Wildlife Images

Rocky Mountain Bull Elk

This giant bull elk came upon me quite suddenly as I was setting up to photograph whitetail deer along the Mission River in western Montana during late October. The enormous antlers took my breath away - counting brow tines, they are 10 points on the left and 8 points on the right. Note the broken brow tine on the right rack. The rut was winding down, and he must have been quite a scrapper.

Evening Reflections

Trumpeter Swans - The evening darkness is enclosing upon these Trumpeters in a remote inlet cove along Montana's Clark Fork River. Soon it will be total darkness, and these swans will settle in for the night to await the light of a new morning dawn.

Montana Whitetail buck - Mission Mountains.

This would be a 3x3 buck, not counting the eye-guards. However, note the small point protruding from the rear of the third tine on the left antler group. If a finger ring can be held from such a point, it is counted as a full point. So, this is a 3x4 buck. Some locales would say that this is a 4x5 buck (counting every point), while others would only count the lesser side of the antler group, minus the eye guard. Thus, they would say this is a three-point buck. However one wishes to take sides in the dispute ... simply put, he is one handsome buck!

Fawn in the Ferns

Montana Whitetail Fawn - Kootenae National Forest, Cabinet Mountains. This little one is standing in a field of Braken Ferns. For a sense of feeling how small this fawn is, look at the dangling seed-heads of the grass stalks. This little one is about two-months-old - Photo taken September 17, 2019.

Autumn Bokeh

Whitetail Buck - Mission Mountains, Montana. Bokeh is a photographic term that illustrates a boquet of subtle colors and textures in the background (and sometimes including the foreground) of the main subject. The bokeh is achieved by using a large lens aperture to create the soft textures of the bokeh. In this photograph the bokeh is attained by using a Prime 500mm telephoto lens and opening the lens aperture wide open to f/4, and focusing on the main subject - in this case, the buck browsing on grasses.

Moose in the Slough

She's not quite sure of this human intrusion, yet I mean her no harm. Backwater slough along Montana's Clark Fork River. Overcast skies with a light drizzle and a tough hike to capture this girl feeding on submerged moss. I kept my distance as she had a calf hiding nearby in the reeds and grass. Do not approach a cow moose with a calf - sure suicide!

Journey Into the Missions

Whitetail Buck against the backdrop of the snow-covered Mission Mountain Range - Montana.

Pronghorn Buck

Montana open grasslands of the western prairies.

Moose, Moose!

Feeding on submerged moss, a moose delicacy. Clark Fork River, Montana.

Young Bull Elk in Velvet

Along the Mogollon Rim - Arizona. Fujichrome 35 mm film. Velvia 50 ASA

Fawn Twins

Montana Whitetail Deer. Two-months-old, and of course, curious.

Silver Bokeh - Trumpeter Swans

Cygnus buccinator. Trumpeters are elusive birds and sensitive to human disturbance. They are skeptical to humans approaching too closely and will paddle swiftly away in the opposite direction or, as a general rule, take immediate flight. Due to their wary traits Trumpeter Swans can prove to be quite challenging subjects to photograph.

Winter Reflections

Whitetail deer feeding along the Clark Fork River. Photographed one-quarter mile away from the opposite bank of the river. This image was taken on an still, overcast winter day using a Nikon 500mm lens with a Nikon TC1.4 III Teleconverter @f/8 and a Nikon D810. The image is intentionally underexposed presenting a wintery mood effect with reflections of the feeding deer next to the river.

Whitetail in Snowfall

Odocoileus virginianus - January snow-storm. Northwest Montana

Trumpeter Swans - Cygnus buccinator

Along the Clark Fork River - Montana

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Winter Setting Sun Limelight - Clark Fork River Backwater Slough. Wind south @ 28 MPH - Temperature 10 degrees Fahrenheit - Chill Factor minus 12 degrees Fahrenheit.

Autumn Day's End

Montana Bison Silhouette - National Bison Range.

Trumpeter Swans

Trumpeter Swans often mate for life - in this scene a male and female are photographed on a frozen portion of Bull River near the confluence of the Clark Fork River. Males are larger weighing up to 26 lbs., while females can weigh 22 lbs. Powerful flyers with seven-foot wingspans Trumpeters can attain speeds of 60 MPH, while normally cruising at 25 MPH.

Portrait of a Whitetail

Montana Whitetail Doe. Spending the day in 10-degree, freezing November temperatures and bone chilling wind on Thanksgiving Day, attempting to photograph Bald Eagles from a blind, I was nearly numb to the bones. As I was heading out, this girl jumped up into my path to give a pose just a few yards away. Click, click. You are so beautiful - thank you for the opportunity to snap your portrait - the ending of a great day in Montana's outback.

Flight of Eight

Canada Geese taking flight along the Clark Fork River - Montana

Dance of the Trumpeter

Trumpeter Swans - Cygnus buccinator - Once abundant across North America, human encroachment into the Swan's sensitive habitat caused the species to rapidly diminish. By the 1930s less than 100 of these birds existed. Today, populations have rebounded in parts of the Northwest. Along Bull River - Montana

Female Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

I had to look twice at this camouflaged scene - Hey, there's a duck in it! The watery bokeh set the background, the weathered and tattered mossy stump as a perch, and a brown and tan, brown-eyed duck - it all fit perfectly.

Montana Whitetail Fawn

Two-months-old

Whitetail Silhouette

A whitetail buck is silhouetted against the, "Montana Big Sky" along a ridge laden with Idaho fescue, a native bunchgrass and food source for various wildlife species of the Palouse Prairie. The Palouse Prairie consists of eight western states of the American West. Palouse is a French-Canadian word for the Palus Indian Tribes found in the regions of the by-gone fur trading era. It means, "Land with short and thick grass."

Montana Whitetail Buck in Rut

This October buck is sniffing the air for the scent of a doe. It's whitetail mating season in Montana. Note the swollen, muscular neck - This is no guy to mess with!

Mom and the Kids

Montana Whitetail Doe and Twin Fawns. These little guys were born later than normal; in the month of July instead of the normal April and May. Montana old-timers say that when the fawns are dropped in late summer, it indicates the arrival of a late winter, because the little late-drop fawns have difficulty surviving a typically normal to harsh winter, which usually arrives by late November in Montana.

King of the Hill

High up on the foothills of Montana's Mission Mountain Range, a Whitetail buck is seen from his mountain retreat. Odocoileus virginianus