[gaweidert]

Grizzly and cub from a trip to Yellowstone in May 2017. These two were scavenging a winter kill less that 100 yards (91 meters) off the road. They were in a wide open field yet nobody had spotted them. I was driving with one of my sons and he yelled bears. Once I stopped as set up, it started a real bear jam. That makes me the cause of two bear jams in two years. That was my most successful bear sighting trip to the park ever. We saw five grizzly bears and 4 black bears. Even a few wolves, but they were so far off that it wasn't even worth the effort to set up the camera.

I could not get much out of the shots using PDCU so I let them sit. In November I got Silkypix Developer Studio Pro 8 on sale. I was looking though some old files and happened upon the bear shots. Amazing how a small adjustment to the HDR tool brought out the details in this high contrast situation.

[RobG]

Grizzly and cub from a trip to Yellowstone in May 2017.

Nice! I've been to North America several times but so far I haven't seen a bear in the wild. In Yellowstone we saw Elk and Bison. Mind you, I was glad I never had to follow the instructions of the park rangers at Mount Ranier for a close up bear encounter; "If you come around a corner and there's a bear you can't back away from, drop on the ground, curl up in a ball and wait. The bear may come up and poke at you - if you make any noise, he might decide you're fun to play with..." I've seen first-hand evidence of bears in Yosemite - a car with the rear passenger window broken and the metal frame folded against the side of the car. Someone ignored the warning not to leave food in their car...
PS Looks like the adult is wearing a tracking collar.

[gaweidert]

Nice! I've been to North America several times but so far I haven't seen a bear in the wild. In Yellowstone we saw Elk and Bison. Mind you, I was glad I never had to follow the instructions of the park rangers at Mount Ranier for a close up bear encounter; "If you come around a corner and there's a bear you can't back away from, drop on the ground, curl up in a ball and wait. The bear may come up and poke at you - if you make any noise, he might decide you're fun to play with..." I've seen first-hand evidence of bears in Yosemite - a car with the rear passenger window broken and the metal frame folded against the side of the car. Someone ignored the warning not to leave food in their car...
PS Looks like the adult is wearing a tracking collar.

In the summers, the bears tend to stay out of the heat during the day. They easily overheat in the summer. When we were there in May, there was still plenty of snow and the bears were coming out of hibernation. They come down low looking for just about anything that is edible. We saw this particular duo several times over in the same general area. The flip side to going early is that not all the park roads were open. The park is beautiful in the snow.

[aslyfox]

In the summers, the bears tend to stay out of the heat during the day. They easily overheat in the summer. When we were there in May, there was still plenty of snow and the bears were coming out of hibernation. They come down low looking for just about anything that is edible. We saw this particular duo several times over in the same general area. The flip side to going early is that not all the park roads were open. The park is beautiful in the snow.

we made our first visit to the Gran Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in the last week of May, first week of June 2017

in fact, I believe that we " opened " Canyon, the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and Roosevelt Lodge while the Old House at Old Faithful Inn had been open for a while

there was snow but not a huge amount where we were although the day after we went over the Bear Tooth Pass it was closed due to snow fall

except for construction, all roads in the parks remained open and the weather was very nice, brisk in the early AM and warming up during the day

as far as bears go, we saw, both near and far, black bear ( sow and cubs and individuals ) and grizzly ( sow and cub as well as individuals )

I still can't believe the number of miles we put on the rental SUV

I recommend the parks to all

[tduell]

Black-winged Stilt, or maybe a White-headed Stilt, or they may be one and the same
One of a pair that launch into the air at first sight of me, with clearly menacing intentions, and lots of circling around me all the while voicing loudly. Must have youngsters nearby.

K-1, DFA 150-450, handheld. See exif for shot details.

Cheers,
Terry

[tduell]

A young Brown Falcon.
K-3 II, DFA 150-450 handheld (braced against car window), SR off. See exif for shot details.

Cheers,
Terry

[Cuom nguyen]

K3ii

[boydbowlin]

K3ii

[/COLOR]Nicely done . The Cuckoo looks very similar to our Fan-tailed Cuckoo , in fact the image could have easily been mistakenly thought to be captured in Australia had you not been from HCM city with the bush looking very similar to our native Lillie-Pillie . You have a nice variety of birds around your home .
Regards Anthony .

---------- Post added 01-26-2018 at 11:07 AM ----------

[quote=Cuom nguyen;4187881][CENTER]

[derekkite]

Pygmy Owl

[Mikesul]

A male Ute genus lizard showing off his spring colors.

[RobG]

Long-nosed Potoroo by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

---------- Post added 29-01-18 at 01:32 PM ----------


Red-bellied Black Snake by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

[derekkite]

K1 & 150-450. I'm starting to really enjoy this combination.

[Cuom nguyen]

Pentax K3II

[boydbowlin]

I have been out of action for a while now but i did manage a few trips last year to the western parts of Australia .
Here are a couple of links of some slide show presentations mainly of birds that i captured last year . All of the shots were taken using my Pentax K3II and the Pentax 150-450 lens , including all of the flower shots .

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

I have found that the Pentax 150-450 and Pentax K3II are a great robust combination and have handled all that i can throw at in in some very harsh conditions without worrying about the gear being knocked around . So overall i am very pleased with the gear , having used it for a few years now . I mainly shoot in TAV mode and manually adjust compensation as needed . For in flight shots i have various user modes set up also using TAV mode with varying shutter speeds and quickly select a user mode that has a shutter speed that suits the light situation and also adjust compensation as needed . I always wait until i have sharp focus before starting any burst rate when following birds . Sometimes when the light is low i wish for a faster lens but i seem to get by in most situations .
Regards Anthony







I did not realize the you tube videos would not be shown automatically at full size here . If you press the You tube logo on the bottom task bar of the video you will be able to view at a decent size . I could hardly see the birds at this small size here .
Regards Anthon[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added 02-03-2018 at 02:46 PM ----------

---------- Post added 02-03-2018 at 02:48 PM ----------

K1 & 150-450. I'm starting to really enjoy this combination.

Hi Derek , Is that a Coyote running in the first shot ? I really like this shot , sharp as , well done .
Regards Anthony .

[tduell]

A Black-winged Stilt (a.k.a White-headed Stilt) playing the wounded bird, attempting to distract me from the youngsters.
K-3 II, DFA 150-450 + 1.4x TC, handheld. See exif for shot details.

Cheers,
Terry