Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
An amusing shot of the young bull moose I was lucky enough to photograph in the snow two weekends ago. In this capture, he appears to be giving me an indication as to what he thinks of having his picture taken.
Here’s a fresh one for you taken just yesterday and in time for #MooseMonday!
A friend tipped me off to some moose that had been hanging out on a high pass in central Colorado. That of course required investigation so I hit the road before the sun was up and arrived just as it was popping over the horizon.
We spotted at least six different moose, two of which were kind enough to be close enough for pics. This young, handsome fellow was quite willing to pose and give us a bunch of photo ops as he searched for food on the snow-covered landscape.
It is pretty slim-pickings for food up there this time of year and the weather can’t be easy to deal with but these guys are built for it, certainly better than I!
A couple captures taken back in September for #MooseMonday.
Following a gorgeous sunrise, my daughter and I began looking for moose. We initially didn’t see any but soon spotted motion in some willows west of Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.
We and other photographers patiently waited, hoping something would emerge and soon, two bulls did come down to the lake. The smaller of the two was content to stand in the water and eat plants for an hour.
The older bull, pictured here, came down and had a quick drink then retreated to the forest.
Well, this isn’t something you see every day but I reckon it is just par for the course in Alaska.
We were driving through Anchorage heading to an outlying open space area that supposedly had a lot of moose. It turns out, we didn’t need to go that far before seeing one of the big guys.
This big fella was walking right down a suburban street, just moseying along, enjoying a beautiful summer day. The pics weren’t anything great but they do tell a funny story.
We just laughed and said, “Well, this is Alaska!”
It can be kind of embarrassing when you eat and end up wearing the meal as well. This big guy didn’t really seem to mind though. 😉
Taken a couple of weeks ago in Rocky Mountain National Park and today’s image for #MooseMonday.
This was the smaller of two bulls that had appeared at dawn. He waded right into the water and enjoyed a breakfast of lake plants, dipping his head down under water to grab a mouthful.
A moose bull in the waters of Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. In the background, the impressive Hallett Peak towering above.
A fun shot that I grabbed ‘on the run’ last week. As you are looking at the image, my daughter and I were initially directly to the left, not far from the bull. As the sun rose, it was apparent we needed to be on the other side for the best light so we high-tailed it around the lake to get into position.
As we were relocating, I looked to make sure the moose was still in the lake and I saw this scene. Quickly I threw up the camera and took the shot hoping it would be a decent one.
In hindsight, I wish I had slowed down and taken more time to compose it and taken some different variations as it is kind of a neat scene. Nevertheless, I am glad to have gotten this one at least.
A very fun encounter yesterday morning with this big fella and another bull that was a good bit smaller.
It appeared as though this guy prodded the younger one out into public view as junior wanted to keep his distance from the senior bull.
The smaller one waded well into the water and spent a good bit of time feeding on plants near the surface of a lake, doing his best to avoid an ill-advised confrontation with the big boy.
The senior bull followed only to the water’s edge, took a quick drink, and then headed back into the woods. He definitely was an impressive moose, one of the bigger ones I have seen.
Certainly I would have preferred a shot from the front but I don’t expect moose butts offend too many folks. 😉 Taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
It seems the pictures of a moose losing its velvet elicit one of two responses: “cool” or “gross”. Which camp are you in? 😉
This is the same big guy that I shared a pic of this morning, albeit a bit more zoomed in. After having a slow moose season so far, this guy helped to make up for it by allowing me to observe it for more than an hour.
As I said with this morning’s post, I have a big lens and kept a respectful distance. If you get a shot like this with your cell phone, you are WAY too close!
Quite an intimidating view of this big boy, eh?
With the bloody remnants of its velvet hanging from its antlers, this moose bull definitely gets your attention. I was of course taking pictures with a very big lens from a safe distance when I saw him yesterday morning in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area.
I haven’t had much luck getting pics of these favorites this year but this guy helped to redeem things a bit. I spent more than an hour watching him as he grazed on the willows just after the sunrise at 10,000 feet.
Getting the velvet off its antlers is the prelude to the annual rut which is just about ready to start. It may look uncomfortable but it is a natural process and one that doesn’t hurt the moose.
Experts say it is more of an irritant than anything to the big guys, even if it looks gross. I think it looks really cool and is perfect for #MooseMonday. 😉
Not a great pic but kind of a fun one.
This moose calf and its mom were hanging out with a massive bull in Colorado’s high country. The little one came over to say hi to the big guy and they enjoyed a cool little moment. I do have to wonder if they weren’t father and son / daughter.
The image does do a good job showing the difference in size. The calf is only about three months old and probably more than 50% bigger than it was at birth. While it is growing fast, it is dwarfed by the bull.
