bighorn orgy
William M Porter
Registered Users Posts: 40 Big grins
So my provocative thread title got your attention, eh? You should be ashamed of yourself. :-)
But seriously, folks.... We returned from vacation in the Colorado Rockies last week - our third visit to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. We've never had much luck seeing bighorn sheep in the past, but I hit the jackpot this time. The first afternoon we were there, we saw some rams on top of McGregor Mountain. Very dramatic but they were a LONG way away and I just didn't have the reach to get a good shot.
But a day or two later, we caught a couple of ewes crossing the street and we were close enough for a good shot. One of the ewes actually acted as a crossing guard - going out first, and stopping the traffic while the other ewe led the two lambs across the street. One mother was nice enough to look at the camera and smile.
They didn't seem too threatened by me or the rest of the small crowd of onlookers so I stepped respectfully closer:
The bighorns come down to the mudhole ("Sheeps Lake", it's called) to, um, lick the mud. Really:
The next morning, as usual, I was in the park just after dawn. Drove up Trail Ridge Rd to Rock Cut near a lookout called "Top of the World," turned a corner, and there they were: four rams.
This time, the crowd consisted of me, my two daughters, and just two other early birds - in other words, we had the top of the world pretty much to ourselves. Even so the rams seemed a bit nervous and kept crossing the road as if to leave, then changing their mind and coming back.
We finally got back into the van and inched forward, but the bighorns didn't bolt, so I was able to shoot from right across the street:
I was just about ready to pull out a model release.
On our way back down the mountain a short while later, once again, turning a corner, we got a little cherry for the top of our wildlife-viewing sundae. A lone bighorn, standing on the wall that separated us from eternity, not twenty feet away.
Pays to get up early in the morning.
Will
But seriously, folks.... We returned from vacation in the Colorado Rockies last week - our third visit to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park. We've never had much luck seeing bighorn sheep in the past, but I hit the jackpot this time. The first afternoon we were there, we saw some rams on top of McGregor Mountain. Very dramatic but they were a LONG way away and I just didn't have the reach to get a good shot.
But a day or two later, we caught a couple of ewes crossing the street and we were close enough for a good shot. One of the ewes actually acted as a crossing guard - going out first, and stopping the traffic while the other ewe led the two lambs across the street. One mother was nice enough to look at the camera and smile.
They didn't seem too threatened by me or the rest of the small crowd of onlookers so I stepped respectfully closer:
The bighorns come down to the mudhole ("Sheeps Lake", it's called) to, um, lick the mud. Really:
The next morning, as usual, I was in the park just after dawn. Drove up Trail Ridge Rd to Rock Cut near a lookout called "Top of the World," turned a corner, and there they were: four rams.
This time, the crowd consisted of me, my two daughters, and just two other early birds - in other words, we had the top of the world pretty much to ourselves. Even so the rams seemed a bit nervous and kept crossing the road as if to leave, then changing their mind and coming back.
We finally got back into the van and inched forward, but the bighorns didn't bolt, so I was able to shoot from right across the street:
I was just about ready to pull out a model release.
On our way back down the mountain a short while later, once again, turning a corner, we got a little cherry for the top of our wildlife-viewing sundae. A lone bighorn, standing on the wall that separated us from eternity, not twenty feet away.
Pays to get up early in the morning.
Will
0
Comments
My Galleries
Flicker
G+
Thanks for looking, Benjamin. The landscape is great and pretty exciting all by itself. Throw in a close encounter with bighorn sheep and, well, I forgot all about the fact that I'd gotten up at 5:30am and hadn't yet had any coffee!
Will
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
my stuff
Thanks for sharing,
Dick.
Thomas Fuller.
SmugMug account.
Website.