Sunset breath-stealer at the Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon at sunset is one of the real treats at this national park.  There are good spots and better spots to do this.  We kept traveling along the rim of the Canyon looking for that perfect spot.  Finally as the hour grew late, we pulled into a parking area and found a "suck-the-breath-out-of-your-lungs" view.  The scenery, the colors, and the shadows made a constant play as the sinking sun skimmed its rays over anything it could still hit.
--steve buser

Grand Canyon, Sunset

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Egret -- just winging it.

A Great Egret takes a leap into the air and glides away from his perch.  The picture is from the Oil and Gas Park in Jennings, LA. His companion for the the morning, the Anhinga on the right side, doesn't give it much attention.
-steve buser>

Great Egret, Louisiana

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Sniping Stripes --Zebras zerks

My biggest surprise at Global Wildlife Center where we visited this past weekend was the orneriness of the Zebras.  They would push their way to the front nearthe wagon train we were in and then chase away any animal that would push on them.  We were warned not to feed them from our hands because they will bite -- apparently an expression of affection. Apparently, from the way I see it,  the stripes are just to a make them look more friendly.

--steve buser

Zebras, Global Wildlife Center

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Wildlife are happy to greet you

We had the grandkids and a bunch from Linda's family at the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom this weekend.  I don't think I have ever seen brighter kids' eyes thatn when they found out they got to feed giraffes, zebras and buffaloes and more.  It's a vast open range prairie that the animals roam freely.
--steve buser

Global Wildlife Center, Louisiana

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Elk eye contact

A young buck elk in full velvet in Yellowstone National Park stops eating leaves for a second to check me out. I guess he was wondering what that big eye was sticking out of my face.  This was on a recent vacation Linda and I took at the end of the summer.  There was a big buck looking over the herd of about 12, mostly females.  He was laying in the grass and barely looking around.


--steve buser

Yellowstone National Park, elk

Great Egret,

This lone Great Egret (Ardea Albus) was ranging around the pond at the Oil and Gas Park in Jennings today. I managed to get in a spot, just behind a tree, that allowed me some camoflauge and a place to steady my shot.  He quickly found me, though, and took a couple stares right at me to check for threats.

The fishing wasn't so good, so he soon decided to head to his (seemingly temporary) nesting place in some bushes near the bank. 

What surprised me on this shot, was how limber you have to be, to be a Great Egret and keep your feathers straightened.
--steve buser

Great Egret, Ardea Albus, Louisiana

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Pasture perfect

Old school buses, put out to pasture, now just lineup behind a fence and watch the I-10 traffic flow by.   Near Winnie, TX (to the east of Houston)
--steve buser

Texas

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Green Heron

This Green Heron at Austin's Arboretum was wary of me, but didn't fly away as long as I kept my distance and didn't make sudden moves.
--steve buser

Green Heron, Austin

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Washington Monument at the edge

Our son, Charlie, and my wife, Linda, check out the map of Washington D.C. in the portico of the Washington Monument during a recent trip there.
-steve buser

Washington D.C., Washington Monument

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Black-capped Chickadee

I had to shoot between the legs of a railing to catch a shot of this Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) eating on some tender shoots of a branch in Yellowstone National Park this summer.
I think the railing provided just enough cover to keep my friend here unfrightened by me.
--steve buser

Black-capped Chickadee

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Blowing off steam

Will the geyser blow soon?  If you know the ways of this beast, you can probably guess the time it will blow within a couple hours.  A Yellowstone National Park ranger would come out to the site periodically to check the signs and give her prediction. 

When the geyser blows, it really puts on a visual and sound phantasmagoria.
--steve buser

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

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A Peek at the Peak Peak

At the top of the photo is the peak of the Grand Teton.  The photo is from our trip to Yellowstone earlier this month.   We were climbing to Inspiration Point on the far side of Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons National Park.
--steve buser

Grand Tetons, Wyoming

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