Tales From The Field: Baby Marmots In Yellowstone National Park

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In June of 2005, I spent some time in Yellowstone National Park, doing what most visitors do….driving around wildlife spotting. On this day I’d gotten going fairly early in the morning so when I pulled into the parking area at Sheepeater’s Cliff, I had it all to myself, at least as far as other humans.

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I got out of the car with my camera and had started to walk towards the basalt cliff formation when I saw movement. A yellow-bellied marmot! I hadn’t seen one in the park before, much less been able to get good photos. And not just one, but three! A mother with her kits. All I had to do was slowly sit down and watch the show. Here are some of my favorite shots from that special morning.

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The youngsters started to play and they were a riot! I was in plain sight but they just carried on as if I wasn’t there.

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They heard something and ran back up to mom.

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But almost immediately started up again.

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Back to the ground for a wrestling match.

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Ouch!

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Payback.

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Back up onto the rocks and a little tidying up.

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This is when you mentally say “Thank you” to your model.

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Back down to the ground and time for some King of the Rock.

Then I heard a car pull in behind me. Fair enough. Heard a door close and footsteps. And some guy walks straight past me towards the marmots with a dinky point and shoot camera. And in an instant they were all gone into the rocks, leaving the guy standing there apparently too dumb or uninformed to realize what he’d done. Needless to say I was pretty irritated at him for interrupting and scaring them off because he couldn’t keep his distance and didn’t take a cue from what I was doing.  But at least I’d already gotten a bunch of great photos.

The rule of thumb in watching any wild animal is that if you do anything to alter its behavior you’re too close. Period. Non-negotiable. We can come and go as we please. The places where people see wildlife are the only homes they have and it and they need to be respected. I understand the temptation to want to get close, but anyone who has done any amount of animal watching knows about “the one step too many”. Please don’t take it.

The reward for patience and stillness…

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Tales From The Field: A Stroll Through Egan’s Creek Greenway, Fernandina Beach, Florida

trail
The starting point of my walk

Not all good tales come from exotic locales. You don’t have to have a passport to get to somewhere worthwhile. And good adventures don’t all have to be exciting, much less life-threatening. Just getting out into nature wherever you live or travel to can yield fun, amusing and interesting stories. I’m known for my adventures in Mongolia, but I love to get out in nature and animal watch wherever I am. For instance, last March I spent over a week exploring southern Georgia and also some of the northern Florida barrier islands like Amelia Island and the town of Fernandina Beach, Florida, which turns out to have a wonderful and clearly much-loved community amenity, Egan’s Creek Greenway, a park braided with trails that run right through the town. Kudos to the townspeople who had the will and vision to set aside this natural area. You can read more about my March 2016 trip here and here.

We live in a rural coastal county in northern California, where the biggest reptile one is likely to encounter are large but harmless gopher snakes or a watch-your-fingers-cause-they-bite Pacific giant salamander. So it was a bit of stopper to see this sign upon entering what is essentially a town park…

gater sign

map
I walked most of the way to the northern end and back.

It was late afternoon and the light was getting better minute by minute.

which trail

The trail split. I followed the one to the left, saving the one along the stream for the way back.

flower

It was March but a few wildflowers were already blooming.

plants

I really liked the three different textures of the grass, water plant, and trees.

bunnies

I saw a movement around twenty yards ahead. I had my long lens so was able to get some good photos of what I believe are marsh rabbits (Silvilagus palustris). I noticed that they stayed in the shade, which makes sense for a prey animal. They are similar in appearance and size to the brush rabbits we have here in Humboldt County.

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Turtles! This was a big deal for me since I’d never seen any in the wild before other than sea turtles in Hawaii. They are yellow belly sliders (Trachemys scripta scripta).

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These were to the right of the ones in the first photo, all catching some last rays before sundown.

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I had learned about this trail while chatting with my Airbnb host and this was my only chance to check it out. I couldn’t have come at a better time since the light was great and there was almost no one else around.

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I came upon a great egret in soft cool light.

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It took off and I got a good shot of it in flight.

log

After that sign at the trailhead, this log stopped me for an instant.

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I came to another open area adjacent to a deep water-filled depression where the trails went off in different directions, I was getting pretty close to being back to where I’d started. I happened to look down into the pond…

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And what do you know? An alligator! At least six feet long, also catching the last of the day’s sun.

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Can you spot the gator?

bunny

I walked on and a short time later came upon another grazing bunny who quickly hopped into the brush. I caught up to where I thought he’d gone and there he was, holding very still.

cardinal

A few minutes later I spotted this male cardinal. We don’t have these where I live so I always get a kick out of seeing them even though I know they’re quite common.

feron and turtles

A short distance more and I was out of the greenway into the open and here was a big pond with not only a great blue heron (we do have them here on the west coast, too), but  more turtles!

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As I photographed the heron and turtles, I spotted something in the sky. It was a red-tailed hawk circling around. I took a lot of photos and finally got a few of the bird as it turned and caught the light.

What a day. But there was one more treat in store.

Palm warbler

As I walked back to the parking area I spotted a small bird hopping around in the chain link fence and managed to get this one photo. It’s a palm warbler, a new species for me.

The whole walk was at most three hours. I had nothing in mind, just to explore a new area and see what was there. What places are there where you live that you’ve never gotten around to exploring? We tend to take where we live for granted, but nature is ever-changing and no walk or hike will ever be exactly the same. If you’ve discovered a local gem where you live tell me about it in the comments!

Art And Memories From The Susan K. Black Foundation Workshop In Dubois, Wyoming, Sept. 2016

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Mt. Moran; pen and ink, grey felt tip brush on paper

I got back home at midnight last Saturday from two days in Grand Tetons National Park and five days at the 15th Annual Susan K. Black Foundation workshop. Both were a resounding success. You can read about my time in the park here. This post is about the workshop, which I’ve attended four times in the past and plan to go to next year.

All the previous instructors had been invited and almost all of them where there, including nationally known artists like James Gurney, John and Suzie Seerey-Lester, Greg Beecham, Mort Solberg, David Rankin, Jeanne Mackenzie, Andrew Denman, Guy Combes, Ann Trusty Hulsey and John Hulsey, all of whom I know personally or have studied with or both.

One of the main events is the Quick Draw, a traditional name but almost every artist at this workshop did paintings. Here’s some photos of the event in action. It’s followed by sketches and watercolors that I did in the Grand Tetons and EA Ranch.

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James Gurney, known best for his “Dinotopia” books, painted a portrait of this pronghorn antelope in casein, gouache and colored pencil
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David Rankin, who I worked with most during the week (more on that in a future post) painted an osprey
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Guy Combes did a lovely painting of a cheetah
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Andrew Denman created a graphite on paper drawing of a barn owl
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Although he’s better known for his sculpture, John Phelps painted a portrait the old-fashioned way…from a study drawing
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John Seerey-Lester chose to paint a moose, one of the very popular animals to see in the Grand Tetons
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John Hulsey who, with his wife Ann Trusty Hulsey, publish the online art website and newsletter The Artist’s Road, went for a late light landscape in watercolor
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Greg Beecham chose to paint a polar bear, bringing in the whites over a toned canvas

The weather was partly cloudy while I drove around Grand Tetons NP, which meant interesting light that could change very quickly. The aspens and cottonwoods were turning to their fall colors, too. All in all a perfect time to be there.

Both of the first ones were painted over the course of a couple of hours along the Moose Wilson Road.

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Aspens- watercolor on Saunders Waterford paper 8×8″
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Aspens with storm clouds- watercolor on Saunders Waterford paper 8×8″
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Clouds and light
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Scenery at EA Ranch, near Dubois- watercolor on Arches cold press paper 8″x4″
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Pen and ink sketches- Sakura Micron .01 pen in a Beta Series Stillman and Birn sketchbook
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Pen and ink sketches- same media as above
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Contour sketches at SKB- same media as above
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Contour sketches, SKB and the Denver airport- same media as above

 

9-18-2016: I’m In Dubois, Wyoming For The 15th Annual Susan K. Black Foundation Art Workshop/Conference

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The Grand Tetons on a fine fall afternoon

I flew to Jackson Hole, Wyoming last Wednesday and spent a few days cruising the art galleries, the annual auction art and a stop at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Also had time to do some wildlife watching and location sketching and painting. I drove east to Dubois yesterday afternoon and had dinner with an artist friend and colleague who lives on a ranch.

I’m going to try to post something every day of the workshop, which begins this afternoon and runs through next Saturday morning. There are instructors and artists here from all over the country, including James Gurney of Dinotopia fame. He was the featured artist the year before last, when I also attended.

Here’s some photos from the wildlife watching in Grand Tetons National Park:

Mule deer buck
As seems to sometimes be the case, it’s the end of the day, the light is gone and I’m heading back to the motel on Antelope Flats Road and suddenly realized I was driving between two mule deer bucks, one on either side of the road. I stopped turned around and drove slowly along side them. Then the bigger of the two turned towards the road and I stopped, shooting through the windshield as he crossed the road right in front of me
a black bear
Sometimes lucky is better than good. I showed up at exactly the right moment to be stopped by the ranger and photograph this young black bear crossing the road. Was this going to be a theme for this trip?
late light cottonwoods
The fall colors were at their height, these cottonwoods glowing in the late light
a bull bison
I saw no bison the first day. The second afternoon there was a BIG herd to the north of the famous old barn, way too far for photos. I hadn’t driven down Mormon Row yet, a dirt road with old homesteads on either side at one end which connected with Gros Ventre Road at the other. About half way was another herd of bison! And pretty close to the road. I stayed until the sun dropped behind the mountain behind me
a cow moose
I was driving through the Gros Ventre Campground in the morning, well-known among wildlife watchers as a moose hangout and spotted a cow moose laying in the bushes. Took a few “I saw her” shots and moved on. Really needed a restroom after hanging with the bison so headed back to the campground. On the way out, by golly, there she still was, only on her feet and browsing. I mentioned seeing her to someone in town and they told me that she’s always there
a bull moose
In all my trips to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons over the years the one animal that I had never got a full view or decent photos of was an adult bull moose. I was driving back to the motel, quite happy to have seen the cow, when I saw the row of folks with scopes and cameras on the riverbank. What the heck? I walked over just in time to see this big bull emerge from behind the cottonwood. It had gotten dark enough that I sat on the ground and used my knees for a tripod to get a number of shots of him.
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Yesterday I drove north from Jackson and stopped at this iconic view of Mount Moran from the Oxbow, where the Snake River makes a curving bend. Then it was on to Dubois

The Okefenokee Swamp NWR And Harris Neck NWR, Traveling in Georgia

 

American alligator
American alligator, Harris Neck NWR

I’m currently on a road trip in southern Georgia. I flew to New York on March 10 (which is why there was no blog post last week)  to attend the Explorers Club Annual Dinner (ECAD) and had a terrific time. The opening of the group exhibition “Wildlife Art: Field to Studio” is the evening of March 31 at the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut. What to do in between? It didn’t really make sense to fly home to California for two weeks and then fly back, so I decided to see what there would be to do on the east coast where it was warmer and in the same time zone. After considering a number of possibilities, some more ambitious than others, including flying to Paris for a week or going to somewhere like Belize or Costa Rica, I took another look at the map, Florida being too expensive and everything pretty much booked, and saw….the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, somewhere I’d wanted to go since I was a kid. Plus there’s the barrier islands of the Georgia coast. Sold! I flew down on Monday to Savannah, picked up a rental car and drove to my first of three Airbnb lodgings, this one near Brunswick. The next day I did quite a long drive over to the western entrance to the swamp. Here’s some of what I saw:

I sat at the end of this boardwalk to sketch and do a watercolor.
I sat at the end of this boardwalk to sketch and do a watercolor.
There was a large flock of white ibis all around
There was a large flock of white ibis all around
Of course everyone wants to see the alligators, but they're a wild animal, so you never know. But this little one swam right across in front of where I was sitting.
Of course everyone wants to see the alligators, but they’re a wild animal, so you never know. But this little one swam right across in front of where I was sitting.
On the way back I spotted this red-shouldered hawk
On the way back I spotted this red-shouldered hawk
I was on another section of boardwalk over water and there was suddenly a loud "galoop" of water. This whitetail doe came out from underneath. I walked right over where she was. But she stopped, had a little chin scratch and then started to browse the leaves on the trees.
I was on another section of boardwalk over water and there was suddenly a loud “galoop” of water. This whitetail doe came out from underneath. I had walked right over where she was. But she stopped, had a little chin scratch and then started to browse the leaves on the trees.
I took a break at a bump-out seating deck and there was this green anole (currently turned brown) who stayed around for me to take quite a few photos
I took a break at a bump-out seating deck and there was this green anole (currently turned brown) who stayed around for me to take quite a few photos
I got up to leave, walked over the balcony. looked down, saw a movement in the water and spotted this water snake (non-poisonous) swimming by
I got up to leave, walked over the balcony. looked down, saw a movement in the water and spotted this water snake (non-poisonous) swimming by

The next day I met up with artist and fellow Explorers Club member Alan Campbell, who took me around Harris Neck NWR.

The refuge is known for it's wood stork rookery.
The refuge is known for it’s wood stork rookery.
Wood stork gathering nesting materials
Wood stork gathering nesting materials
Wood stork carrying twigs back to the rookery. The birds have recently been removed from the endangered species list.
Wood stork carrying twigs back to the rookery. The birds have recently been removed from the endangered species list.

We twice drove the route through the refuge so went a couple of times to a dike bordering the big pond where the storks since things are always changing. The second time we saw this turtle!

River cooter, a local species of turtle
River cooter, a local species of turtle
There were a lot of little gators by the edge of the dike. This one came up onto the grass and Alan got some good close-ups.
There were a lot of little gators by the edge of the dike. This one came up onto the grass and Alan got some good close-ups. A few second later he raised his hind end and we both wondered what he was going to do, but he simply turned and walked back down into the water.
Gator reflection
Gator reflection
Gator yawn
Gator yawn
One of the quintessential trees of the Deep South...a live oak festooned with Spanish moss
One of the quintessential trees of the Deep South…a live oak festooned with Spanish moss

It was a great day! I’m on the road again with trips to the other entrances to the Okefenokee and explorations of the barrier islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avian Drama At The Berkeley Marina!

Black-crowned night heron. Minding its own business.
Black-crowned night heron. Minding its own business.

We just spent a couple of days in Berkeley, staying at the Berkeley Marina Doubletree. Our room was on the first floor overlooking the marina, so all I had to do was open the sliding glass door and walk ten feet to see and photograph the various birds that were hanging about, including this black-crowned night heron. As you can see, it was late afternoon and the light was really nice. I’d taken three shots when…

Incoming!
Incoming!

a great blue heron flew into the frame from stage left. I just stood there and kept shooting. The smaller heron sprang into the air.

I want THIS rock.
I want THIS rock.

And got out of the way as fast as it could.

My rock.
My rock.

Not only was this a great little slice of life sequence, but…wow….the light.

I am happy now.
I am happy now.

It was all over in less than 30 seconds.

There.
There.

The night heron, having moved not really any farther than it had to, continued on about its evening routine.

Moving on.
Moving on.

All is peaceful again.

Sundown
Sundown

 

Sketches And Watercolors From My Trip To Wyoming

 

Pronghorn from taxidermy mount
Pronghorn; water soluble colored pencils from taxidermy mount

I’m back home now from my two week trip to Wyoming, where I spent three great days in Yellowstone National Park, a day and a half in Jackson Hole and five days at the Susan K. Black Foundation Workshop (SKB).

I painted and sketched along the way and at the workshop, trying out a variety of combinations of paper and water media. Here’s an album of some of my pieces, all done on location:

Goose Lake sunset
Goose Lake sunset, done is about 15 minutes; watercolor
Goose Lake
Goose Lake mountain and sunset; watercolor
Bison
Bison; pencil and watercolor
Bison in the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone
Bison in the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone; watercolor
Yellowstone trees; watercolor
Yellowstone trees; watercolor

Since I don’t really paint North American wildlife anymore, I found it liberating to not worry about getting “the shot”, although I ended up with lots of great photos, but instead to focus on sketching the live bison.

Bison sketches; Sakura Micron .01 pen
Bison sketches; Sakura Micron .01 pen
Cottonwoods and a snowy morning, the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone
Cottonwoods and a snowy morning, the Lamar Valley, Yellowstone; watercolor

The third day I was in Yellowstone it snowed in the morning. I drove out to the Lamar Valley and set up my watercolors on the passenger seat of our VW Eurovan camper, then just looked out the windows to do these three studies.

Lamar Valley snow and bison; watercolor
Lamar Valley snow and bison; watercolor

There’s a huge mountainous cliff on the east side of the park that is known as a place to spot mountain goats. And, sure enough, I spotted this nanny and kid with my binoculars. I got out my spotting scope (a Leica Televid) and managed these two quick pen sketches before she and the youngster got up and moved off out of sight.  Then it was back to bison.

Mountain goat nanny and kid; bison; Sakura Micron .01 pen
Mountain goat nanny and kid; bison; Sakura Micron .01 pen

One of the locations at the SKB workshop was a ranch that has been in the same family for over 100 years. Hope to be able to go there again next year.

Cottonwoods, Finley Ranch; watercolor
Cottonwoods, Finley Ranch; watercolor
Cattle skulls
Cattle skulls, Finley Ranch; Precise V5 pen and Koi water brush

Next week I’ll share photos and stories from the workshop.

3 Great Days at Yellowstone National Park Last Week

Saw a lot of these huge bull bison in the park
Saw a lot of these huge bull bison in the park.

I’m now in Dubois, Wyoming at the Susan K. Black Foundation Workshop and having a inspiring time, chatting, networking and painting with old and new friends and colleagues. I’ll be posting more about that next week, but this time I’d thought I’d share some of the photos I took at Yellowstone National Park last week, starting with the big guy at the top. I never get tired of seeing these huge bulls.

One of the famous Yellowstone "bison jams".
One of the famous Yellowstone “bison jams”. Back-ups can be very long, but the animals have the right of way.
The third day I was there a snowstorm came through I was in the area known at "Little America", just to the west of the Lamar Valley, when, right next to a pullout in a hollow was this small group of bison, hunkered down and waiting it out.
The third day I was there a snowstorm came through I was in the area known at “Little America”, just to the west of the Lamar Valley, when, right next to a pullout in a hollow was this small group of bison, hunkered down and waiting it out.
Young bison calf born very late, but I've been told even these little ones are tough enough to survive the winters.
Young bison calf born very late, but I’ve been told even these little ones are tough enough to survive the winters.
The Lamar Valley is known as the "Serengeti of North America" because it's where you can see scenes like this....a very big herd of bison moving through
The Lamar Valley is known as the “Serengeti of North America” because it’s where you can see scenes like this….a very big herd of bison moving through with pronghorn antelope closer to where I was. And a single male pronghorn closer yet.
Yellowstone scenery.
Yellowstone scenery.
On my way out of the park, I spotted this pair of trumpeter swans floating on the misty river.
On my way out of the park, I spotted this pair of trumpeter swans floating on the misty river.