Its All About Timing and

Great evening last night, had the weather Channel on all night listening to the story of the damp balance of the week I am going to have. I have a King Sized bed and Its comfy ! Hot shower , a little beverage from my friends at Coke and it was off into the arms of Morpheus.

Woke at 5:30 am and looked outside, Clear skys so I made coffee and hit the trail. Uncle Stanley gave me a Camera bag which I had to trade for a bigger one at First Photo because my laptop didn't fit in it. The New one holds all my canon Gear 20D and 40D bodys with lens's and flash, plus my laptop. So when I Leave like this morning its a matter of releasing the handle and rolling her out .

I drove to Black Sand Basin , near Old Faithful and found nothing except another bison jam on the road. I turned around and decided to go to Norris Junction then over to Canyon. Bought some gas at Canyon and noticed the road South to Fishing bridge ( Yellowstone Lake) was open. After about 10 minutes I broke out into Hayden valley and spotted all these birds along the Yellowstone river Which is FULL of water.

Low and Behold there was a pair of Sand Hill Cranes so I sat there drinking my coffee and noticed a behavior change. I grabbed the camera , slipped a piece of rubber tubing (used to insulate pipes) over the window and rested the camera. Well I documented a complete breeding cycle ! These Shy birds are hard enough to get in camera range , but to be fortunate enough to document that part of thier life cycle is special. I have also Photographed Elk doing the same.

Well Lunch hour is over and its time to do a couple errands and get ready for this afternoon.
The time between 10 am and 4 pm is for shopping, napping etc. the light just isn't right, however if its there you still take the shot !

The Buffalo Jams were ridiculous this afternoon. They perfer to walk on the road and walk on the road they will.

Something I noticed today, the geysers are all really active I see stuff boiling out of holes where I have never seen it before, Well they say Yellowstone is very unstable ?
Also along the same lines, Gibon Meadows is a huge open Plain, hundreds of acres. You can see huge portions of it that are totally bare and turning green, the rest is covered with snow at least a foot deep. Obviously the surface temps vary dramatically. Hayden Valley was totally covered, Just the drainages, like Elk Creek are open. What a fantastic place. I am really glad I came this spring to see this wonderful place in a new light.