Today's View from my Office -- (Wildlife, not African)
Aug 24th, 2006, 12:12 PM
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Today's View from my Office -- (Wildlife, not African)
This is in the spirit of Cyn's great backyard wildlife album.
Today the view from my office included a bachelor herd of 12 bighorn sheep rams. Since I wanted to post those I've added a few other wildlife sightings from my office.
Today the view from my office included a bachelor herd of 12 bighorn sheep rams. Since I wanted to post those I've added a few other wildlife sightings from my office.
Aug 24th, 2006, 12:13 PM
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Aug 24th, 2006, 12:24 PM
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My home base is in Golden, Colorado and my 'office' tends to be field locations within Colorado but ocassionally I find my self in other western states like Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Aug 24th, 2006, 12:58 PM
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Those are FANTASTIC, I especially love the Coyote mid pounce, how on earth did you manage to capture that?
I am very envious of you encountering all that wildlife, especially the Cougar, the burrowing Owl (I never knew that such an unusual Owl existed), the prairie dogs, bison ..... in fact ALL your shots. Wish there were some wildlife as unusual / interesting here in Ireland !
Imelda
I am very envious of you encountering all that wildlife, especially the Cougar, the burrowing Owl (I never knew that such an unusual Owl existed), the prairie dogs, bison ..... in fact ALL your shots. Wish there were some wildlife as unusual / interesting here in Ireland !
Imelda
Aug 24th, 2006, 03:51 PM
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PredatorBiologist:
Wow - those are great! I didn't even know some of those animals existed - to say nothing of being in my own country. Such a big world!
The bachelor herd of the LH Sheep - are they like impala in that one male gets to "own" the girls?
That Burrowing Owl's legs made me laugh out loud - what a silly looking creature (sorry!)
The eagle in flight - second shot - perfect!
And I liked the little badger.
Are your sightings like mine in that it's not an everyday occurance?
Again - great - thanks!!!
<font color="green">Cyn</font>
Wow - those are great! I didn't even know some of those animals existed - to say nothing of being in my own country. Such a big world!
The bachelor herd of the LH Sheep - are they like impala in that one male gets to "own" the girls?
That Burrowing Owl's legs made me laugh out loud - what a silly looking creature (sorry!)
The eagle in flight - second shot - perfect!
And I liked the little badger.
Are your sightings like mine in that it's not an everyday occurance?
Again - great - thanks!!!
<font color="green">Cyn</font>
Aug 24th, 2006, 05:31 PM
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Hi Predator Biologist,
I am green with envy, my nephew and I shared your photos over our breakfast. I am looking out my office window - concrete, cars and trucks! Very disappointing!
Kind regards,
Kaye
I am green with envy, my nephew and I shared your photos over our breakfast. I am looking out my office window - concrete, cars and trucks! Very disappointing!
Kind regards,
Kaye
Aug 24th, 2006, 05:48 PM
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The best I can do is pretty parrots bathing in the birdbath outside my study window 
Pred, do you know the pro nature photographer D. Robert Franz of your part of the world, well, Denver I think? I know this is one of those silly questions...you meet somebody from a city of umpteen million people and ask, gee, do you know so and so? Dale (or Robert) and his wife stayed with us a few years back on one of their stock gathering trips.
John
Pred, do you know the pro nature photographer D. Robert Franz of your part of the world, well, Denver I think? I know this is one of those silly questions...you meet somebody from a city of umpteen million people and ask, gee, do you know so and so? Dale (or Robert) and his wife stayed with us a few years back on one of their stock gathering trips.
John
Aug 24th, 2006, 09:29 PM
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Thanks for all the great feedback!
Imelda: I do not know much about photography but fortunately I know a lot of animal behavior so the key to coyote mid pounce shot is I have watched them hunt enough to get a feel for when they will jump, and I found one that let me close enough to capture it.
Cooncat: I love the burrowing owls -- they are real clowns that are fun to observe and try to photograph.
Thit_cho: Cougar was taken at the Heil Ranch Open Space about 15 miles north of Boulder Colorado. Unfortunately they are extremely difficult to find without some tremendous luck although sightings are increasing quite a bit but they are pretty random. Best bet is to track them after a fresh snow and hope you can catch up with them. There is an Earthwatch Project in Idaho where you can track cougars with telemetry and if you are lucky even get to collar cats -- seems like something that might fit the way you travel and is the only way I know that you should definitely see cougars.
Cyn: the bighorn sheep breeding is very interesting as it works a little different. Typically just one female in the herd comes into estrus at a time and the males trail her and battle for the opportunity to mate. The male rut has to be as spectacular a competiton as there is in the animal world. Two males will face off, often time 15 or 20 feet apart and then run at each other often rising to stand and run on their two hind legs for the last 3 or 4 steps before butting horns at full impact creating a sound that can be heard from well over a mile away.
Burrowing owls are certainly funny with their long legs that let them run around and grab grasshoppers, lizards, etc. Yes, like you I do not have a great sighting on everyday out at work but I do frequently have great spottings of a diverse array of animals.
Kaye: I am very glad that I long ago traded in my traditional office for work in the great outdoors -- of course this week it has been very hot, I get bit by mosquitoes, cut by thorns, etc, not all glamour but it does work great for me.
Leely: Bison are a tremendous animal. If I could be anywhere at anytime I would probably choose to see the great herds of bison numbering in the millions and of course the wolves and even grizzly bears that were present hunting them.
John: the name Franz seems very familiar but perhaps I am thinking of Frans Lanting (sp?) a famous nature photographer.
Imelda: I do not know much about photography but fortunately I know a lot of animal behavior so the key to coyote mid pounce shot is I have watched them hunt enough to get a feel for when they will jump, and I found one that let me close enough to capture it.
Cooncat: I love the burrowing owls -- they are real clowns that are fun to observe and try to photograph.
Thit_cho: Cougar was taken at the Heil Ranch Open Space about 15 miles north of Boulder Colorado. Unfortunately they are extremely difficult to find without some tremendous luck although sightings are increasing quite a bit but they are pretty random. Best bet is to track them after a fresh snow and hope you can catch up with them. There is an Earthwatch Project in Idaho where you can track cougars with telemetry and if you are lucky even get to collar cats -- seems like something that might fit the way you travel and is the only way I know that you should definitely see cougars.
Cyn: the bighorn sheep breeding is very interesting as it works a little different. Typically just one female in the herd comes into estrus at a time and the males trail her and battle for the opportunity to mate. The male rut has to be as spectacular a competiton as there is in the animal world. Two males will face off, often time 15 or 20 feet apart and then run at each other often rising to stand and run on their two hind legs for the last 3 or 4 steps before butting horns at full impact creating a sound that can be heard from well over a mile away.
Burrowing owls are certainly funny with their long legs that let them run around and grab grasshoppers, lizards, etc. Yes, like you I do not have a great sighting on everyday out at work but I do frequently have great spottings of a diverse array of animals.
Kaye: I am very glad that I long ago traded in my traditional office for work in the great outdoors -- of course this week it has been very hot, I get bit by mosquitoes, cut by thorns, etc, not all glamour but it does work great for me.
Leely: Bison are a tremendous animal. If I could be anywhere at anytime I would probably choose to see the great herds of bison numbering in the millions and of course the wolves and even grizzly bears that were present hunting them.
John: the name Franz seems very familiar but perhaps I am thinking of Frans Lanting (sp?) a famous nature photographer.
Aug 24th, 2006, 10:59 PM
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Pred,
You got the Frans Lanting spelling right...but D. Robert is one of your home-grown stars. I believe some of his nature photos appear on jet tailplanes over there. Now that would be really something, having your photos chosen for airline livery.
John
You got the Frans Lanting spelling right...but D. Robert is one of your home-grown stars. I believe some of his nature photos appear on jet tailplanes over there. Now that would be really something, having your photos chosen for airline livery.
John
Aug 25th, 2006, 08:00 AM
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Thanks for sharing! I'm jealous that your job involves viewing so much gorgeous wildlife. I love the horned lizard and the racer. And I'll add my vote to the burrowing owl being as a really fun/funny siting.
Aug 25th, 2006, 10:08 AM
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PB,
I recently had an exterminator come to my office to escort the resident mice out. Didn't see it, but did see lot's of evidence - does that count
?
You do have a wonderful job PB and your photos are superb. Seeing the coyote pic. confirmed that it was indeed the same species as the critter that wandered thru my yard. Your coyote looked like a nice healthy dog as mine did.
Hope you enlarged and hung the pic. of that eagle.
Thanks;
Sherry
I recently had an exterminator come to my office to escort the resident mice out. Didn't see it, but did see lot's of evidence - does that count
? You do have a wonderful job PB and your photos are superb. Seeing the coyote pic. confirmed that it was indeed the same species as the critter that wandered thru my yard. Your coyote looked like a nice healthy dog as mine did.
Hope you enlarged and hung the pic. of that eagle.
Thanks;
Sherry
Aug 25th, 2006, 10:35 AM
#18
PB - You have so many great photos! I'm jealous of you and your office. I loved the owls. I took the kids to the movie "Hoot" about the owls and we really enjoyed it.
D. Robert Franz posts at one of the photography forums I visit. He has some great images.
D. Robert Franz posts at one of the photography forums I visit. He has some great images.
Aug 25th, 2006, 01:58 PM
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John: I am very familiar with the animal photos on Frontier Airlines, they are wonderful and the airline has built a very successful campaign around them. I will have to do some research on this hometown star.
Matt: the burrowing owls are definitely in decline with prairie dog and ground squirrel exterminations eliminating a lot of their habitat, thats too bad you don't have them in your area anymore. I've been lucky to find them in 3 locations this year. I'll have to show them to you when you come through Denver, unless of course they are vacationing in Mexico/Central America for the winter.
Schlegal: thanks for your thoughts -- I really like the horned lizards, they are interesting little blokes.
Sherry: glad you had the chance to see a backyard coyote -- if you can find him after a good snow you will get to see him do the full air leap and pounce, fantastic! The eagle picture is recent so haven't hung it yet but I do plan to since it is one of the species I have done the most work with.
Sundowner/Atravelynn: thanks for your comments and believe me I know I am lucky to have my 'office' -- I love what I do.
Matt: the burrowing owls are definitely in decline with prairie dog and ground squirrel exterminations eliminating a lot of their habitat, thats too bad you don't have them in your area anymore. I've been lucky to find them in 3 locations this year. I'll have to show them to you when you come through Denver, unless of course they are vacationing in Mexico/Central America for the winter.
Schlegal: thanks for your thoughts -- I really like the horned lizards, they are interesting little blokes.
Sherry: glad you had the chance to see a backyard coyote -- if you can find him after a good snow you will get to see him do the full air leap and pounce, fantastic! The eagle picture is recent so haven't hung it yet but I do plan to since it is one of the species I have done the most work with.
Sundowner/Atravelynn: thanks for your comments and believe me I know I am lucky to have my 'office' -- I love what I do.
