If the look of a bald eagle isn’t intimidating then I guess I don’t know what what intimidating means. Those piercing yellow eyes aren’t only fierce but they can spot prey at great distances. This eagle was perched on a post overlooking a pond, undoubtedly watching for ducks and fish. He only glanced at me this one time. The colorful autumn foliage make a great background. I photographed him from the car, using a beanbag support to brace the long lens I was using.

As autumn began, I initially feared, with the extreme drought over much of the region, that the aspens would go straight to brown. And at the start of autumn, some aspens did exactly that, so when I found areas that were brilliantly colored, I was pretty happy. Today, October 3rd, which is also my wife’s birthday, most of the color is finished for the season though there are a few patches of colorful trees that can still be found. The location photographed above is a favorite spot not only because of the mountain background but because of the shadows and contrast that make the aspens really glow. When I can, I shoot these scenes handheld so I can work quickly and find new compositions.

Earlier this week as I travelled around looking for photo opportunities, I spotted nine moose, including two bulls. I followed that up yesterday by spotting ten moose but only one bull. Yet this little guy is still the only bull moose I’ve been able to photograph so fall this fall. The other bulls were simply too far out. But that’s ok, I have been fortunate enough to photograph several cow moose, a couple with calves. The calves are no longer orange in color at this point of the year but a dark brown like the adults. This small bull, in the photo above, was courting a cow. I imagine once a larger bull comes around, he’ll lose her. There was a larger bull in this same area a few days ago with a cow, so perhaps this guy already lost out.

Besides fall color, September and October means large deer species such as elk and moose are in their breeding season, so I’m always on the look out for both species. While I hoped to find a larger bull moose, this little guy seemed quite happy to have a lady friend. She was actually larger than him but she tolerated his presence quite well. Here they are nose to nose briefly while grazing on the same willow bush.

I find aspens, due to their white bark, photogenic even in the summer. But in Fall when they turn a brilliant gold, they’re especially wonderful photo subjects. There was a light fog lifting out of this stand of aspen when I came across them. I wanted to capture the scene before the fog lifted completely so quickly began working up compositions that drew all the elements together. I feel this one best represented what I saw and what I envisioned as a beautiful autumn aspen scene.

Heavy traffic in Yellowstone lately and a desire to get out and see some beautiful aspen color brought me back out along some back roads away from the crowds this week. As the sun rose, the clouds turned pink and I didn’t have a destination in mind to photograph yet. So I pulled over and quickly explored options before the color in the sky vanished and came up with this composition. Aspens are all over the place right now, color-wise, with some areas at peak while others are still very green. The next few days to a week should be great for color. The exception is that some areas, due to the drought, have had leaves go straight to brown.

This is another image of the same bull elk I shared earlier in the week. This image was actually taken before the one when elk was in front of the giant steam plume. A different area of thermal features is behind the elk here as it began to move a little faster. I don’t usually shoot at an ISO of 3200 but the situation warranted it here and the camera handled the higher ISO well. If I had chosen to stay at a lower ISO, then I probably wouldn’t have been able to get this shot due to the low light. The sun hadn’t reached the lower part of the frame though a beautiful pink light can be seen along the top. The elk didn’t’ wait around for the light to reach the entire area unfortunately.

I’m crediting the title of this to the 1985 Song “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” and perhaps showing my age a bit by doing so. Brown-headed cowbirds can often be seen around herds of bison. As the bison graze they chase up insects in the grass which the cowbirds can easily catch and eat. The cowbirds will also eat parasites off the bison. They’re also seen on elk and other ungulates including, as their name suggests, cows. This cowbird was riding around on the back of a bison when I photographed it. Even though I had a long lens with a teleconverter, I did crop this image a respectable amount as it’s not wise to ever be too close to a bison.

I know I tend to make these titles cryptic but the title of this post refers to the huge steam plume behind the elk. This steam plume is coming from an erupting Fountain Geyser for which a number of landmarks in this area share the name including Fountain Flats, Fountain Paint Pots, etc. By this time in September I’d hope to have photographed quite a few elk as it’s their breeding season but so far this is the elk I’ve managed to photograph. I’m not sure if it’s been the heat, the heavy traffic, or some other factor but the elk haven’t been active during the daylight hours much. Speaking of heavy traffic, September used to be considered a “shoulder month” to the busy summer seasons. And I’ve been asked frequently lately about visiting in September since kids are back in school. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a “shoulder season” to the busy summer months for probably ten years now. September proves to be just as busy as July and August and it’s not uncommon for the West entrance to back up into town. I’m not writing that to deter people from coming to visit only to have the proper expectations.

This photo was totally not what I was after when photographing this bull bison. His other side was completely caked in mud that he had rolled in and it made him look totally awesome, if not a little dirty. I waited until the sun lit the scene which was when he decided to turn around and show this side. While he still had some dried mud visible, it wasn’t as impressive. With the breeding season over and these bulls alone again, they’re mostly focused on feeding in preparation for winter. I spent the previous day waiting an hour for a bison to lift it’s head and began to think this guy wouldn’t cooperate either. Well, he didn’t. After the sun came up and he turned around, he slowly walked into the trees not to come back out. Oh well, until the next the opportunity.