Mountain Wildlife, September 2023 in Eastern Sierra and White Mountains
Related: Eastern Sierra, Fujifilm, Fujifilm medium format, Inyo National Forest, Marmota flaviventris, medium format, peak bagging, Raptor, Snowshoe Hare, White Mountains, wildlife, Yosemite, Yosemite Toad
I can’t emphasize enough just how idyllic this year was and is up in the Eastern Sierra and White Mountains. The clearest air I can remember in decades, the lowest visitation, the vibrant life, etc.
Wildlife was awesome.
Marmots
I estimate a winter mortality rate of around 95% for marmots at the ~11000-12000 elevation level in the White Mountains. That is my unscientific estimate based on years of visitation to the area.
We saw only three small groups with 3 to 5 individuals, as many or more marmitos as adults. The survivors of the long and brutal winter are extremely cautious and unapproachable, showing rapt attention 300 meters out. Though if you want to see them closer, one mama and offspring at the Schulman Grove entrance are much more habituated to human presence. The ones we observed were all invariably silent, not emitting their characteristic loud whistles and ran for their lives far off. Due to some instinct when population is heavily impacted? Hyper vigilant and cautious unlike what I’ve ever seen in past years.
Raptors
Over at Saddlebag Lake while fishing, my intended dinner escaped — a fat 13" rainbow trout flailing at the surface became easy pickings for a large and beautiful Osprey, which swooped down just 20 yards out, and grabbed it. Cheating the resident bald eagle which is also hanging out. I’ve never seen an Osprey before, let alone at close range, what a treat! Which I gladly traded for loss of my dinner.
No Osprey picture—complete surprise, not that the Fujifilm GFX100S is anything but useless for such a rapid event.
Over in the White Mountains, a golden eagle (7 foot wingspan!) roosted near us for a short while, only the 2nd sighting I’ve had in about 12 years (the first one I came over a rise on my MTB and a golden eagle was straddling a very large and very much dead and bloodied marmot).
Yosemite Toad
See Examples (Dana Meadow Portraits) for pictures with toads.
We found a large population of the vulnerable Yosemite Toad, which I’ve passed along to the local wildlife biologist who is researching them. Elsewhere where they ought to be found... none.
Find the Snowshoe hare
The Fujifilm GFX100S with its 100 megapixels can bypass the need for a long lens to some extent, assuming it focuses properly. But 70mm of the Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/3.5-5.6 is no wildlife lens. For closeups, a Sony FE 200-600mm f/4.5-5.6 is a much more useful lens.
To understand wildlife, context is important. IMO, far too many wildlife images are context-dropping close-ups that tell you very little if anything about habitat and environment—eye candy that is shallow in its informative value. For that reason, I show both crops and full images below, since the main story here is how a snowshoe hare first attempts to hide itself by flattening itself including its ears. As well as the environment it lives in, one filled with predators: coyotes, foxes, raptors, and human hunters. The golden eagle we observed the next day would make a quick meal of this hare, should it expose itself at the wrong time.
Hiding to not be seen
My daughter spotted this hare at close range. It has flattened itself so as to evade detection. Here, it had hopped a few paces and flattened both body and ears.
Where is the hare?
Living at about 12000 feet elevation (above treeline and with very few bushes), this hare has to find shelter in the granitic boulders.
Ears flattened for minimizing its profile to evade detection, this very heavy and large (possibly pregnant) hare did not seem to want to run and when it did, it was at low speed.
A slightly closer view.
Fujifilm GFX100S + Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR @ 57.6mm equiv (70mm)
ENV: White Mountains, altitude 12060 ft / 3676 m, 55°F / 12°C
RAW: Camera ASTIA, Enhance Details, LACA corrected, WB 5200°K tint 21, pull 0.33 stops, +20 Whites, +30 Dehaze, +10 Clarity, AI Denoise 10, USM {8,50,0}, diffraction mitigating sharpening, +10 Vibrance
[low-res image for bot]
Fujifilm GFX100S + Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR @ 57.6mm equiv (70mm)
ENV: White Mountains, altitude 12060 ft / 3676 m, 55°F / 12°C
RAW: Camera ASTIA, Enhance Details, LACA corrected, WB 5200°K tint 21, pull 0.33 stops, +20 Whites, +30 Dehaze, +10 Clarity, AI Denoise 10, USM {8,50,0}, diffraction mitigating sharpening, +10 Vibrance
[low-res image for bot]
Look at those ears! Having run a bit but with little alacrity, this hare seems more curious than afraid. Most of them are gone like a rocket. This one was very heavy and did not want to run... pregnant?
Fujifilm GFX100S + Fujifilm GF 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6 WR @ 57.6mm equiv (70mm)
ENV: White Mountains, altitude 12060 ft / 3676 m, 55°F / 12°C
RAW: Camera ASTIA, Enhance Details, LACA corrected, WB 5200°K tint 21, push 1.8 stops, -100 Highlights, +40 Whites, +30 Dehaze, +10 Clarity, AI Denoise 10, +10 Vibrance
[low-res image for bot]
Below, what a beautiful place! About the same altitude as the snowshoe hare.
Fujifilm GFX100S + GF20-35mmF4 R WR @ 18.2mm equiv (22.1mm)
ENV: White Mountains, altitude 12200 ft / 3719 m, 58°F / 14°C
RAW: Camera ASTIA, LACA corrected, vignetting corrected, WB 5050°K tint 21, push 0.8 stops, +60 Shadows, -100 Highlights, +40 Whites, +50 Dehaze, +10 Clarity, +10 Vibrance
[low-res image for bot]
