Random Photo Thread: The Sequel

[taxlady]

Very pretty trees and lights, Taxy. Looks cold there.

That squirrel's tail - such a definitive line between black and red!

Thanks Cheryl. Yes, it's cold here, -10°C (14°F).

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Brrr, that's cold! We're still at our daughter's in OH and the temps are in the mid-upper 30s. Stay warm, and safe travels when you do get to leave for home.

That poor squirrel looks like someone grabbed him and stuck most of his tail into hair bleach. Maybe they thought he'd make a cute blond.

 

[RPCookin]

Throwing a couple of photos at you.

First is one from 35 years ago, 4 wheeling up in the Colorado Rockies:

Then one from this last summer north of Cody Wyoming on my way in the back door to Yellowstone Park:

And one from our trip to Africa in 2014 - helicopter view of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe:

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Wonderful pics Rick! I'm pretty sure I've been on two of those roads.

 

[RPCookin]

Wonderful pics Rick! I'm pretty sure I've been on two of those roads.

The second one is about 20 or 30 miles north of Cody. I drove up through Red Lodge, Montana, then over the Beartooth Scenic Highway and into the NE entrance to Yellowstone. A couple more from that drive:

Looking down from above a scenic overlook on the Montana side:

Gardiner Lake. Panorama stitched from 6 images.

 

[GotGarlic]

Wow, Rick. Gorgeous photos.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

RP, those are poster-worthy shots! You could probably sell them to a travel agency.

 

[Cheryl J]

Rick, those pics are absolutely stunning!

 

[RPCookin]

Thanks for the comments. I've been shooting as a hobby on and off for 40 years. It's so much better now with digital images that I can develop on my computer instead of having to send them in for processing.

A couple more from Africa:

A herd of zebra crossing the Chobe River on the border between Botswana and Namibia. I'm on the Botswana side in Chobe National Park. Note the native huts in the distance.

This one is a leopard. We spent nearly an hour there shooting from several angles. The leopard wasn't going anywhere because it was guarding an impala carcass that it had taken the day before.

 

[Addie]

RP, the picture with the zebras has what looks like a cheetah or some other cat in the background running to make a catch. Or he is being chased by a lion. Beautiful pictures. Very talented.

 

[Paymaster]

A buck from Cade's Cove yesterday.

 

[GotGarlic]

Addie, I zoomed in on that animal in the distance and it looks more like a bird. Although it's a bit blurry, the shape at the top is more like wings than an animal head and back. Maybe Rick has a better view with his original image and can tell us what it is.

 

[Andy M.]

Addie, I zoomed in on that animal in the distance and it looks more like a bird. Although it's a bit blurry, the shape at the top is more like wings than an animal head and back. Maybe Rick has a better view with his original image and can tell us what it is.

I think you're right.

 

[RPCookin]

RP, the picture with the zebras has what looks like a cheetah or some other cat in the background running to make a catch. Or he is being chased by a lion. Beautiful pictures. Very talented.

I don't think so. There is a fish eagle flying above the herd and a few other birds around in the photo, but no cats. I have good photos of lions, cheetahs, and leopards, but none making a kill. They were all just lying in the shade trying to stay cool at the times when we saw them.

I have a photo of a pack of African Wild Dogs (also called painted wolf) on the hunt, but they never caught up to anything while we could see them. They had an injured hyena following them hoping for some leftovers. You can see the dog that is farthest from the camera looking back to where the hyena is hiding. Two of the dogs have tracking collars. The wild dog is endangered.

 

[Andy M.]

Fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[RPCookin]

A buck from Cade's Cove yesterday.

Is that a whitetail? I've only seen one or two ever. We mostly have mule deer out here, with just an occasional whitetail in the brushy stream bottoms. Also see Pronghorn antelope regularly, but never close enough to be worth trying to photograph with the lenses I have.

 

[Paymaster]

Is that a whitetail? I've only seen one or two ever. We mostly have mule deer out here, with just an occasional whitetail in the brushy stream bottoms. Also see Pronghorn antelope regularly, but never close enough to be worth trying to photograph with the lenses I have.

Yes. This is a whitetail. I got to within about 20 yards of him. The deer at Cade's Cove in the Smoky Mountain National Park are quite wild but don't fear humans much due to them never being harassed. They are protected there.
I got pretty close to this one too.

 

[taxlady]

All these pictures of deer reminded me of photos I took in Denmark in Jægersborg Dyrehave, about 10 km north of Copenhagen. It's a park that a king had built for his private hunting. It is now public and no hunting is allowed. The deer are very tame and well taken care of and fed.

This pic shows how close photographers can get. I took the picture from a horse drawn carriage that my mother hired for a tour of the park. You can see the lamp on the carriage on the right. On the left, is one of the feeding stations.

Here's a Sika deer, imported from Japan.

 

[taxlady]

Also from Jægersborg Dyrehave, the palace/hunting lodge built for the king. It has no bedrooms. It has a kitchen in the basement and a very large table that comes up through the floor like an elevator.

 

[taxlady]

And another one from Jægersborg Dyrehave. These burial mounds have been put off limits to archeologists for now. They will be the last mounds opened in Denmark.