I saw them at a distance - over a mile - and thought, "If I could just get close enough for one good shot". That's always the mindset of the nature photographer, isn't it? Just one good shot. And then when that one is on the card - "...okay..., maybe just one more...".
I take nature shots when they are presented to me on my landscape forays. They are always the bonus to a colorful vista: an up close and personal interaction where the breath stops and the realization sinks in that just maybe your subject has decided you are not a threat.
Most of what we know about wild animals we learn from books, through binoculars, or behind bars or glass. But occasionally in the out of doors that distance collapses and we are left with that lifetime moment, that breathless instant, that don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it encounter that we can only hope we are ready to capture. I have been six feet from silverback gorillas, within touching distance of numerous deer and elk, birds and small game, close enough to spit on elephants (and dumb enough to have put myself in that position), and have been able to see gnats pestering the eyes of a stallion on the open sagebrush flat. For some of those I have been ready; the moment was saved.
But maybe - just maybe - there will be times when we want to live in that sparingly given moment, uninterrupted by the fuss of a camera, and leave the picture in our mind. I have had a few of those too. But for those where I was able and wanted to bring the camera to bear, I offer here for your viewing pleasure.