9/27/13 Elk Herd Locations

Elk herd locations are pretty stable, but more bulls are showing up every day.  The biggest herd is near the Ponca Access. That bull was skittish this morning and patrolling the cane line anticipating another bull.  There was a second herd down by 43/21 and a 3rd down by Cave Mountain Road.

Lots of elk watchers today including out of state people.  This year Estes Park was trashed by floods that have wiped out many roads.  Ponca and Boxley Valley are a great alternative to Estes Park and for many Estes Park fans much closer and lodging is very affordable here.  For information on lodging choices and prices, there is no better source than the Buffalo River Chamber of Commerce site a http://buffaloriverchamber.com.

Finding Bull Elk Fights -- Lesson #1: Listening

Locating and Predicting Bull Elk Fights Lesson #1:  Listening

Boxley Valley is a big place, but if you learn to listen for fights your chances improve for locating one.  I have located a few elk fights by listening -- it is one of the reasons I work alone most of the time. When I am working the rut, I concentrate pretty hard. I am watching elk movements, and I am listening. People will see me parked in front of an empty field with my windows down and imagine I am nuts.  Nope, I am working -- listening.  

The Sounds of Bull Fights (and Coming Fights)

The first and most obvious sound of a bull fight is the crashing of antlers.  If you are paying attention, you can hear two big bulls mixing it up at least a half mile away. The big fight my wife videoed started out of view in the river, and only then moved to the Smith Creek field.  Listen more, talk less.  Turn off your radio and pay attention. 

Note the charging challenger bull in the distance. He is coming to
fight, setup by a special type of counter-bugling explained below. 

The second and less obvious sound of a coming bull fight is bugling, a special type of bugling.  It is a special type of "counter-bugling", when bulls bugle back and forth to announce their territories. Regular counter bugling has a relaxed pace.  Pre-fight counter-bugling is quite different.

So how is it different?  Well, the frequency of counter-bugles becomes steadily faster.  What was relaxed and occasional becomes more frequent, AND, the tone changes, especially for the herd bull. The herd bull's bugle will become somewhat lower, and gravelly in tone, and I swear you can hear his rage.  His hormones are raging and he has blood in his eye.

You can hear the challenger bull coming even if he is not visible, he is getting closer and louder.  Scan the cane line because he is coming, and the herd bull knows it.  Suddenly you will see the challenger bull break out of the cane line and run to challenge the herd bull (as above in the distance, not the little one behind).

As they get closer together, bugling gets more frequent as both bulls jack up the emotion. I have seen them right beside one another bugling up a storm before they lock up.

This is pretty exciting stuff.  Hearing the build up to a real deal bull fight between two of the big dogs is really something.  The buildup to a fight is really exciting.

So this is Lesson #1.  Listen, and pay attention, always.  If you do, you can quickly locate an oncoming fight if you are fairly nearby. Understanding how counter-bugling works helps you evaluate watching one elk herd vs. another when you have choices.  If you make the wrong choice, you can ID a bull elk fight in a nearby field and get there.  Remember, your brain is the most important photo tool you have, keep it in gear.  Concentrate.

I Relocated to this Bull Fight By Listening a Half Mile Away

9/24/13 Elk Herd Location Map

Elk viewing remains very good with 3 herds in Boxley Valley from end to end.  See map below.  

New bulls are now arriving every day, signalling that we are steadily notching up in the rut.  There are also stragglers and maveric bulls here and there.  Things are very dynamic now and the pace of change is picking up. 

If you plan to visit, the next week or so is when the action really ramps up. I reviewed my records and bull fights are most common from now through the 2nd week of October.  Nobody can guarantee you will see a bull fight, but your percentages are the best during this period.  

9/17/13 Elk Herd Location Map

This is today's elk herd location map. In spite of very hot fall weather, 2 nice herds were evident today.  The best viewing remains down by Cave Mountain Road on the south end.  JYD is there with his harem and he is pretty close to the road.  He is a 7x7 top tier bull.  This is a great opportunity to see him up close.

Elk Viewing is Very Good -- Ivory Elk Antlers Everywhere

Elk viewing is now very good in  Boxley Valley. There are two big herds, one just south of the 43/21 intersection, and a second in the field north of Smith Creek. All major elk viewing is in the south end of the valley and the current pattern has been stable for a couple of weeks. 

Many bull elk have now scraped the velvet off their antlers. White, ivory-colored antlers are everywhere now in Boxley Valley. If you have never seen freshly-scraped antlers, it is interesting. They are very white at the beginning, then they air dry down to a deep nutmeg brown. 

For me this is the first clear marker of the 2012 rut. Some large bull elk have already assumed the "rutting position" hanging around with cow herds and bedding down with them overnight. Most all of these bulls are "second tier" bulls and will be quickly replaced as the rut hits full speed. 

Around the third week of September, and often the biggest bulls show up around October 1. As bulls arrive. These big boys are huge, and quickly there is a changing of the guard. Most of them are still hanging around in an all-bull herd of the biggest animals. For now at least, this herd is not visible, but it could show up at any time. 

August 24, 2012   Copyright Michael Dougherty 2012

3/10/12 2012 Wildflower Gallery & Tutorials

Sharp-Lobed Hepatica Lost Valley 3/9

Thought I would share some pictures from this year's wildflower season with commentary. It is still early, but I have a few wildflower images that please me. This blog entry is a brief wildflower tutorial based on my voice. The important thing though is perhaps to copy my approach to composition, even if you arrive in a totally different place.

My takeaway point for you is to THINK, please ask and answer your own questions about wildflower pictures and composition. This blog entry is a glimpse into my thought process. I want you to have one of your own.

This first photo is of a sharp-lobed hepatica that I took yesterday. I like long contrast scales with brights and darks. When wandering looking for compositions, I am drawn to selective lighting and shadow plays. This photo has them both. I believe pulling back to grab the context and grabbing the texture of leaves is essential. Spring wildflowers are about the renewal of life. Dead leaves provide the contrasting backdrop for rebirth. To me at least, the shadow tracing the bloom expresses the cycle of life -- it makes the connection. Note that the two flowers are counterpointed (facing a different direction and at different bloom stages). The photo has a huge negative space to the left that is unified with the flower though the shadow.

Done well, photography is poetry, communicating various inflections of the human experience. If an image does not pull you to take it, that quality of evoking viewer engagement and emotion is not there, after all, at some plane we all resonate as one. 

Emerging Trillium Sessile -- Lost Valley 3/9

The photo on the left is of an emerging trillium sessile. No purple bloom yet, but there is a bud. I was drawn to this because of the light and that magnificent leaf. The moss makes the photo sensuous to me, adding lush texture and color.

There is no need for a bloom. An effective photo can be carried by light, texture, lines and color. This image is rich in contrasting forms and textures.

To get a photo like this one you need to take pictures at the ends of the day. Low angular light is a key ingredient that animates texture and form with subtle shadows and gradients of light. What I often see is a nuanced composition absolutely fried by on-camera flash. Found light is your friend.

Found light and long tonal scales separate an artistic composition from a snap shot. 

Emerging Trillium Sessile 2. Lost Valley 3/9

This image goes to the issue of texture, lines and negative space, meaning here space away from the main subject. Note that the rib on the leaf on the left roughly resonates with the curve created on the right by the three trillium. This photo has a circular flow to it. Note that the light dynamics create their own shapes.

Maybe the biggest lesson here is to give your compositions space, and please, don't just slam your subject in the center of the frame. I call those pictures "splats".  I have taken my share of splats, but I hardly do anymore. Getting past "splats" is the first step to creating your photographic voice. The natural experience is both subject and context. Mine the context.

Now back to my first and most essential takeaway point. If you are to find your voice, you need to think, you need to question, you need to experiment and you need to fail. Be fearless about failure, failure leads you to insight and learning. If you gain a critical insight from coming up short is that really a failure? I don't think so.

I believe it was Einstein who said "insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result". Be thoughtful. Ask questions and experiment -- dig in. Inspired photography is about thoughtful hard work. Try this and that, learn, and bring together all that learning. You will find your voice.

3/9/12 Early Wildflowers Are Peaking, 2 Elk Herds

Ozark Wake Robin Trillium at Lost Valley

Early wildflowers are now peaking. I like to think of the wildflowers in 3 shifts, so these are the late February and March wildflower species. Some like white trout lilies and harbinger of spring are at about peak now, and in a couple of weeks they will be harder to find.

If you want to see the white trout lily bloom this weekend is surely peak. The white trout lily bed in Lost Valley is just past the bridge on the left. These are great flowers but the bloom is always short-lived.

Elk viewing is good. Two herds are now in the valley. One is about mid-valley, the second view-able one is just south of the 43/21 intersection.  A bull herd is kicking around in that same area.

This will be a great weekend for wildflower viewing if you are into them. Don't wait more than another week if you want to see all the early species.

2/23/12 Updated Elk Viewing Map

There are 3 elk herds in Boxley Valley now, 2 all cow herds, and 1 all bull herd. This is a normal post-rut pattern.

Remember the antler drop is not until around April 1. If you want to see bull elk up close you need to arrive at Boxley Valley early. Bulls are more timid than cows and calves and leave the fields earlier.

Note the first wildflower blooming dates by species in the map below. Lost Valley is ready to explode, probably within the next week. The wildflower season is long so we are talking about the early species. A nice hike in Lost Valley complements the elk viewing perfectly. The current crop of white trout lilies bloom when the day warms up. Elk head for the woods about that same time. The weather is now perfect for wildflowers to take off strong any day now.

See map with elk herd locations below.

2/23/12 White Trout Lilies Blooming in Lost Valley

White Trout Lily in Lost Valley

This warm weather has started the White Trout Lilly bloom in Lost Valley. The hot spot for this species is just past the bridge to the trail and to the left. Be careful, it is a fragile area. They should be blooming great guns by the weekend.

2/18/12 Elk Locations Update

Today there were 2 herds in the valley. The herd near the Ponca Access has been there now at least 3 days running.

The herd in the south end of Boxley Valley re-appeared just north of the Buffalo River at the south end. There is a nice bull with this herd, I think it is Junk Yard Dog, or JYD, He has a distinctive kind of hoop shaped rack.

The updated maps is below:

Wildflower Destinations for Everyone

Spring Beauties Near Kyle's Landing

Surely we are in winter's death rattle. Wild flower season could not seem further away, but it is just a few weeks off now. Time to start planning for your 2012 campaign.

The list of destinations below are for people who don't really want to walk very far.  Here are my recommended hot spots for very easy wildflower viewing and photography -- places where you can drive up and take a short walk to great displays of Ozark wildflowers:

1. Lost Valley Hiking Trail
   It is hard to beat Lost Valley. Park your car and walk the first 1/2 mile and you will see most wildflowers when they are in bloom.  Lost Valley also has toilets.  Further up the trail are two falls and unbeatable scenery.
   
2. Kyle's Landing Access Road
   Hardly anyone knows about this one. Take the road to Kyle's Landing down to the intersection with the road to Camp Orr. Park safely there and walk the road toward Kyle's. This stretch has most of the major species, and it also has Dutchman's Breeches when they are in bloom, a less common wildflower.
   
3. Camp Orr Road (off Kyle's Landing Access Road)
   Not huge blooms along this road, but one rare wildflower -- Hoary Paccoon. You got to love that name. Bright yellow-orange clusters about halfway to your next destination, the Triple Falls at Camp Orr (below).
   
4. Triple Falls (at the end of Camp Orr Road)
   This area is on nobody's list of wildflower destinations, but it loads up pretty well. You will find the flowers in the short hike to the Triple Falls, a pretty nice set of falls. I find different species here in greater concentration than I do in Lost Valley.
   
   Destinations 2,3, and 4 are all basically the same because they are so close together. The difference between them has to do with altitude, moisture and soil. This is an interesting study in micro-climate. It is easy to get many good species pictures and not walk very far at all.
   
   
5. Road to Broadwater Falls

   

   Spiderwort on Road to Broadwater Falls 

   
   Head out of Compton to the flagpole at the Compton Fire Department, turn east toward the park and follow that road. Along this road you will find the best bloom of spiderworts I have seen anywhere. There are pull-offs where you can park and walk.  Also a great place for red buds, wild plums, and dogwoods in season. You will find less common green trillium here as well. Eye-level shots are often possible because of deep ditches next to flower beds. 

Wildflowers will bloom at different dates depending on location, so if you visit you can see a good mixture of species by visiting different locations. Some locations might be a week apart on blooming dates for the same species.  The big show starts in just a couple of weeks.

11/1/11 Elk Herd Map & A Look Ahead

This morning the elk herd that has been hanging out in the first Ponca field was there again. They were up pretty close to the road, possibly preparing to cross. The Ponca field is about the best field for viewing for the last few days. 

A second herd was behind the Mill Pond, and a third down at the south end near Smith Creek. 

November is a great month to view elk. Later this week we head back into cooler weather. This should translate into more herds coming into Boxley Valley to graze, and longer viewing times. 

Bald eagles seem to be arriving early this year. The normal season is from Thanksgiving until Valentine's Day. Cold weather in the north seems to be pushing them down. The best place to see bald eagles in Boxley Valley are around the mill pond and in the middle valley area, but they do fly all along the river.                                      

10/30/11 Ponca Field, Smith Creek Field -- Elk At Both Ends

Elk are at the opposite ends of Boxley Valley now. There is a herd in the very first Ponca field, and a second at the south end in the field north of Smith Creek.

Absolutely wonderful weather and peak fall color.

Bald eagles have started arriving a few weeks early due to cold blast in the north.  The customary eagle viewing season is from Thanksgiving until Valentine's Day. A good place to see the eagles when they arrive is the Mill Pond area.

Thanks to those who came to my workshops and visited us in the annual Color Fest.

New Elk Video Posted on Bull Fights vs. Sparring

I thought it would be useful to put together a slide show to show the difference between bull elk fighting and bull elk sparring. I get asked this question all the time.

Very few people get the chance to see a real bull elk fight even though they happen often early in the rut. When people tell me that they have seen a fight I assume it is sparring. Sparring is fun to watch, but nothing is on the line with sparring bulls, it is almost something they do to combat boredom.

Here is the video. I realize the sound could be better:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExKzToANycE

If somehow you missed it, the following is a video of a true bull fight in Boxley Valley:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Pb_s1SG1o

10/7/11 Herd Map Update & Report

The herd locations are pretty much the same as they have been. There is a herd in the Ponca fields, along with stragglers around the edges of it. The Boxley Beast continues to occupy the field near Smith Creek.

Last night a small herd was also located in the field across from the 43/21 intersection. I don't show it on the map because it was not there this morning. I do expect a herd to locate in that field, but there is haying underway and it probably won't happen until the bales are removed.

This promises to be another great weekend for elk viewing. We are in the thick of the rut and elk are moving around a lot.

Last Sundays elk fatality reflects the movement of satellite bulls. Expect to see bulls anywhere when you drive Boxley Valley. They do graze along the roadsides and could bolt in front of you, especially if you are speeding. Remember to drive slowly and be observant. I recommend no more than 45 mph, but I often drive only 25. It is not worth the risk to go faster.

Fall Color Update

I get asked a lot about fall color in emails. Pretty hard to describe so I am posting one of my landscapes from today. I will probably do this one as an HDR, but this looks pretty good to me.

I took this waiting on the Beast to show up in the river. This is pretty much how I get landscapes, they are a secondary target for me. I especially like sunrise landscapes because of the all the values from dark to light. They look like paintings to me.

So this is for your information. What you see is what is there, here and there. It is early color, the color I prefer. According to most peak color is a couple of weeks off. This is enough to satisfy me.

Updated Herd Map & Narrative 10/5/11

Lots of bugling this morning, especially at the south end of Boxley Valley.

The map below lists 3 herd locations for today, but if the bugling is any indication, just off the map in the Upper Buffalo Wilderness there were at least two more. I think one would certainly be Maverick and his harem, the second I would not have a guess.

Pretty Boy and his harem remain in the second Ponca field. I believe they will be in that position for some time unless cattle are moved there to graze. This morning at around 7AM, he and his harem were pretty close to the fence.

In the south end the Beast continues his reign. Godzilla is running a small herd on the north end of the same field. Since these two have fought at least twice, I would think more fights are possible. There are many satellite bulls working these two herds. I have not seen Prince for a couple of days, but I am sure he is in that area.

I filmed my second river crossing today, but it was a small group. Beautiful setting. I hope to get at least some of it posted by the weekend.

New Elk Video On Arkansas Wildlife Photo Website

I completed the video I mentioned in an earlier post. It is nothing special, but it does show the elk viewing experience and has lots of bugling. Many wonder what they might see, this is a decent sample to share. It is posted on YouTube, and I am also linking my videos off the top page of my site.

Bull Elk and Harem in Ponca Field

This is the bull I call "Pretty Boy". He looks to me like the winner of a fight that morning. He is tired and agitated. Lots of bugling. Some nice steamy breath.

I have more footage I need to process. Editing takes quite some time. Eventually I would like to post some short pieces on elk behavior. Enjoy.

The Boxley Beast vs. Godzilla Video

We are still hacking around on this video file, but I thought it would be best to just get it out there and put the refined version up next. You will get the idea.

This is what a REAL bull fight looks like. The Boxley Beast and Godzilla have fought at least two times that I know of. The share the same field most days down by Smith Creek. They don't like each other, and this rivalry sets the stage for a fight just about any day.

Enjoy. This is our first video. We had to turn off the sound because of all the chatter of people watching the spectacle. What you are missing is the crash of the antlers and the rage. These are huge bulls. It is amusing to watch the "spectator" bull. It is as though he was looking for pointers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J4VAf9SlQ4&feature=youtube_gdata

9/29/11 Elk Herd Locations

After today's warm weather, a cooling period will bring ideal temperatures and significantly longer viewing times, and improved viewing. There were plenty of elk hanging around this morning but they pretty much left the fields by 8:30AM. I expect significantly longer viewing this weekend. Even if nothing changed, this is prime time and the elk viewing is just great.

Lots of bugling.  We are in the peak period of activity in the 2011 Arkansas Elk Rut. This weekend will be absolutely great elk viewing.

Today's elk herd location map is below:

Elk Herd Locations 9/29/11