A fun picture of these ladies and their offspring. The herd was on the move and it was tough to get decent shots of them as they were all clustered up. Rather than push a less than ideal situation, I decided to risk it and go a good ways ahead of them.

With a hill then between them and I, I was keeping my fingers crossed they would continue on their same path and pop up at the top. Sure enough they did. Six pretty cows and four calves led the herd giving me this cool capture of these once endangered species.

If you’re interested, this image is available here.

Kind of a fun image taken this past weekend for Tatanka Tuesday.

The herd at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado saw a boom in population this spring with more than a dozen new calves. Despite multiple attempts, the little ones were always too far off for me to get a decent look – until this day.

The herd was moving with purpose and with some patience, they came right up on me. I managed tons of pics of the little ones and their moms but this one is one of the more fun ones. For whatever reason, the herd decided to pick up the pace and took off running. It was very exciting – and somewhat intimidating – to hear the thunder of their hooves as they raced across the grassland.

Don’t let their massive size fool you, these beasts can move very fast when they want to. While there was “only” about 50 of them, it made it easy to imagine the days in the Old West when thousands would stage similar scenes.

Continuing Tatanka Tuesday with this image. I mentioned in my post this morning that I had gotten some nice shots of the new arrivals to the herd. Here are three of the 12+. They were all quite willing to pose and give me some nice captures as they followed along with the herd.

Did you know… In May 2016 the Bison became the official mammal of the United States, a fitting and long overdue honor.

One for Tatanka Tuesday! The Bison herd at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado has seen a half dozen new births this spring. I keep trying but I have yet to get good pics of the little ones as they keep hanging out too far away.

This past weekend, some of the big bulls provided a nice consolation prize. Here, one of the big boys marches right toward me. The light was drab due to overcast skies and not particularly flattering so I opted to make a conversion to black and white, blowing up the highlights to give it a high key look.

It used to be we called these buffalo but that actually was incorrect. While they are part of the same family that includes the European and African buffalo, the Bison is its own, distinct species. It is believed they were called buffalo by early North American explorers due to their resemblance to the Old-World species. Native Americans call them Tatanka, a Lakota word that translated means “bull buffalo.”

If you’re interested in owning this image, check it out here.

Another round of snow here on the Colorado Front Range today. This image was taken from the previous round of white stuff received this past weekend. The Bison are of course well-built to handle the cold and the wet although I certainly do not envy them being out in the elements.

These massive animals were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 1700s and 1800s with as few as 750 reported by 1890. Their numbers have since rebounded with about 500,000 now living on public and private lands. In May 2016 the Bison became the official mammal of the United States, a fitting and long overdue honor.

Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado.

It is Tatanka Tuesday but this is how I felt Monday. Just one of those days! 😉 Thankfully for this massive Bison bull, it wasn’t frustration but simply an itch that had it scratching its head this past weekend.

This particular guy is the biggest at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and is easily distinguished from others by that huge coif of hair he has on his head. I’ve never seen another bison with that cool of a hairdo.

There is something about these holdovers from the Old West that oftentimes (to me) just begs for a monochrome treatment. Perhaps it is because when seeing them my mind can’t help but drift back 250 years when millions of these massive creatures roamed freely across the plains.

These massive animals were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 1700s and 1800s with as few as 750 reported by 1890. Their numbers have since rebounded with about 500,000 now living on public and private lands. In May 2016 the Bison became the official mammal of the United States, a fitting and long overdue honor.

If you’re interested in owning this image, please see here.

Taken at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado.