Game Trail Camera Archives - Bliss Photographics

Posted on May 11, 2020May 4, 2020 by Frank Bliss

Meadowlark Posing for the Camera

Meadowlarks were named by Audubon noting that they had been neglected by earlier birders. Lewis and Clark made note of them though. They are abundant up here in the Wyotana borderlands. A Dozen per acre would be my estimate in the deeper backcountry near my homestead. There is a lot of grassland up here and these guys thrive in this environment. They are tricky to get close to and I always pursue an opportunity If I see it mostly with long telephoto shots as this.

The tendency of a Meadowlark encounter is to be random. They occur often while driving in the backcountry along fence lines. I often am traveling along a two track backroad only to see 50 foot ahead a meadowlark on a fence. If you stop too close, they will fly away. But if you stop “just right” and don’t move at all, they won’t fly for a while. If you move AT ALL once you come to a complete stop, they will fly quickly away. This is a law of nature that I’ve only seen ONE bird out of hundreds ignore.

This guy is a wild Meadowlark way out in the backcountry. Drove up on him. He was very tolerant of my Vehicle as it approached. I slowed to a stop about 20 feet away. I’m not usually so lucky…. At that distance, with an 1200mm fast lens, I can focus on his eyelashes. The hard part is getting 20 feet away from a backcountry wild bird. They frequent this whole area with 5 or 10 birds an acre sometimes. I’ve seen a bird fly every few seconds before driving two tracks. If I go slow, their songs permeate the quiet. Up here it can be so quite that you can hear your heart beat. Genernally not during Meadowlark season lolol 😜

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands (Wyotana)

Title: Meadowlark Posing for the Camera

Posted on December 21, 2019December 14, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Pronghorn Rut Training Dojo

These younger bucks got caught working out for the Bliss Dinosaur Ranch Fall Pronghorn Rut. It’s a single elimination tournament with winner take all. These bucks get along most of the year. They may even hang out “down on the corner” together. But this is as close to a full blown organized

So on an overcast Monday afternoon “Down Yonder by the fence line” was a small dojo formed for the purpose of working out and getting “tuned” for the battles to come. These guys were not not yet playing for keeps. The bigger bucks usually take it easy on the smaller males training/ramping up to the rut .It can really be violent when Pronghorn Bucks go at it. This appears more casual for the camera I suspect. This of course is a game trail camera capture from late in the fall (Fall was on a Tuesday this year). From this location in the past, dozens of various wonderful candid captures of both deer and Pronghorn occurred.

All the Pronghorn are off ranch at the moment. They all migrated about 30 miles south to the THunderbasin National Grassland. Pronghorn herds numbering in the hundreds. I had a Old Pronghorn Buck I named “Grunt” that stayed over winter several years but he’s not here this year. He either migrated with the others or in in much higher and greener pastures by his passing. I miss him as I could get very close to him as he was tolerant of me as an antelope can be tolerant.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title Pronghorn Rut Training Dojo

Posted on December 12, 2019December 6, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Meadowlark Getting Cold Feet

Not many Western Meadowlarks were singing the morning I got this capture. We are in their breeding area

It was not funny to the Meadowlarks as it was to me. This particular snow made it hard to find a place to alight. IT stuck to everything. Other birds occupied ALL perches in all directions. Worse: No one wanted to walk in the several inch thick sloppy wet snow. It was sticking to everything including the poor birds feet. A favorite perch were the electric wires around my compound.. There are other photos of that as well lol. There were many good captures this day.

Meadowlarks are insect and seed eaters. They are very well adapted to life up here in this remote grasslands up here on the high ridges. I’m sure they time their arrival or departure based on insect availability I suspect. They watch the weather pretty closely lol. The whole prairie was full of Meadowlarks this day and no shelter in this storm. The snow stuck to his feet made me feel better because I wasn’t the only one dealing with it lolol. There is companionship often formed in misery……..

Meadowlarks left this year around early October when winter started and heavier snows moved through. We’ve had a constant barrage of storms with just a bit of warmer relief since. 40 degrees and still is T-shirt weather in this country. We’ve already been below zero this year.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Meadowlark Getting Cold Feet

Posted on December 5, 2019November 30, 2019 by Frank Bliss

Meadowlark Up Close and Personal

I find Meadowlarks a difficult catch. I should clarify that by saying getting a REALLY close “Closeup” to be a bucket list item.

This guy was very tolerant of my Jeep as it approached. I stopped about 20 feet away. At that distance, with an 800mm fast lens, I can focus on his eyelashes. The hard part is getting 20 feet away from a wild bird. They frequent this whole area with 5 or 10 birds an acre sometimes. I’ve seen a bird fly every few seconds before driving two tracks. If I go slow, their songs permeate the quiet. Up here it can be so quite that you can hear your heart beat. Not during Meadowlark season lolol. They are all gone now for southern Climates as we are sub-arctic at the moment.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Title: Meadowlark Up Close and Personal

Posted on November 8, 2019November 16, 2019 by Bliss

Prancing Pronghorn Catching Air

Prancing Pronghorn Catching Air is a pretty rare capture from one of my better placed game trail cameras.

I have over 20 years of fairly serious pursuit of images, managed to get 3 or 4 captures of Pronghorn (incorrectly named Antelope since they aren’t). This female (with large horns for a doe) has got some air here clearing a foot above the 4 foot wire at this location. *(Males have a black cheek patch is how you tell for sure). I have another camera that looks at the creatures crawling under the fence here and this camera watching over the wire. I didn’t have much extra room on the top of the frame for this one lol. Just about cut off her head.

So they do jump over fences. Not very often. I’ve even seen antelope that have felt pressured go under in deference to going over if they could. This is very uncommon in this country where fences are usually fairly loose from the cattle pressure on them. I have hundreds of deer jumping fence, Pronghorn….not so much…

About the only thing you really have control of with Game trail cameras is their placement. Finding a spot that wildlife consistently uses to go through fences is the game. It’s an easy placement for a camera at a water tank or other game funnel. I was hoping for more flocks of birds from this camera but a Prancing Pronghorn Catching air will do lolol. This is a few hundred yards from The Montana/Wyoming border.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Posted on November 7, 2019November 16, 2019 by Bliss

Pronghorn Buck Under Barbed Wire

Game Trail Camera capture: Pronghorn Buck Under Barbed Wire

I love Pronghorns color in this light. The color of their hide is very close here to the real color they sport mid day. Maybe just a TAD dark but very close. This instead of the “Golden Hour” color of much darker brown. I see a host of images of these guys much darker than I’ve ever seen them in the wild. Title: “Pronghorn Buck Under Barbed Wire”

Running under a barbed wire is risky but moving about 20 mph as he’s doing it…. wow. These guys move through those gaps with hardly loosing any speed. I’ve seen a dozen Pronghorn moving under barbed wire in a few seconds. They don’t mess around when they feel like it’s “time to go”. I suspect someone sounds a subtle alarm and they are “outta here”. Fastest land animal in North America, they have their share of scratches along their back too. I sometimes have image after image like this on a camera as the herds move through. The automatic cameras react to the movement and capture the action.

I’ve seen Pronghorn go OVER fences before but it’s not a common occurrence. Some fen

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana

Posted on November 2, 2019November 16, 2019 by Bliss

Meadowlarks On Barbed Wire

Meadowlarks On Barbed Wire: They were qctually named by Audubon himself noting that they had been neglected by earlier birders. Lewis and Clark made note of them though.
They are abundant up here in the Wyotana borderlands/high plains . Beautiful Song and obvious Yellow breast lending itself to be the state bird for several states out here in the west. Abundant in their preferred habitat, they thrive here on our ranch as far as I cam see in this environment. They gorged on Grasshoppers all summer. They are welcome here anytime . A Dozen per acre would be my estimate in the deeper backcountry. There is a lot of grassland up here and these guys thrive in this environment. They have a beautiful song and are a little difficult of a subject. Meadowlarks on Barbed Wire is a 2×3 aspect image/

Approaching

These birds dont mind you coming to a stop when you see them. DON’t move once you stop because they will if you do . There are actually 3 birds here. One is flying off in the distance not counting the other one over the fence post on the far left distance lolol.

They are tricky to get close to and I always pursue an opportunity If I see it mostly with long telephoto shots. This image is a game trail camera shot. (I use very good Game Trail Cameras that are slowly migrating to the best places over time as I discover the locations that work best at different times of the year..Ninty percent of my encounters with Meadowlarks are at distance. Rarely one will let me into it’s “Personal Space” with my Jeep as a portable blind. This game Trail Camera got this from about 3 feet away with a wide lens. It’s a whole different perspective on these little guys than through a long telephoto lens.

There were a lot of these guys around until the End of October when It got cold enough all the insects were knocked down by the freeze. No bug, no food, and they fly south to better climates.

Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands

Posted on October 4, 2019September 27, 2019 by Bliss

Doe Bathed in Golden Light Moving Through High Grass

This Doe is bathed in bright Golden Light while it was moving through high grass in front of one of my better game trail cameras. The sun was seriously in the frame and gave me a monster lens flare. Very stylish these days I hear. I see a lot of them in movies now as a (nice touch) in the film). This was a tough light environment for this camera and it did pretty well lol.
Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana borderlands.

Posted on September 25, 2019September 22, 2019 by Bliss

A Ghost in the Night

This Flying Ghost in the night was no doubt aware of my ducks sleeping about 200 yards over my Game Trail Cameras shoulder.
Based on What I know about that foot diameter electric pole (at least) behind him…..He’s a BIG BIRD…. 1:49AM as I left the time stamps on this one. Just a few days back. Light of a 3/4 moon…

I really enjoy having the game cameras to give me this perspective on some nocturnal habits. I think this is a large raptor but I suppose it could be the same great horned owl I’ve photographed under better conditions with a “real” camera…

Last post of the day, it’s actually Sunday night as I type this. It will post at 9 on the 25th …..

Have a safe night.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana

Posted on September 24, 2019September 24, 2019 by Bliss

Big Buck in Pitch Black From a Trail Camera (Infra-red)

For a Trail Camera to pick up this 5×5 buck perfectly in Pitch Black using only a “flash” of Infra-red light, he has to be just the right distance from the camera, the camera needs to be set up for a (capture zone) where the animal is likely to be in focus so moving a big log somewhere to funnel the animals in front of your camera is a good idea if your situation allows. Narrow a gate opening, lower a fence at one spot. Good game trail captures are hard fought for.
Location: Bliss Dinosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana

Posted on September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 by Bliss

A Couple Of Seedy Bucks and An Antique IH Deering Seeder.

A couple of deer (bucks) are a tad seedy hanging out on this corner of the “strip” here on ridge one. I put quality game trail cameras out, I’m currently running 26 or them…. I keep a pretty close eye on what’s going on around here. These guys are clearly up to no good about 3AM that morning.

Location: Bliss DInosaur Ranch, Wyoming/Montana.