NATURE CLICKS #500 - ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Badlands NP, South Dakota

I still have a few images from my recent trip to Badlands National Park I like to share with you. It wasn’t difficult to find the small herd of Bighorn Sheep this time. The ewes and immature sheep enjoyed the fresh grass at the edge of a parking lot at one of the overlooks. I heard that someone had seen a newborn lamb but I didn’t see any.

Three big rams were dozing peacefully together at a different location, near the rim of a canyon. The peak of the rut is in November, that’s when “dozing in the sun” is definitely over…

NATURE CLICKS #476 - BIGHORN SHEEP

Bighorn Sheep, Roosevelt National Park, North Unit

Joan and I were happy to watch and photograph Bighorn Sheep in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park again. During our first visit in 2015 a ranger told us, you will be very lucky if you can find the Bighorn Sheep. They spend most of their time in the canyons of this badlands area and therefor not easy to spot.

Well, this year we found a splendid ram and four ewes grazing on the grassy slope above a canyon. We spent about 20 minutes with the bighorn sheep before they disappeared into the valley. Enough time to work with these amazing critters…

Male bighorns can be dangerous and are able to kill a human if threatened, so maintaining a safe distance is a good idea. There was a small ravine between my tripod and the animals and I felt safe to be that close. The first image is uncropped and gives you an idea about the real world at 600 mm focal length, while the second photo didn’t have a very interesting background, just plain grass, and I felt a slight crop would benefit the outcome. The sheep gave us a look ones in a while but most of the time just ignored us and that is always a good thing if you are close to a wild animal.

OUT WEST #3

Bighorn Sheep, Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Most people who come to Badlands National Park may never see much wildlife because they stay on the Badlands Loop Road that leads through the park between the Northeast Entrance and the town of Wall and leave the car only at one of the numerous overlooks. It helps to know a little bit about the biology of the critters and birds to find locations where the chances to see and photograph them increases exponentially. However, Bighorn Sheep can be seen sometimes along the road and if that happens a traffic jam is often part of the game. Some of the Bighorns wear radio collars so the different groups can be tracked by the park staff for research or wildlife management purposes.

I have mentioned often in the past that I’m not an eyeball photographer. Most of the time I prefer the environmental photo of the animal that tells a story about the habitat the critter lives in. Quite often I zoom out and decrease the focal length of the lens below 600 mm in order to get the shot I have in mind. The Bighorn Sheep can move fast, sometimes they come too close (no, you don’t want to be there for your own safety if a big old ram comes right at you) and a moment later you wish a lens with even longer range is attached to the camera…

NATURE CLICKS #314 - ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP

Theodore Roosevelt NP, North Dakota

We hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend. I won’t bother you today with a long story about the making of the photo or any other nature observations. This is just another image from our visit in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. The picture is the result of a very slow and careful approach to a herd of Bighorn Sheep. It was a lot harder to get the glass on them than it was in Badlands NP. I hope you enjoy!

NATURE CLICKS #304 - ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN SHEEP

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head

Joan and I spent quite some time searching for, watching, and photographing wildlife during our trip in the Dakotas. Since it was our third time in Badlands National Park we had already a pretty good idea where to look for critters and this time we had again some wonderful encounters and joyful experiences. For those of you who like to go there sometime here is the tip, try Sage Creek Rim Road, the gravel road that leads to the primitive Sage Creek Campground. You may find wildlife along the Badlands Loop Road, where most of the tourists travel as well, but it isn’t always easy to park the car and work the critters with your camera along this busy road.

Finding and getting close to the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep was on my bucket list for this trip, and boy, we have not been disappointed!! We were still a little early for the rut and these two rams were standing peacefully side by side, watching the herd and having an eye on the photographer.

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

This is one of my favorite images during this trip. It shows the herd moving along the grassy slopes beside Sage Creek Rim Road and leaves no doubt about where this image has been made. The avid reader of my blog knows that I often like to go for the environmental shot and because of the typical landscape in the background, there is very little doubt that this was shot in the Badlands, South Dakota. It would have been a “butt-shot-only” image, except for the wonderful pose these two young rams put on display. They are too young to play a role in the upcoming rut but they like to test their power against each other.

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

When the bighorn sheep are comfortable with your presence they stick their head into the grass and do the “sheep thing”, eating and munching. Getting the shot may need a lot of patience. Remember, while eating every muscle in their face is in motion and the head moves around all the time. It is hard to get a sharp shot and the prairie grass covers quite often part of the head. The terrain in the Badlands sometimes allows you to shoot from below or at least at eye level with the critter. Waiting for the brief moments when the head comes up, either to watch out for a potential predator, or like in this case, for just chewing on a taller piece of prairie grass, can lead to the picture you have in mind. More to come...