Black Wolf
Wolves in a snowy landscape are the main subject to photograph in my winter Yellowstone Photo Tour. So, every effort is made to locate and get into a position to capture some images of these amazing creatures. This was the case last week while leading a tour in the interior of Yellowstone National Park. The park is closed to the public during winter due to the snowy winter conditions. So, in order to gain access to the interior, we get special permits and also hire a snow coach. The snow coaches are huge monster-truck-like vehicles with massive 46-inch tires and four-wheel drive. This is what is needed to navigate the snowy back country and get out alive. Even with these gigantic vehicles, we have got stuck in the past. Each morning would start early in the dark. A quick breakfast and putting on at least 3 layers of winter clothing before heading out to the snow coaches. We load up with all our photo gear and lunches and water for the day. For many days we had been tracking the wolves. We would see their tracks in the snow as the wolves moved around during the night. Each day we would pick up their trail again. We would make predictions as to where we thought they would go. What mountain would they cross or which mountain valley would they enter. We looked around where the bison were gathered because in the dead of winter, the Bison are the only prey animals that remain, and the wolves need to eat. All other prey such as deer and elk have migrated down to lower elevations where there is less snow. After many long days of finding absolutely nothing, we found some fresh wolf tracks. By the fresh tracks in the snow, I could clearly see 4 adult wolves had passed within the past four to six hours. This was definitely a good sign. We spent the rest of the day on high alert in anticipation of seeing the wolves, but nothing transpired. The next morning, right after breakfast, we loaded up and took off on the snow coaches in the dark. An hour and a half later we finally got back to the area where we saw the tracks. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, and the air temperatures were well below zero. The conditions looked perfect but where were the wolves? Nothing! Of course, we were all very disappointed because we had all envisioned a great encounter with a pack of wolves. The kind of encounter that we all dream about, but nothing transpired. We decided to push further into the park, but leaving the place that we thought would hold wolves behind was hard to do. Several miles further into the interior, we slowed down because the snow coach had to plow its way up a small hill which put the sun right in our eyes. It was difficult to see. Shading the sun from my eyes, I could make out some dark figures ahead of us. It took just a micro-second later and I could make out the outline of several black wolves. I shouted “Wolves!”. My small group jumped to attention and readied their camera gear. The snow coach made its way to the top of the hill and stopped. We all got out and were immediately slapped with sub-zero air temperature but thankfully there was no wind. We could see two wolves had passed in front of us and were walking away from us now. Turning around we could see two more wolves coming up the hillside heading right in our direction. We all started capturing some images of the wolves making their way through the deep snow. One of the black wolves walked past us in a wide arch then suddenly sat down about 180 yards away, facing right at us and started to howl. I couldn’t believe our luck; the black wolf’s fur was covered with frost from the long cold night and now was howling right in front of us. What a perfect picture! The wolves continued walking through the snow and walked over the ridge and out of sight. It was only then did everyone start to breathe again and we all gathered together congratulate each other on such an amazing encounter. Until next time… Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.
Northern Pygmy Owl
Stone cold killer predators come in all shapes and sizes in the natural world. However, I think we often think of large menacing critters with long sharp claws and razor-sharp teeth as predators and don’t give a second thought to small predators. Some of these small predators are often cute and adorable. That’s what makes them so cool. I was thinking about this a week or so ago while I was photographing and adorable tiny owl. But behind the beautiful feathers lies the heart of a predator. The Northern Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium californicum) is a tiny owl that is native to western North America. As its name implies, it is a tiny owl, only 6-7 inches tall and weighs about 2-3 ounces. By comparison, the very familiar American Robin is 10 inches tall and weighs about the same as the Pygmy Owl. I arrived in Yellowstone National Park a couple days before I was scheduled to lead a winter photo tour. I had a couple days to meet up with some other photo guides and get caught up on the latest info about the wolves in the park, but everyone was talking about the Northern Pygmy Owls that seemed to be popping up throughout the park. So, on the second day I spotted one of the tiny owls up on a mountain side. I grabbed my longest lens and tripod and started climbing up the mountain side. The snow was only a foot or so deep, so it wasn’t too bad, but the elevation was over 7,000 feet and I wasn’t acclimated yet. So, I had to stop many times to catch my breath, look around to get my bearings and keep climbing. Every now and then I would stop and visually relocate the owl. When I finally reached the area just below the owl, I was breathing so heavily that I couldn’t take any pictures. Several minutes later, I was able to slow down my breathing and focus my camera. What I saw in my viewfinder was the cutest, tiniest, owl with bright yellow eyes. Northern Pygmy Owls are daytime hunters and mainly prey on small songbirds such as Chickadees. The pygmy owl is a cavity nesting bird, taking over old woodpecker cavities. They have a relatively short lifespan with average birds lasting only three to four years. The perch the owl was on didn’t look very good and it was very high up in a tree, so I really didn’t take many pictures. Suddenly the owl took off and went to another tree that was even higher. I thought how am I going to capture some images of this tiny killer. By the time I worked my way over to the new tree the owl flew again. This time it flew down the mountain. I was happy to be going down and not up this time. By the time I got near the owl again I was able to capture some images. These images were good because, even though the owl was near the top of a tall tree, I was much closer to being eye-level with the bird because I was higher up on the mountain and the tree was lower. I thought perhaps this might be the best image I can get with this bird. I stood there just enjoying the moment looking around at the snow-covered mountains all around me, then the owl flew once again. This time the owl was flying directly towards me. It swooped up and landed in a small cedar tree not 35 to 40 feet away and was at my eye level. I swung my camera around, framed up the picture and pushed the shutter release button. I could see through the viewfinder on my camera that this was going to be a wonderful image. The owl stayed there for several minutes actively hunting. Its head was swiveling around from side to side as it looked for something to prey upon. Small snowflakes were gently falling, and the air was cold. Once again, the owl took off and landed in another tree much further away. I was thrilled knowing that I had captured a stunning image of a marvelous predator. I turned and picked up my tripod and camera and started the hike down the mountain back to my truck. The snow was falling steadily now, and by the time I got back to my truck I was covered with snow. I packed up my photo gear and climbed in and fired up the engine. It was such a great feeling of satisfaction to spend some time with such a cool little killer. Until next time… Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.
Great Gray Owl
Recently I was leading a couple groups to northern Minnesota to see winter finches and northern owls. On both trips we were successful in seeing a number of different winter specialty species such as Evening Grosbeak, Pine Siskins, Common Redpoll, and White-winged Crossbills. We were also in search of northern owl species such as Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa). On both trips we were successful at seeing at least one Great Gray Owl. The Great Gray Owl is the tallest or longest owl species but despite their overall height, they are not the heaviest or most powerful of the owls in North America. That award would go to the Snowy Owl and to the Great Horned Owl. Both of these owls have larger and more powerful feet / talons than the Great Gray. Despite their overall size, the Great Gray Owl only weighs 2.5 pounds compared to the Great Horned Owl at 3.5 pounds and the Snowy Owl at 4.5 pounds. One evening we watched a Great Gray Owl hunting just before sunset. It would perch on impossibly small twigs at the tops of trees. It would look down intently looking and listening. I took this opportunity to educate this group about what looks like a seemingly simple behavior of looking and listening for its prey. Great Gray Owls hunt small mammals such as mice and voles. But in the far reaches of northern Minnesota, snow covers the ground during winter. So, this simple act of looking and listening doesn’t seem like a big deal. So, let’s take a closer look (pun not intended) at the simple act of a Great Gray Owl hunting. The Great Gray Owl has the largest facial disk of all owls. The facial disk is hundreds of specialized feathers on the bird’s face that act like a parabolic dish and funnel sound to the birds’ ears. In many owl species, the ears are located below and behind the eyes. They have asymmetrical ear openings which means they have one ear opening that is located low and the other is higher. This allows incoming sound to reach each ear opening at two different times. What is more interesting is that the density of feathers increases the closer to the ear opening. This would seem counter intuitive because why would you want more obstacles in the pathway to your ear openings. The larger facial disks help to pick up low frequency sounds better than high frequency sounds. This helps the bird to locate the prey under snow. But here is where we can get into trouble when we assume a few things such as the owl hearing a vole under the snow. If you have ever been outside during or right after a large snow event you most likely have experienced how everything sounds different when the landscape is covered in snow. Recent experiments show that sound doesn’t pass through snow very well. Snow muffles sound and experiments show that low frequency sounds are less impacted than high frequency sounds when traveling through snow. The larger facial disks of the Great Gray Owl help pick up low frequency sounds making them better at finding prey under deeper snow. The problem with this is, sound doesn’t travel directly through the snow either. Sound is bent and shifts as it passes through the snowpack, shifting the origins of the sound by as much as five degrees relative to the actual source of the sound. This is called an acoustic mirage. So, an owl that is perched at a distance wouldn’t be accurate in assessing the source of the sound. In order to compensate for this shift in sound, the Great Gray Owl has a unique hunting style or behavior. After it locates the prey location from its perch, it will fly off the perch in a low altitude approach to the apparent sound source. At the last moment the owl will swoop up directly above the location of the sound and briefly hover. Using its large facial disks, it once again listens before dropping down. Low frequency sounds passing directly up through the snowpack has less distortion or shifting of the sound allowing the bird to pinpoint the exact location before the bird plunges down through the snow reaching for the prey. So once again, something in nature which seems so simple turns out to be way more complicated once it is examined closer. This is just another example of the complexity of nature. Until next time… Stan Tekiela is an author, naturalist, and wildlife photographer who travels extensively to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on Instagram and Facebook. He can be contacted via his website at naturesmart.com.