there I had a chance to photograph three species that I’ve never photographed before…Harlequin Duck, Cinnamon Teal and Barrow’s Goldeneye. All gorgeous western waterfowl that are rarely seen in the Midwest.

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/60 (Why? I must have been shooting video and switched to stills forgetting to up the shutter speed), tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. I used a very slow shutter speed to make the water silky smooth but still wanted the ducks sharp. A different look. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f18 at 1/5, ISO 100, tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. They sleep/doze in the middle of the rapids, all the while being splashed in the face with water! [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/60, tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. I chose a slower shutter speed to highlight the color in the water. It took many frames but most of the Harlequins are fairly sharp. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f14 at 1/8, tripod]

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. Harlequins are like “Dippers of the Duck World”…they dive and gather food underwater in fast moving rivers and rapids. Fun to watch them moving UPSTREAM in fast water. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/250, flash with Better Beamer, handheld]

Barrow’s Goldeneye in flight on the Yellowstone River. Not my best duck-in-flight shot…it’s turned away from me a bit…but my best Barrow’s Goldeneye flight shot! We have Common Goldeneyes in Minnesota. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000 (to freeze the wings in flight), handheld]

American Wigeon at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/2000 (to freeze the wings in flight), handheld]

Cinnamon Teal male in the Hayden Valley. This was my closest and best sighting of a Cinnamon Teal ever! Gorgeous! I crawled over the snow to get close enough for a shot. Love the red eyes too. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1600 (just in case he flew), handheld]

I was quite surprised to come across these two White-faced Ibis in an open stream in the snow-covered Hayden Valley. I did not know they migrated through the park. Strange to see a tropical looking bird in this mountain valley! They are gorgeous with iridescent green and burgundy plumage. [Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1000, handheld]

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens, f5.6 at 1/1600, handheld]