#NaturePhotography

Photo courtesy of Kyle Moon Only a few lucky visitors to Yellowstone may witness wolves hunting, taking down, or feeding on an elk or bison. If you are one of these fortunate few, you can almost always see a sleek, black bird known as the common raven as the first scavenger wandering around a wolf-killed…

Quiet. Solitude. Wilderness. As I tightened the last few straps on my backpack and hit the trail for three days deep in the backcountry of Yellowstone, I contemplated these three words and what they mean to me. It is becoming increasingly challenging to find quiet, solitude, or wilderness in our ever-modernizing world. But in places…

The grizzly bear, (Ursus arctos horribilis), has become an icon of Yellowstone National Park and of the wilderness in general. For a large portion of Yellowstone visitors, a grizzly bear sighting ranks right up toward the top of the bucket list, alongside witnessing such famous attractions as Old Faithful Geyser, the Grand Canyon of the…

It’s 6am in Lamar Valley. I wonder what we will see. You’re probably asking why there are already 100 vehicles lining the roadsides near the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, and whether the hundreds of visitors pointing spotting scopes out into the distance are seeing something. As it usually turns out, those people are watching–looking for or…

And just like that—our summery, late-August days recede, and Yellowstone’s natural calendar tells us autumn is fast approaching. Willows, cottonwoods, and aspen trees crisp yellow at their leafy edges–with this shift at high elevations our first intimation of the change of seasons. Grasses and wildflowers wave brown, white headed, and weather beaten, testifying the passage…

Photo courtesy of Yellowstone Wild Guide Evan Watts / Watts Wildlife Photography. Sparse clouds caught the orange glow of the rising sun as we drove east. It was a cool, damp morning in mid-July, and as we made our way into the Lamar Valley, the sun rose just enough to reveal the gentle, rolling slopes…

“Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way,” John Muir.As a naturalist guide in Yellowstone, one of the lessons I try to impart upon my guests is the best way to view baby wildlife in Yellowstone ethically and responsibly–in a…

One day in early to mid-July you might find yourself driving through Yellowstone National Park taking in the amazing scenery all around you. You turn a corner and the beauty of one of the many creeks, streams, and rivers in the park reveals itself. Suddenly, that beauty is interrupted by what looks like a flock…

Photo courtesy Montana State University Thermal Biology Institute. When I, Leysa, take my guests on tour I demonstrate how the seemingly little things in Yellowstone contribute to the bigger picture. For example, how small grubs, insects, and ground squirrels can feed some of the park’s biggest carnivores; how removing one apex predator can change an…

While ‘oohing and ahhing’ over the largest land mammal in North America, did you ever notice the small, seemingly ever-present bird perched atop a bison’s back or following closely around its feet? Enter… the “Buffalo Bird” (aka brown-headed cowbird). Courtesy National Park Service Courtesy Neal Herbert/NPS Courtesy Neal Herbert/NPS While other birds are priming nests…