Bird’s Eye View
Traditionally it’s a drive down Hwy 89 from Livingston, in through the park entrance. It just feels right! Making my way from Mammoth, over Dunraven Pass, through Hayden Valley and past Fishing Bridge… the park is dead quiet. Barely a car in sight, and not an animal beyond the far away bison herds to be seen. Until my car makes the curve just past Steamboat. Not only do I recognize the vehicle pulled off along the side of the road, it’s a lens I know by sight. Unmistakable! I smile, roll down my window and start photographing the beautiful Swainson’s Hawk sitting in the tree.
Heck, I didn’t know how long my friend had been waiting for it to “pose” in the beautiful sunlight like that. Breast feathers illuminating as it tilts its head looking for food. So I wait and shoot and observe. Beautiful! As it takes flight landing in a distant tree, I make my way over to Steve and the conversation begins! We shoot and chat for over an hour. What a fantastic beginning to this day!
