Squaw Mountain and Moon
The wind is bringing us a little snow storm today.
I don’t mind snow, but I prefer this.
I want Fall to hang on a little longer.
♥
Songs of Autumn
The sky is a busy highway with Sandhill Cranes flying from pond to pond, same with the geese. Seems all of the creatures are scurrying around getting ready for winter.
I took a walk through the meadows now that the biting bugs have all gone.
All that is left is tall grass swaying in the breeze and red-winged blackbirds swarming, swooping, and singing the songs of autumn.
The meadows will be full of cattle once we bring them home from the mountains this week. I love fall time in Wyoming.
Harvest Moon
Our Harvest Moon peeked out from the clouds last night. It was a beautiful sight.
Happy Friday!
Autumn Sunburst
I’m going to pretend that I haven’t been absent from this blog for two months and just leave you with this.
I just love a good sunburst through the cottonwood trees. It’s fall y’all!
Pheasant Friend
I got a call the other day about this pheasant that has taken up residence on a nearby ranch. He always greets them when they are headed out to the pasture to cut hay.
But it isn’t really a greeting. He is actually protecting his hen and baby chicks. He will chase you down and peck you if he can get close enough- like when you have to close a gate. Yeow!
He is a beautiful bird and I hope he and his family will continue to be safe.
Under Lingering Storm Clouds
The radar was red, yellow and green with constant severe weather alerts on our phones throughout yesterday afternoon. I had my cameras and my storm emergency kit in the basement with me, bracing for impact. As I watched and listened, I heard a really hard rain then it was quiet. I refreshed the radar and low and behold, the storm took a turn from our place and headed straight to town. While we were spared the brunt of the storm, our little town was hammered with golf ball to softball sized hail. Many folks I know have broken windshields, broken windows, dented cars, and a lot of damaged property. As far as I know, we did not have a funnel cloud touch down near us although there were plenty that touched down around the state. The weather service did an incredible job of informing us of the bizarre weather patterns early on Monday and we were able to be prepared well before it hit.
We took a drive to the meadows in the evening to check on the herd while storm clouds still lingered over us.
The main reason we came down was the pluck this fella out of the meadow and bring him to the barn. He’s been “off-duty” for at least a year so as you can see, he’s put on a few pounds. Patrick needs him to do a little cattle work this weekend so Gray needs some saddling and warm-ups before Patrick gets on.
Amazingly, he let us catch him and Patrick walked him to the barn without incident.
No, that’s not dust on your screen, but cotton flying in the wind. It was a gorgeous sunset in spite of the crazy weather.
But while I was walking back the the house, there was another boomer forming in the southeast.
Today is cooler and the wind is blowing. I believe they are experiencing snow in the mountains Yellowstone. It’s not quite summertime folks. But soon, very soon!
Two Eagles Sharing a Limb
March was a proper spring weather month. Little to no snow, warm temperatures and sunshine. A perfect start for the calving season. The meadowlark arrived singing the song of spring, red-winged blackbirds fluttered all over the meadows and cranes and geese announced themselves with their loud calls. April is a different story. We’ve had a lot of rain and snow showers. The snow isn’t sticking much but mud is up to my ankles everywhere I step.
After getting my count of the cows and calves this morning, I looked up and saw two eagles sharing a limb. This snow melted quickly but it’s still spitting out there. It should warm right up tomorrow and the rest of the week. The calves will appreciate that. We will too. 🙂
20 inches and still counting
We’re in it. Knee deep.
We are in the middle of a winter storm that is almost debilitating.
To feed the cattle this morning, Patrick had to drag the bale to flatten the snow to have somewhat of a lane to roll the bale and spread cake.
The cake still went down into the snow but a good bulk of the cattle worked at it to get a few mouthfuls.
The hay was fluffy enough to sit on top of the snow so I’m sure they are getting enough. And it will give the calf a little something to lay on, off of the snow.
It’s up to my knees in some places and up to my waist or higher in the drifted spots. This one is a doozy, folks. I just really want the snow to stop coming down. We’ve got enough. Uncle! I haven’t seen this much snow since we moved off the ranch in the hills in April of 2013. Maybe more than that. C’mon summer! 🙂
Where Did the Time Go?
I completely missed the month of November here at Uprooted Magnolia. I’ve missed you, to say the least. But all is well here. Actually, it’s wonderful. My calendar booked up with amazing new and former clients and I’ve had a joyful time with each and every portrait session and wedding. And it just keeps getting better. I am excited to see what the future holds with new and exciting projects on the horizon.
We brought the cattle home from summer pasture and good ole Gray is happy to have everyone back so he can boss them around the meadows.
Fall arrived in all it’s colorful glory and stuck around, extending the portrait season. Then all of the sudden, it turned to winter.
We had a cold snap that turned from chilly to downright freezing last week. Whoa, I hadn’t gotten myself mentally or physically prepared and the air hurt my face. I swear my eyeballs froze. Fortunately the river didn’t freeze completely so we didn’t have to break ice for the cows to get a drink.
Hello winter. And Hi everyone, I hope to be more regular again. ttfn. 🙂
October Sunset
I know it’s cliché to say but I don’t care. October is my favorite color. 🙂
Here is a shot toward Laramie Peak at sunset to prove it. The wind has taken a lot of our leaves which means winter is coming. But I will hold on to this feeling for a while. It’s been a couple of really great months out here in the wild west.
Cheers!
Roadside Fog
It’s that time of year for those misty, cool mornings that slowly introduce us to autumn. So of course, my camera and I rolled out for an adventure with some roadside fog on one of those mornings.
Next door neighbor, a longhorn cow, having her breakfast.
Field of sugar beets.
Red Angus are grazing in the background. They weren’t visible when I set up for this shot. So I waited for them to get a little closer.
This road runs alongside an already harvested corn field.
Flock of blackbirds “swimming” in the thick fog.
Sunflowers started blooming early this summer and are still popping up in our yard. They are a bright spot on such a gray day.
Intersection on the way home. Our mailboxes are enveloped in the dense fog up ahead.
These views are seen daily from the windshield of our cars and trucks but it looks completely different when it’s underneath a heavy fog.
Taking time to notice our everyday surroundings can be very soothing and even inspiring. I encourage you to the same. Hope you’ve enjoyed these images and may they bring some peace and quiet to your busy day.
Cheers!
Frisky Fawn
Fawns are definitely out and about and some have hit the ground running. They are the cutest!
Snowfall in Late June
Did that get your attention? Well, it wasn’t snowing the cold and wet stuff. It was snowing cotton.
We took a drive down to the meadows one evening to check the irrigation ditch and the water level of the river. We had already taken the cattle up to summer pasture so all was quiet except the summer wind blowing through the cottonwood trees.
Cotton was on everything. The barbed wire fence, tree limbs and blades of grass were covered. The scenes were out of a fairy tale.
This image is my favorite.
I ran around chasing the sun while trying to outrun the deer flies. We don’t frequent the meadows in summer because the bugs are bad. But wow. I’m so glad I went down there this particular evening.
Tetons Roundup
Needless to say, it was an amazing adventure in the northwest section of Wyoming. Yellowstone and Tetons are both a sight to see.
Pelicans and geese float the lake. A clear sign that the fishing is probably pretty good!
A western meadowlark grabbed up some yummy breakfast!
Moulton Barn on Mormon Row. One of the most photographed scenes in the world. I put my own spin on it with a delicate spiderweb in the foreground. I’m sure I’m not the first but hey, here it is.
Bison in a field of dandelions. We stayed here a moment and looked through our tour guide’s spotting scope. We saw a brand new bison calf getting used to it’s long legs. So cute!
If the mosquitoes weren’t so bad, I could have watched this swan until dark.
This pond is in Jackson not far from the elk refuge.
We took this trip in late May, early June. I will be heading back to Jackson in September to photograph a wedding with the Tetons as the backdrop. I am excited to see how it looks as autumn begins.
Cheers!
Tetons: Pronghorn and Lupine
We saw a lot of Pronghorn Antelope. Or Speed Goats. Whatever you wanna call ’em.
Lupine grows in the meadows all around the Tetons. It is a flowering plant in the legume family.
Tetons: Schwabachers Landing
In the Tetons, we saw some amazing species of water fowl at Schwabachers Landing. Schwabachers Landing is a boat landing located a few miles south of Snake River Overlook, along the east shore of the Snake River.
We also saw a lot of little baby ground squirrels. They were everywhere and weren’t all that shy.
I wish I knew the official names of the water fowl that we saw but I don’t recall. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable but I didn’t retain the names of them. Dad may have written notes on them so I’ll check with him. If you know, feel free to name them in the comments!
Grand Tetons: The Ansel Adams Way
Debbie booked us a tour of the Grand Tetons because honestly, we just didn’t know where to start and how to get to where we wanted to go. We needed some direction and we got more than we bargained for with our tour guide, Mike. He was a former National Parks employee and knew so many facts and details of the park, the land and wildlife. It was a great experience having him show us around.
I hoped he would show us the view of the Tetons and Snake River. Sure enough he did but the view I saw was different from the Ansel Adams image that I knew and loved. Of course, Adams shot it in 1942 so obviously the terrain has changed a bit. But Mike also told us that he used a ladder to get this image.
Here is mine:
And here it is cropped, and photoshopped to mimic the look of the large format camera.
Of course, my 70D can’t compare to a large format, but it was fun to post process this into black and white.
More on the Tetons later. Cheers!
Red Dogs
Thanks to a comment from a friend yesterday, I learned that baby bison are called red dogs.
I had never heard that term before and she said she’s only heard that in Yellowstone.
Her comment also reminded me that I hadn’t shared the couple of shots I got of the babies. It looks like it was a good calving season because we saw a lot of the little furry babies on the ground.
I love the little nubs on their heads. They are much cuter than their mothers that’s for sure!
Leaving Yellowstone
As I’ve already said, we had a wonderful time in Yellowstone and I feel confident in saying that we left it just as we found it.
The only things we brought home were a couple souvenirs, maps, memories, and lots of photographs.
I don’t have the high speed equipment to get a good photograph of a black bear AND stay safe so I kept my distance when we came across this fella. I’m fine with that.
We saw beautiful waterfalls and at this spot, we met a nice gentleman with his camera on a tripod shooting in the opposite direction of this waterfall.
He pointed out a baby osprey atop a pillar of rock in the canyon waiting for it’s mom.
There is a wolf den somewhere up in those hills but we never saw a wolf up close. Obviously.
This Bison crossed the stream nervously, looking back again and again. Not sure what was after her but she seemed quite nervous. She joined the herd after this.
One of our last stops was at the Grand Prismatic Springs…along with the rest of the tourists.
This is the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world.
It’s colors match the rainbow dispersion of white light by an optical prism: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.
A great experience was had by the three of us. I’ll admit that I had a little separation anxiety when leaving Yellowstone. We just grew to love it so much and wanted to see more. Fortunately our next stop was Grand Teton National Park. So with butterflies in our bellies, we continued on for the adventures ahead of us!
Yellowstone: Sheepeater Cliff
We made a wrong turn and when we realized we had done so, we came upon Sheepeater Cliff and decided to stop and get our bearings.
Sheepeater Cliff was named for the Shoshone Indians who lived throughout this region. Their use of bighorn sheep earned them this name. The cliff is lava that cooled nearly 500,000 years ago.
When we pulled up, we saw a lot of folks admiring this pile of dried lava and wondered what the heck they were looking at.
Then we saw them.
Baby Marmots!
And Mother Marmot.
These brothers were wrestling and flashing their sharp teeth.
Marmots are large squirrels and typically live in burrows within rock piles.
I’ve also heard them be referred to as rock chucks.
They were rolling around like kittens! It was hilarious!
They mostly feed on plants and insects.
Little sister wasn’t having any of it. She was just crawling around the rocks looking cute and eating plants.
Needless to say, we were glad we made a wrong turn because we sure did get a good chuckle. 🙂
Uprooted Magnolia 
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