One of the most amazing sounds in nature for me is the bugling of a bull elk. 

The first time I ever heard bugling was when I visited - of all places - California's Redwood National park. When you're looking to photograph elk, Redwood probably won't make it onto many lists. 

The National Park is famous for its tall redwood trees. In fact, the tallest tree in the world is found there: a redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) tree that is 379.7 feet (115.7 m) tall.  Imagine that: a tree that is over 100 meters tall ... taller than the length of a football field!

When one thinks about the tallest trees, you'd imagine those to be the giant trees that grow in California's Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.  Those sequoias are a different species however: Sequoiadendron giganteum. They are usually a little less tall than the kind found in Redwood National Park, but have a larger circumference. The world's "biggest" tree - not tallest - is found in Sequoia National Park: the General Sherman tree. It's "only" 275.6 feet (84 m) tall but is bigger in total volume than Redwood's trees.  But, I digress.

When I visited Redwood National Park, situated on the Pacific Ocean, I was not expecting to find elk.  As a photographer, you don't get many opportunities to walk onto the beach to photograph seals and sea lions, turn around and see an elk walk by! 

Even though historically elk were found all over the U.S. (they were hunted to extinction in most areas), today I associate elk with high mountains and alpine areas, such as the Rocky Mountains.  On the U.S. mainland, four species of elk are alive today:

• Most of us are familiar with the "Rocky Mountain" elk, found in the Rocky Mountains (including Yellowstone and Grand Teton)
•  "Tule" elk: found in the grasslands of California
• "Manitoban" elk: found in the midwest and Canada
• "Roosevelt" elk: the largest of the elk, found in the Northwest.  These are the ones found in Redwood National Park.

I will share some of the "elk on the beach" pictures in a future post.  Now it's time for one of my favorites of this year's elk rut in Grand Teton National Park.
 

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