It's that magical time of year when we rework some things around this site. Which will make it much easier to find whatever your heart desires. Did your heart desire bison today? Well, you just won the jackpot. 

Out in North Dakota/Montana/Other places that the buffalo roam, it is the rutting season. That's when bison, (often called buffalo, but we know what you mean,) turn from rather boring creatures into hulks of manly testosterone spraying bull snot all over the countryside. You may think it's silly to wallow about in your own wee to display your strength and vigor. You may even think it's ridiculous to go stomping about and making a fool of yourself. To which we all say, "Then you've never been in love."

The rut season for the bison makes for great wildlife watching. If you are lucky enough to enjoy the spectacle of hormones, please be safe and live to tell the tale. For the sake of the public, here are some handy facts about bison for tourists that we just made up.

Bison Facts FAQ:

How fast are bison?
Faster than you. 

When is the rut?
Depending on where you are, the rut generally runs from late July through August.

Why do bison have that hump?
They wanted to be camels.

No really, why the hump?
The hump is a huge bunch of muscles supported by long vertebrae. The bison has no trouble plowing snow in the winter with his face. He can tap dance on your skeleton if he decides to, and technically speaking, the bull bison is not exactly a "deep thinker" in the animal kingdom. Especially when he has "the ladies" on his mind. Seriously. Stay in your car and do no approach the bison. 

How big is a bison?
Bison are the largest mammals in North America. Bulls (males) are often around 2,000+ pounds/900+ kg. 

Aren't they just like big cows?
Ha ha. No.

​I am one of those people who loudly insist that the term "buffalo" is incorrect because "TRUE BUFFALO" exist on other continents than NORTH AMERICA. 
Shut up. These people are easily identified by using ALL CAPS and should not be invited to barbecues. 

They don't look like they could be that fast. Are you sure?
They are quicker and more agile than they look. Which is partly why bison rut season watching is so much fun. Stay safe out there on your adventures! Cheers!

Sometimes people get in their heads that summer programs are just for kids and since we are polite around here, allow us to practice the priceless art of fake smiles. Summer has been full of programs where fledgling nerds of all ages develop their inquisitive wings and finally find a group of friends that appreciate their nerdy sense of humor. 

So what makes a bird a raptor? Take a quick inventory. If the bird is equipped with a hooked beak, sharp talons, powerful eyes and built to take your face off, then it's a raptor. 

There are always different ways to approach your subject, but Jess is definitely the "Walkabout" variety. If you like to set up a shot in a hide, that's cool, but Jess can't sit that long. Along the hike, you can take in plants, geology, or even a little star gazing if it isn't cloudy and Jess goes on too long. Which she probably will. In her defense, we were lucky enough to see loads of animals and honestly, when was the last time you walked through a petrified forest? 

Here are 7 tips from Jessica Magnus-Rockeman to help you take wildlife photos of raptors: 

1. Take the camera. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. 
2. Know where to look. Eagles build some famous nests, but MANY raptors don't. Harrier hawks like it low-they hunt low to the ground, they nest on the ground, they perch on low trees. They have a fear of heights apparently. 
3. Know when to look. It sounds simple, right? But it's easy to miss. Family season for many animals is a short, open window. If you miss it, well, there's always next year. With these ND hawks, they build a next site in usually about a week in the grass, and the incubation can be over a month, but their nesting period is only about 14 days. Timing is everything. 
4. Watch the lighting. Wildlife loves to not sit in the right spot. They are helpful like that. 
5. Be respectful. That one seems obvious, but sometimes you see people that push beyond the line. Having a camera doesn't give you special privileges-harrier hawks can take off, but other animals, such as bison, could tap dance on your skeleton. It's never a good idea to stress your subject. Be nice. Life in the badlands is tough enough.
6. Harriers are a great subject because they are fairly common in North America. And the females have this brilliant, owl-like face markings. In winter, you won't find them in Canada/North Dakota. Go slow. 
7. Ask. Wildlife photographers are usually a pretty fun bunch. Stop in the visitor centers, such as the one in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Wildlife sightings/locations are updated there daily. 

​Keep your sense of humor out there! Cheers!
PS: All photos by Jess, but you probably knew that already.

Mark Twain. Ernest Hemingway. Hunter S. Thompson. One thing you’ll notice about these authors is that they’re all dead. They also wrote a little about rabbits.

The jackrabbit is a hare and to people you hope you are never next to at dinner parties, yes, there is a difference between a rabbit and hare. But nobody cares. The jackrabbit is sometimes said to be mistaken for a coyote, although, I suspect, only by people who have never honestly seen a coyote before. Or quite drunk. Which Twain, Hemmingway, and Thompson certainly were most of the time.

In fairness, these rabbits are probably larger than you’re used to if the only sorts of rabbits you see are in petting zoos or eating your front garden. Those bunnies are bred to be cute and photograph-able. The jackrabbit is larger and leaner. About the size of a small dog. When they stand up on their hind legs, their height is definitely noticeable. 

There are 4 or 5 different varieties of jackrabbits out there and I’m fairly sure that this is a white-tailed jackrabbit. The odds are pretty good even if you can’t see the details due to the fact that we were in North Dakota at the time and North Dakota is a favorite stomping ground of Lepus townsendii campanius. They turn white in winter in a halfhearted attempt to not be eaten by everything that walks and flies between Canada and Mexico.
 
Fun facts:

• We call them ‘jackrabbits’ as a quicker, more kid-friendly version of their original title: Jackass Rabbits. People saw a similarity between the hare and donkeys’ ears.
• The jackrabbit can hit speeds of 40mph/64kph
• Females are larger than the males.
• If you take a photo of a rabbit, does anyone out there carrot all?

Photo credit: Eva the Great!

Just to prove that we can kill it with keywords at the 4 Dog Arts blog, a tutorial on how to paint the American Avocet. Google may not even be able to handle the traffic. Try to keep up, Google.

These shorebirds are usually found in treeless, shallow areas, away from pelicans or gulls. They are also notable because we have rarely gotten a photo of them without being a set of totally territorial nutjobs. Avocets are like the mean kids you knew in high school who thought the whole freaking school was theirs. If by school, you mean shallow pond filled mostly with muck. 

It's a metaphor.

Sketch  a rough outline of your birds in pencil. 

Mix a little red and yellow together to get the right orange. (Text the color on a scrap piece of paper first if you're not sure.)

Wet the space you'd like to paint with plain water first. Then start to lay down paint. 

Start to paint in some yellow. I like to work fast so that the yellow and the red-orange have a chance to bleed together in the painting.

​I also have no patience. 

I now pay the price for my eagerness.

Use a little blue or purple with a little sepia black. Dilute it with water and it becomes a great gray for painting bird's feet.

If you can wait until the body is dry, you won't have to pretend the bleeding of the colors is what you meant to do.

Use the same blue/purple/sepia mixture to paint strong shadows and texture onto the legs. 

While I am waiting (See? I learn my lessons.) for the legs to dry, I paint the beaks with the sepia paint. I then paint the red orange over the tops. 

Now we'll paint the back-up bird. Avocets seem to like being jerks in pairs.

Use the same colors, but dilute with water. We want the bird in front to look more impressive. 

Everyone looks good in black, so we will put some on our avocets. 

Mix equal parts of blue and purple to sepia to get that swank black feather color. 

Highlight the feathers with blue. I only have a bright "almost-kind-of-sort-of cyan" left in my paint box, so that's what I'm using. You can use any sort of blue you like. 

Break out those Prismacolor pencils. It's detail time!

Take that sweet blue/purple/sepia and dilute it with water. A lot of water. That will make our shadow and tails on both birds. Then we finish with some pencils to make the feathers and eyes stand out.

Ta-da! 

Canadian geese, or Branta canadensis, are not what you would call a "rare bird." Both male and females have black heads, bills and necks with white patches on the cheeks. They migrate, but will winter in places like North Dakota provided there is open water available. They eat grasses and crops and can nest about anywhere that catches their eye. It could be said they are not the most delicate of birds.

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