I wrote about this animal encounter in my blog - read here. With a number of other nature photographers and enthusiasts viewing from a wildlife overlook of the Lamar Valley in Yellowstone, we watch an adult grizzly lumbering along the far shores of a small lake. At one point it began to close in a sandhill crane, an extremely large bird. The crane seemed unaware that the bear was closing in from behind and at that moment, we all shared a sense of doom for the fate of the crane.

The bear caught up and the two walked side by side for 20-30 yards until the bear simply pulled ahead, never looking back. I knew that bears are not as predatory as people may think, but they are also opportunistic. As it turns, out, however, there was a larger mammal carcass that the bear was after, perhaps from an earlier kill.

Canon EOS 5D, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5/5.6L IS @ 400mm with Canon 1.4X Teleconverter III - effective focal length - 530mm, 1/80 sec @f/8, ISO equiv 100, Calumet 8000 Carbon Fiber Tripod, Gitzo G1276 Ballhead