Solitary Sandpiper wading in a wetland in Yellowstone National Park

 

When we went for a backpacking trip to Shoshone Lake, in Yellowstone National Park, we saw and managed to get a good photograph of this solitary sandpiper. The wetland was right along the trail so after we remained still long enough, the bird continued its normal activity. We especially wanted to get its reflection along with a clear image of the bird.

Canon PowerShot SX520 HS, ISO 100, 1/200 sec., f8, 215 mm focal length

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Colorado Columbine in Granite Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

 This is a photo of a Colorado Columbine (Aquilegia coerulea) in bloom in Granite Canyon in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.  We were on a backpacking trip in the southern part of the park and we were in Granite Canyon on our first day.

Columbine flowers are very distinctive thanks to the spurs off of their petals.  These flowers are in the buttercup family.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Sunrise in Yosemite Valley, clouds catch the rays

 

From Yosemite's famous Valley View, Rick watched the horizon get brighter on the morning of June 12, 2022. At first, Rick thought the clouds would block the sun's light, making the sunrise darker than it might have been. But then as the reddish sunlight illuminated the undersides of the clouds, the sky took on a more dramatic look. Half Dome cuts into a red streak on the horizon.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

California Bush Poppy at El Portal, outside of Yosemite National Park, May 29, 2021

 Bob caught this shot of a California Bush Poppy (Dendromecon rigida) in full bloom while visiting Yosemite National Park in May 2021.  This particular shrub was blooming in El Portal, outside of the Arch Rock Entrance to Yosemite.  The blooming season for this species is April to July.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Moonbow in upper Yosemite Falls, from the trail.

After hiking up the Yosemite Falls trail in the dark, we were able to find a dramatic viewpoint from which to get images of the moonbow at the base of upper Yosemite Falls. Part of the Middle Cascades shows through the moonbow. This entire scene is lit by moonlight and you can see stars in the sky. This excursion took us well into the early morning hours. This photo was taken at 12:15 am.  We took photos from this spot for 3-1/2hours total, before hiking back down to Camp 4. Thanks to Brian Hawkins for his moonbow predictions which we verified by being on the scene. The most was starting to form a second moonbow above the first.  It's much fainter, though.

The photo details are ISO 1600, f6.7, 20 sec exposure. vertical orientation.

 Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

 

Moonbow and Yosemite Falls from OMG Point, Yosemite National Park, California, May 13, 2022

 This is a nighttime 3-shot panorama of Yosemite Falls from top to bottom showing Upper Yosemite Falls, Middle Cascade, and Lower Yosemite Falls.  Bob took this from OMG Point, aka Oh My Gosh Rock, a short unpublicized spur trail off the Yosemite Falls Trail.

We were there to see the moonbow on the night of Friday, May 13, 2022.  The moonbow is visible at the base of Upper Yosemite and the top of Middle Cascade.  We arrived there at 10 PM and stayed until 2 AM.  The moon shadows of our tripods and cameras are in the lower left corner.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

A Yellowstone elk female sticking out her tongue

 

A female elk feeds on clover and licks her lips because of how tasty it is. We saw elk along the road in Yellowstone and this female was right by the road. Clover is a special treat for many herbivores. Elk will migrate out of the park during the winter to seek fresh sources of food at lower elevations and milder temperatures.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

American Dipper in the Yellowstone River

 

This American dipper, otherwise known as the water ouzel, was traipsing around in the Yellowstone River's Le Hardy Rapids. Dippers feed on the insects that live in rapids, so it can move through the water with little threat of being swept away. They actually walk on the bottom surface of the river and feed on insects that wash down the river or are attached to the rocks. There's a small parking area next to the Le Hardy Rapids and a trail with a deck for visitors to look out over the river. We caught sight of harlequin ducks and pulled off to take pictures of them and the dipper turned out to be a bonus.

Dippers don't get cold in the river water because the have the most wax in their feathers of any songbird. When they dip into the water, their feathers don't get wet at all.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

A cluster of snow plants growing in Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, June 2015

 Bob was returning from a trip to McCloud in northern California when he decided to drive home through Lassen Volcanic National Park.  This was in June, which is still kind of early in the season for wildflowers in this park.  During his drive, he saw this cluster of snow plants near the park road.

Snow plant is a parasitic plant, meaning that it grows off of nutrients that fungi attached to the roots of pine trees make available to it, rather than photosynthesizing.  This is why the plant has no green chlorophyll in it.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Side-blotched Lizard, male at KCL Campground, Carrizo Plain NM

During my recent visit to the Carrizo Plain National Monument, I camped at the KCL Campground, roughly in the middle of the area. The campground has a healthy population of this species, the side-blotched lizard. The males are more colorful than the females. This male was hiking under a shrub that had a big gap in the middle, so I had a clear view of him. There was also the opening to a burrow being used by a young antelope ground squirrel. As the lizard moved around, he had his tail hanging down across the opening and the squirrel came up and wondered what was going on.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Yellowstone cutthroat trout feeding at the surface of the Yellowstone River

 

The Yellowstone River is famous for its fishing. Yellowstone National Park has a native cutthroat trout that gets its name from the reddish color over the gills. At the north side of Yellowstone Lake, the river emerges and travels north, eventually reaching the Canyon area. Where the river emerges there is a bridge that allows travelers to reach Lake Village. That bridge, from which we captured this image, is appropriately named Fishing Bridge.

Canon EOS 70D, ISO 400, 1/500 sec. f8, 400mm

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Snowy egret along the American River, Sacramento, California

 Rick got these images of snowy egrets, possibly the same one, but in different spots, while we were pedaling in Bob's new-to-him Hobie Mirage tandem kayak.

Snowy egrets are smaller than great egrets and have distinctive yellow feet.  Because they are wading birds, it's not always possible to see their feet.  Also has what can look like a little yellow mask over its eyes.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Yellow billed magpie, William B. Pond Recreation Area, Sacramento, California

 After getting shots of a sea lion in the American River, which we made into a video on our YouTube Channel, Bob continued on his  bike ride upriver and encountered a flock of yellow billed magpies at the William B. Pond Recreation Area in Sacramento, California.  This is a cropped shot of one of the magpies.

Yellow billed magpies are unique to California.  Its more widespread relative, the black billed magpie occurs throughout much of the Western United States, except the Central Valley of California.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.