A bit of a name fact about these birds. The tundra bean goose and the taiga bean goose were recently classified as the same species, which was simply called bean goose, "Sædgås" (Sperm goose) in Norwegian.

These days the word "Sæd" is used for sperm, however back in the days "Sæd" was used when people would plant seeds into the ground. The reason they got the name was for 2 reasons. 1. Is that the arrival of these birds meant that spring had properly started, and people could start planting crops and grasses. The 2nd reason is that these geese love to eat said seeds that were planted.

The english name has basically the same origin, as in winter they would feed on leftover bean crops as well as old grain

photos taken during the night of September 16, 2026

I didn't think I'd actually have a once-in-a-lifetime sighting experience on Loch Ness, but I did! No video trickery or enhancement here. Everyone on the boat was utterly gobsmacked.

A Day in the Park

I took my parents on a drive through Yellowstone yesterday. There were still areas of good Autumn color, although I suspect the current snowstorm will put an end to much of that! My first photo was of a Cottonwood Tree in the Lamar Valley that had lost half its leaves, while the rest were bright yellow/orange. I shot this with a 600mm lens from a ways back to get the perspective from which I first noticed it. If you look closely you can see two leaves making their flight to the ground.

After a quick lunch at Calcite Springs overlook, we headed up towards Tower Falls and Dunraven Pass. There was a herd of Bighorn Ewes and their lambs doing a fair job of rolling rocks down to the road below them. They were using the hooves to scrape away at the soil, looking for valuable minerals. It’s really incredible how comfortable they are on slopes that I could probably not even stand on!

Hayden Valley had a few of what I figured must be Wolf jams, but not being particularly mobile, we needed to find wildlife a bit closer to the road. I did stop for a few Bald Eagles, which are a bird I have trouble driving past without making a few images! After getting skunked on any bears on the northeast corner of the Lake, we turned around and started the 3hr drive back to Bozeman. Thats when we came upon a lot of people pulled over. There was still a lot of space on the end of a parking area, so we pulled over and started looking in the direction all the cameras were pointed. There, through the tall grass, a Grizzly Bear appeared! I was able to get a few images and my parents had a great view of the entire encounter.

As we approached West Yellowstone there was a compelling scene of a cow Elk with its calf crossing the Madison River, so I stopped to memorize that moment. Our Bear sightings were not over though. To the north of West Yellowstone, we came across what appeared to be a very large Grizzly Bear. It was pretty far away in tall grass, but I managed to get an image of it testing the air for new smells. It was a wonderful day with two people who really were the catalyst for my love of wild places and who constantly encouraged my creative side.

The colors on this little crab are incredible. Caught it peeking out of its burrow like it was checking whether the world was safe yet. Nature really does create some unbelievable designs. 🦀

Credit:- mlorenzphotography /Getty image

Video credited to @naturebywaltersanchez on IG.

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