Yesterday morning while photographing bees on wildflowers I spotted a young Coyote walking towards a mountain creek through some grass and sagebrush. I started my Jeep and drove to a better viewpoint of the young Coyote winding its way through the sage.
Young Coyote with an injured eye – Nikon D500, f10, 1/1250, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Over the years I have learned that I can only photograph many of the birds or animals I spot if I can get to them quickly. If I don’t I often end up without a single photo of them.
It took me a few seconds to grab my camera and start photographing the Coyote as it moved towards the edge of the creek.
There were two things I didn’t realize at the time I photographed this young Song Dog.
- I forgot that I was set up to photograph bees on wildflowers that were close to my Jeep and that I had left my aperture set at f10. Because I was in a hurry to get to the Coyote I hadn’t taken the time to reset my aperture back to f7.1, which is my default setting. I didn’t need this much depth of field. I kicked my butt soundly after I realized what I had done.
- I didn’t realize at the time I had this young Coyote in my viewfinder that it had an injured left eye.
Young Coyote near a creek – Nikon D500, f10, 1/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
When the Coyote moved closer to the creek and to me it wandered in front of blooming Silvery Lupine, a native wildflower.
I photographed the Coyote from the top of a steep embankment in between clumps of tall grasses that were at the edge of the road. I appreciated the views I was able to get of this young animal.
Creekside young Coyote – Nikon D500, f10, 1/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Something in the distance caught the attention of the Coyote and it stopped briefly to look at what it was when I took this photo.
In this image we can see that the right eye of the Coyote was normal and healthy. When I reviewed all my images of this animal carefully I can see that the left eye of the Coyote is intact. I wondered if the Coyote scraped its left eye or if it had been irritated by the brush and grasses and was squinting to protect it. I can’t say for sure but I strongly suspect that is/was the case.
Young Coyote with an eye on a rancher – Nikon D500, f10, 1/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Despite messing up my aperture settings I was delighted to get a few nice images of this young Coyote. I had less than a minute with the Coyote and I was only able to take 75 photos of the handsome creature before I lost sight of it.
Life is good.
Mia
P.S., I saw a low of 47°F yesterday morning in the mountains. By the end of the day I had seen a record breaking high of 107°F in Salt Lake City.
Click here to view more of my Coyote photos plus facts and information about this species.
Very cool pics. It is amazing how adaptable coyotes are. They frequently come up from the canyons around our neighborhood; especially in the early mornings, but they do keep their distance. Interesting beasties. Thanks Mia.
Handsome young Coyote! Hope his eye heals quickly.
Wonderful shots!
Those are fantastic. I love coyotes. I want to live where you live.
Thank you. I do hope his eye recovery is quick and complete and that your suppositions were correct. That is a humungous temperature range. Eeeeuw.
Oh my goodness! These are phenomenal close ups! Congrats!
Very nice coyote sequence, Mia!
Great shots Mia and a handsome Coyote too!
Thanks, Jerry. It was nice seeing you yesterday. Hope you had good luck in the field.