May 12, 2014
Grizzly Bear Resting and a Bison Giving Birth, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

I had one of my best days, if not the best day, in Yellowstone National Park yesterday! It started with a nice Grizzly Bear surrounded by snow-covered and frosty sagebrush. Then I had an extremely cooperative Grizzly Bear resting in a nice setting. Then I had a most extraordinary experience of watching and photographing a Bison give birth in a great location with decent light. It was the first time I had seen a Bison give birth, and a photographer standing near me said he has been coming to the park for 44 years and has never photographed a Bison giving birth. It only took me four years. Then the day ended by watching a Black Bear sow with three cubs-of-the-year. There weren't any good photo ops, but I thoroughly enjoyed watching the cubs play. This is the Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) that I found resting in a nice location. I first photographed it head on but then discovered this much better view from the side, and it was cooperative enough to turn its head towards me a few times. Mixed light is usually a problem, but there's fairy even illumination on the bear and which makes it really stick out against the dark background. I arrived at the Bison (Bison bison) cow giving birth about 8 minutes before the actual birth, and she was lying down with the calf's front legs and nose sticking out. This image was taken at T-0:7:15 (T minus 0 hr, 7 min, 15 sec) after the cow stood up with the calf's front legs and nose sticking out. The cow laid back down for a few minutes then stood up again. This image was taken at T-0:0:25, and the calf's whole head is out. This is the final push (T-0:0:0) and the calf is beginning to do a tuck-and-roll. OK, more of a drop-and-flop. At T+0:8:14, the calf was starting to sit up and the cow continued to clean the calf. At T+0:11:44, the calf was standing up without too much difficulty and the cow continued to clean the calf. At T+0:33:07, the calf was trying to nurse. It knew it was supposed to go after the pink thing(s) between its mother's hind legs, but it overshot the teats and tried to latch onto the afterbirth. After spending almost two hours with the newborn, the cow and calf laid down and I left to go recycle some coffee. After I returned, the cow and calf stood up and practiced walking in formation. At T+2:21:55, the calf was walking confidently. A raven flew in to see if there was anything to eat, in particular the afterbirth. It tried snatching the end off the piece still attached to the cow and the cow chased the raven away. The raven was determined to get something to eat and stayed in the area. At T+2:27:59, the calf went over to visit the new neighbor. At T+2:32:40, the cow and calf chased the raven away. At T+2:32:40, the cow continued to be a good mother by cleaning off the calf. A very appropriate action for Mother's Day. Shortly after this, they finally started to move away and I took my last shot at T+2:37:54. It was an incredible 2.5 hours with them.