Until December 12, 2024, I had never seen a wolf before—nor a fox, wild boar, or roe deer. But this trip was all about the Iberian wolf.

The Iberian wolf population in 2024 was estimated to be in the range of 2,200–2,700, with the majority living in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, specifically in northern Portugal and northwestern Spain. It's unsurprising that the Iberian wolf has a current conservation status of 'Vulnerable' considering the human encroachment on their territory and many years of unregulated hunting. Today, hunting them in Spain is illegal. It's important to note that I was strongly advised not post precise locations or photos with recognizable terrain on social media as some locals in Castile y León will try to use that information locate them and kill them.

Speaking of hunting, the Iberian wolf hunts in small packs and I was following a pack of three during my trip. They do keep they jabalí (wild boar) population in check but also will hunt red and roe deer, ibex, rabbits and even the occasional fox. In winter, when food is scarce, they are less selective about what they eat.

They typically breed in late January and give birth to 4-6 pups in late March/early April. During this time, the male and other wolves in the pack will hunt while the female tends to the pups.

Now that you have some background information on the Iberian wolf, let's talk about what happened on my trip to the province of Castile y León, Spain. Since they are typically nocturnal creatures, I had to get up early to increase my chances of spotting one. So that meant a 530am alarm, a quick coffee and breakfast and then into the car for a 30-45 minute drive to the area where they are active. Arriving just before sunrise, it was a challenge to find a place to park the car due to the 30-40cm (12-16 in) of snow in Castile y León.

The morning session each day consisted of a viewing window from about 730am-1030am. After this, I would drive back to the hostal, rest for an hour or so and go through the morning images. One of the many amazing reasons that I live in Spain is for the quality of the food and Castile y León didn't disappoint. After the amazing daily lunch, I would head out at 3pm for the afternoon session until dusk which was at about 6pm. Then, return to the hostal, chill out a bit, go through the afternoon images, eat dinner at 830pm and lights out at 11pm. This was my daily schedule for 3 consecutive days plus one morning session on the final day.

The first morning, I visited 2 different locations and I wasn't worried about finding the wolves because the sunrise over the mountains each morning was simply magnificent. Crucially, I was never bored because there was no shortage of amazing landscape images to capture.

Sometimes images simply look better in black and white due to the angle of incidence, contrast, color of the light and subject matter. Therefore, I felt these images below were far better when converted to black and white.

The next morning is when the magic happened. While driving along a well-plowed rural road, my guide spotted a wolf in a nearby yard and promptly pulled over. Being more accustomed to seeing images of North America's Grey wolf, my initial reaction when seeing Iberian wolf for the first time is that it closely resembled a German Shepherd dog.

I was initially disappointed that I had only my 70-200mm zoom ready but when I look back on it it was totally the right lens. The wolf spotted us and ran away at pace through the deep snow. Then, he stopped to look back at us and assess the threat and that's when I was able to capture this image below. With the 400mm lens I would not have been able to capture the footprints showing the path of the wolf which is what really makes the image special.

The following morning is when more magic happened. Apparently before dawn, the wolf pack of three surrounded and killed a fox that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fox's are the not first choice of a meal for the Iberian wolf but in winter food is scarce so you eat what you can kill. They ate the best bits of the fox and then left the carcass for the crows. Importantly, a good photographer needs to pay attention to the other animals in the forest as they know where the wolves are. The crows follow the wolves because they get the scraps after a kill.

After I arrived, this lone wolf approached the fox carcass sending the crows scurrying away, yet still nearby. The wolf picked at the carcass to get take advantage of a hard won winter meal and then he surprised me. He proceeded to take the carcass in his jaws and walk it back into the forest to snack on later leaving the crows to browse for scraps of meat in the snow. By the way, when all of this was happening, I was unable to identify the carcass. It was only after I opened up the images on my computer that I was able to zoom in and identify it as a fox. One of the reasons photography excites me is that you never know what you are going to get until you open up the images on the computer. It's the thrill of anticipation that I love, not unlike a child anticipating opening his birthday gifts.

During the final morning session, the wolf pack of three was moving around from clearing to forest to clearing to forest so sightings were limited and often obstructed by trees and bushes. Wildlife photography is not always puppies and unicorns and every shoot is not a great one. The image below is of two of three of the pack making their way through a field while a crow monitors their progress.

Join my Collectors List and receive early access to my new releases and the Tripod Traveler and I will keep you personally informed about my work in a way that's more personable and reliable than social media. My mission is to bring tranquility and joy into your home with captivating nature photography. maxdobens.com

And I leave you with this image of a lone fox trying to survive another challenging winter. Our life is relatively easy when you look at it in comparison. Want to see more wildlife images? Have a look at my Wildlife gallery here.