One of the fun things about winter weather is that you really never know what you’re going to get each morning. Even on mornings when the forecast is for clear skies, the mountains can still be shrouded in clouds, such as the scene in this photo. Unless it’s -20F or colder, anything is possible. When it gets down into the negative temperatures though, pretty much any moisture in the air is gone and it’s clear. A few days ago I headed out with lows right around zero and a forecast of partly cloudy. But the light on the Centennial Range, which creates one section of the border between Idaho and Montana, was stunning as the mountains peaked out of the clouds and caught the early morning light.

Yet another red fox. Honestly, they’re probably my favorite wildlife photo subject and I’ve been pretty fortunate with seeing a few of them this winter. Besides fox, so far I’ve only seen one moose and have photographed bighorn sheep. I’ve yet to have much luck with another wildlife subjects though that could change. I really like this image, not only for the subject but also for the forest scene. The light was fairly low on an overcast morning but that allowed the snowy forest to photograph well and the snow covered trees really add a lot to this image, in my opinion. Had the sun been out, this image would not have been possible due to strong highlights and dark shadows.

I’ve recently seen some nice aurora images on Facebook which motivated me to go back through some of my aurora images. Of course, that led my to images of Iceland from my trip there in December 2015. I’ve been fortunate enough to witness the aurora 6 times with three of those times happening during a week in Iceland. This image was on our first night in Iceland while we were staying near Vik. The lights were amazing as they danced overhead. Despite having photographed auroras in Yellowstone National Park, I wasn’t prepared for how spectacular they are this much farther north. We initially photographed from in front of our hotel but since the lights were staying active, we headed out into the countryside where our guide brought us to this location. An old abandoned farmhouse sat in the foreground but, while I did include it in some of my images, I preferred this one without it.

Boat Mountain, part of the Madison Range and not extremely tall at just 9,000 feet in elevation, isn’t particularly attention getting most of the time. But the eastern edge where the mountain meets small Cabin Creek has some dramatic cliffs called the Cabin Creek Escarpment. These are beautiful year-round but in winter when they’re coated in snow and ice, they have a beauty that is unmatched in the immediate area. In the summer, a short trail accesses the creek but in the winter, the parking area isn’t plowed. I was able to photograph this seen earlier in the winter before the parking lot was buried in several feet of snow.

Here we are into 2023 and I hope everyone is off to a good start. I haven’t had a chance to get out and shoot over the last couple of weeks since the kids were out of school and the daycare was closed for the little one. Not sure if that’s normal that a daycare keeps the same schedule as the schools, but it is what it is. This one was from mid-December when I was out photographing bighorn sheep. The light was great on this morning as a light fog was slowly lifting. As this ram moved along the hilltop, I hoped he would be visible enough to get an image such as this one. He obliged to a point and I was pretty happy with the results. If you’re heading out to West Yellowstone soon for winter activities, continue to expect snow covered and icy roads. While the city has done a great job of plowing, there are piles of snow blocking visibility at many intersections in town, so please proceed with great caution.

I wish everyone a very happy New Year in 2023! I can’t believe we’re here in 2023. Not all of us made it of course and our family lost my sister and my mother-in-law in 2022. The world is certainly a different place without them both and we miss them every day. But we go on as we must and a new year is upon us. This image was from last month as this fox searched for rodents under the snowpack. This winter seems to be another good winter for me and foxes as I’ve found several in the various different places I’ve been out to so far. Here’s hoping everyone has an outstanding 2023!

The weather has been completely all over the place during the past week. We saw an 80 degree temperature swing from a morning low one day of minus 45F to a high a few days later of 36F. I haven’t been photographing birds as much as in the past couple of years but I still enjoy them as much as ever. In the winter, pine grosbeaks come down out of the high mountains. The males, seen here on the left, are pinkish red while the females have a yellow tone to their heads. I’ve never seen evening grosbeaks stay any significant amount of time during the winter. If they do show up, it’s usually only for a day or two. But this winter, a large flock has been present every day for about two weeks, at the time of this writing. I was actually photographing the male pine grosbeak when this female evening grosbeak landed on the same branch and chased him off. I guess in this instance, the bigger bill won.

Wishing everyone a very happy and Merry Christmas today. This scene not far from the house shows the Lionhead Mountains looming over a small cabin. The foreground looks like a snow-covered meadow but is actually the iced-over Hebgen Lake which will stay frozen until some time in spring.

I’ve been going out a few times over the last couple of weeks looking for bighorn sheep and finally found them. Ironically, I go out hoping to photograph the big rams but then I end up watching the lambs instead. This lamb followed its mother across the road to graze on the other side. Yes, they are on the road here which was (and still is) covered in snow and ice.

This photo was from the first week of December and the snow is adding up quite a lot already. Compared to last winter when we didn’t have any snow on the ground after the first week of December, this year, when I took this photo, we had a snowpack of over two feet already, and it’s snowed more since then. Fox are well adapted for winter and this one was out and about searching for food. In the winter, with several feet of snow on the ground, it’s much easier to spot wildlife over the landscape.