I spotted this coyote, a youngster from this year's crop, hunting mice out in a field. He came up with a mouse and quickly gulped it down. I took some shots but he was really out of range at that point.

After downing the mouse, he trotted in my direction and went into a pile of downed trees, still on the hunt. He took a quick look around and saw me before heading on into the woods.



I circled around to see if I could pick him up again and he came out of the underbrush,stopping behind a tree. Cropped in for this one.



He stepped into a clearing and gave me some nice poses.





Shot this one when he spotted me again and before he trotted off into the woods. Cropped in at about 50% to better show his eyes.



Taken in Cades Cove, Smoky Mountains, with Nikon D70 and 70-200f2.8 VR lens.

It was a very enjoyable encounter!

Regards,

Dick:)

Awesome collection! These are just great. Thanks for sharing.

-JM

Dick,
How did you ever get so close?! These are awesome! I went into the EXIF expecting to see 400 or 600mm. I really want to go out and find/setup/create opportunities like this, but I don't know where to start. Was this dumb luck or did you do something to attack him which you could share with us?

very very nice! I've been shooting wildlife for a long time and never have captured song-dogs in the wild that close, and with a 200 no less! You did a spectacular job and your crops are nice too! I'll bet he neve makes that mistake again!

I bow down!

PC, James, Jeff, & Tony, thank you so much for the nice comments. Glad you enjoyed the "Song Dog" as Tony calls them.

Jeff, there was some luck involved, though I do try to find these critters. He was some distance away when I first saw him and was lucky that he decided to move in my direction. I hid out until he got close enough to shoot him at the log pile. When he went into the woods, I circled around and hid again, guessing which way he would come out and got lucky again.

This is a different one which I got back before Christmas.



Among the shots was a 7-shot sequence of her yawning. A friend animated it for me:



Best regards,

Dick:)

Awesome and Amazing. These are beautiful shots of beautiful animals! I saw one once, in my side yard, he ran through so quickly I would never get a shot. I am researching how to find animals like this. I know we have Bobcat, coyote, black bear, fox, and so on. I would love to get photos of any of them.

Love the animation!

Thanks for the inspiration,