At Home on the Range

During last weekend’s daytrip to find/photograph migrating Short-eared Owls, I stopped by nearby Prairie State Park to see what was going on. It was pretty slow … a few Northern Harriers hunting over the prairies, among some Red-tailed Hawks seemed to be about the only action going on. As I approached the park visitor’s center, Bison appeared all over the landscape. Some were busy grazing and some were just lying among the prairie grasses. Here are a few of my favorite images I captured of these behemoths:

Bison grazing on the prairie

Bison grazing on the prairie

And this next one was “hiding” behind some tall prairie grasses, but keeping a wary eye on me:

 

Bison on the prairie

Prairie State Park has a nice number of bison that free-range around the prairies. It’s so great to see various prairies around the Midwest are re-introducing Bison on their prairies. Years ago, bison ranged throughout the country and were an intricate part of the prairie landscape. Photographing a location with bison really gives one the feel of what it must have been like hundreds of years ago, when bison freely roamed our lands!

Photographic Equipment Used:

  • Canon 5D Mark 3 body
  • Canon EF 100mm-400mm, f/4.5-f/5.6 IS lens + Canon 1.4X TC
  • Handheld from car window, with IS “On”
  • ISO 1600 (very cloudy day, so cranked up ISO to keep from blurrying any movement the bison made)
  • Aperture f/6.3 and f/8
  • Shutter 1/320 sec. to 1/400 sec.

 

 

Posted in Mammals, Nature Photography, Travel Photography
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