Yellowstone was exciting again

Another day in Yellowstone. The roads to the south were open as well as the Beartooth Highway which connects Red Lodge and Cooke City. The weather was beautiful and the snow in the Beartooths was very deep. As we drove along the highway, we saw snow piled at the side of the road as deep as 20 feet at times.

We did see another Elk with new antlers, a couple moose as we were nearing Cooke City, Bison were plentiful, and a mama black bear with triplets and a grizzly.

There were lots of people attracted by the mama bear and the triplets. This was my best photograph, however as we returned past the scene several hours later, all three cubs were resting on a log. There were so many people there, we were not permitted to stop for another photograph. Look carefully and you'll see the baby on the left and mama on the right.

We didn't go far until we saw another pack of people. We were informed there was a grizzly, so we parked the car and walked back to the area. This was the big guy that everyone was looking at.

In the Lamar Valley there were lots of Bison. This is just one of the many herds we saw and this youngster was a standout. They are referred to as "red dogs" and there were plenty of them in the park.

The forage in Lamar is very lush at this time of the year. Many of the herds were all resting as their bellies must have been full. This guy was near the road and for sure his belly was full.

Of course we saw elk as well, this guy with his new and growing antlers was by himself near the road about 8 miles from Mammoth Hot Springs.

The remaining question was, will be see any moose. We were almost in Cooke City when Marty spotted a moose that we were about to pass. I stopped the car and turned around. I took several photographs of this one.

we were about to leave and Marty spotted another one. Yes, there were 2 moose, we got to see them and got photographs of them both.

Our next trip to Yellowstone is in 3 weeks. If that trip is as fruitful as our last two, you'll see additional postings on the blog.

Bison Day in Yellowstone

This past fall, we discovered a new entrance to Yellowstone National Park. It starts about 8 miles north of Gardiner, where the Roosevelt Archway resides. You cross the Yellowstone River and head south on a dirt road that travels through acreage that is now part of the park. 

Soon after we crossed the river on this trip, we saw a lot of bison, in areas that we were not accustomed to seeing. These bison had drifted out of the regular park and were looking for better place to eat in the winter. There were 2 reasons for this activity. The vegetation in the park, this time of the year, is not only snow covered but not very rich in nutrients. In addition, there is currently an excess number of bison in the park based on the vegetation and the total population of all species of animals.

We were aware that the hunting season for the bison had been extended in hopes of reducing the population to a number that is inline with the proper sharing of vegetation. We had not traveled far when we started observing swarms of ravens or crows as you might call them. These 2 trees had about 75% fewer birds in them when I took this photograph, as we had frightened them as we stopped to take the picture.

Anyone living in this part of the country knows that when you see swarms of ravens, there is a carcass nearby. What had attracted the birds to this area was the remains of bisons that the hunters were not interested in taking with them, after they killed their target. As we left this area and before we went through the archway, we passed the Gardiner School and football field. Guess what we saw, more bison and pile after pile of bison manure, the remains of them grazing on the grass from the football field.

Then we learned something else. At this time of the year, there is no detention for the students who get in trouble with the school and/or teachers. The problem students are offered a bag, a scoop, and are pointed to the football field to start cleaning up the manure. I guessed this was enough of a deterrent, that the student body was on it's best behavior, and the manure was piling up.

We were soon in the park and we saw a lot more bison. Soon after we headed east from Mammoth Hot Springs we started to see them on the road, and they were not interested in letting us pass. We lost at least an hour of travel time as we headed east and then returned. 

The scenery changed as we spotted a coyote who had just crossed the road and was heading into the trees. There were other coyotes during the day but we needed binoculars to see them.

And it just wasn't just herds of bison heading down the road, it was also bison who preferred the road to the deep snow, and when they got good footing, they decided to do other things as these two were fighting and held us up until they were tired. We didn't dare try to pass them as we might had been rammed by one or both of them.

We had our fill of bison by this time. So we came along a herd of pronghorn, you may call them antelope and this one seemed to be posing for us. Thank you Mr. Pronghorn, we needed a break in the scenery.

But it wasn't over yet, as we were traveling through Lamar Valley, look what was napping in the middle of the road. Not only was there no snow on the road, but by now the sun had warmed it up to the point that it was a comfortable rest.

More of the same until we were heading north of Gardiner towards the bridge we had crossed about 8 hours earlier. As we peered down to the Yellowstone River, we saw this marvelous bird. What a way to end another wonderful trip to the park.

You are probably asking, were there any elk during your visit. There were quite a few but none of them  triggered my photograph sense. We did not see any wolves at all.

Tune in next month and we'll share our next trip through the park with you.

What's different a month later

I researched the wildlife on my favorite Yellowstone web site, forums.yellowstone.net, and came to the conclusion that we needed an early breakfast at Chico and to start our visit early. This was a great idea as we saw a lot more wild life on this trip than on our last one. The elk were much more prevalent and this youngster, standing in the snow was a favorite image. The big boys must have been hiding, but there were a lot like this one.

Although there were a lot of bison before, we got more interesting glimpses of them as they were closer to the road. We thought this one was trying to hide from us but how can a big guy like this find shelter behind a tree.

Soon after we left Mammoth, we rounded a curve in the road and saw a coyote enjoying breakfast. There appeared to be a lot more food that this coyote could consume and we did not see any of it's relatives.

 However, not far away we saw this magpie. If you look closely, magpies do not have any red color around their head, so we guessed that this one had either been feasting before the coyote arrived or perhaps it was able to sneak in and grab a bite. Needless to say, it was not in a hurry to leave.

But the magpie is going to have to wait because look what's in a nearby tree waiting for it's turn.

We had seen and enjoyed all of this and we still had only been in the park for less than 2 hours. Marty had already agreed, that we would have an early breakfast on our next trip to Chico and Yellowstone. Shortly after you pass the Roosevelt junction and head toward Lamar Valley, you travel across a bridge that crosses the Lamar River. We have seen wildlife choose to cross the bridge rather than ford the river. On this day, we watched this herd of bison gather at one end of the bridge and started their journey to the other side. Needless to say, we had to wait until they had all crossed. While we were waiting we observed bighorn sheep in the river valley trying to find something to eat.

On to the Lamar Valley. There were a lot of Bison there as well. The folks with spotting scopes were watching wolves in the distance. As you know, I want to be up close, therefore we kept traveling. Soon after we passed a group of the spotters, I spotted something I could capture with my camera.

As you can see, they were quite a distance away. They were either full or awaiting something to get nearby for them to eat. They were not moving and we watched them for several minutes, they did not move.

On to Cooke City, a bowl of chili and we returned. There was not the wild life on our return with the exception of pronghorn. Before we left the park, we had seen more pronghorn than we had ever seen before. I must have snapped at least 100 photos of them and when we got home, this was our favorite.

We will return again in another month. Clint will have a new lens for his camera at that time and we'll have to see what is lined up for him to photograph. 

Yellowstone, January 2011

Marty and I needed a break, so off to Chico Hot Springs and 2 days in Yellowstone. Chico was wonderful as usual and Yellowstone was wintery, snowy, and no wolves close enough for a photograph as we drove from the Northwest entrance to Cooke City and back. The yield of photographs that made it to the blog was about 3%. What you are about to see does represent each of the species that we saw.

We saw coyotes from the minute we entered the park until we left. Not an abundance but they were there. If we had experienced more sun and less snow we would most likely have seen more. We followed this one across a large area in the Lamar Valley when it decided to take a rest.

Every where you looked there were bison. If you need a photograph of a bison, let me know, name the pose, and we'll have it on it's way to you. This was our favorite. Unlike many we saw who were exhausted from digging thru the snow for something to eat, this one seemed to know where it was going - it had been digging in the snow evidenced by the snow on it's body.

This fox did find the sun on the top of a large rock and was enjoying the sun and perhaps a rest from having to travel through very deep snow.

This bighorn ram was with several of his buddies near the Soda Butte. He raised his head out of the snow long enough for me to take this photograph, then back to work.

The elk population in Yellowstone is at it's lowest for a number of years. The wolves that were re-introduced have been the major factor in causing this decline in the numbers. When we first saw this gentleman he was eating twigs, not a hearty meal. When we returned he was resting. Not sure if it was because of the chore digesting the twigs or the effort it took to get his belly full. He was one of the few elk we saw. Nice rack.

I've saved this photograph for last. After seeing the impact of the winter on Yellowstone, the last place you would have expected to see ducks swimming in the river was here. I got some pictures while sitting in the car, I didn't seem to be bothering them. We saw at least 15 of them while we were stopped. Then I decided to get out of the car for some close ups. They voted not to stay, however, I did get this one on the move before they were all gone.

We'll probably return in the next 6 to 8 weeks. By that time we may get to see a few of the bears who have had enough hibernation.

Another day in the Lamar Valley

There is never a lack of bison in the Lamar Valley, it's just deciding if you have enough pictures of them or if there is a unique image that you haven't captured. We were near Soda Butte and Marty was walking our 2 great dane dogs when I spotted this guy across the valley on the ridge foraging in the snow. I took several shots and was pleased with the results when I got home. This is good enough that it can now be found in art gallery's.
Not far down the road were more bison, this time they were close to the road so I decided to get a close up of one of the guys.
This time of the year, the Big Horn sheep come out of the mountains primarily to find food. I typically find them in the area around Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, but on this day we were 30 miles east and here was a big brute on the side of the hill attempting to feed himself.
The wolves were only in range of spotting scopes. In addition, Rich McIntyre, one of the wolf specialists in Yellowstone had put up signs asking tourists not to stop in an area where the wolves cross the road. This is typically done to not inhibit the movement of the wolves from their feeding area to their dens in the hills to the north of Lamar. But there were some smaller 4 legged canines in the area. This one I tracked for several miles. . . . . .
and finally, I found another coyote, this time I went for a close up.
One more round of photographs from this trip will appear soon.

Yellowstone was great

We actually spent 5 days in Yellowstone National Park. Our visit was primarily to the area between Mammoth Hot Springs and Cooke City. In addition to the seminar that we attended, we experienced the wolf migration into the area around Mammoth Hot Springs. At least one female has had a litter a pups within a mile of the city and the males have been observed in Mammoth looking for food. Everyone is concerned as to what will happen next. You may have read about this in your local paper.

If you have been to Yellowstone, you know that buffalo, bison, or tatonka, are a major item. You see them everywhere. I captured these pictures to update you on what's happening with them. There were a significant number of new calves that had just been born, this young calf was with its mother in the snow of which there was still quite a bit still on the ground. Buffalo's for a short distance can move very rapidly. I thought this made a great picture of this big bull acknowledging that he could go very rapidly if required, in fact he could exceed the speed limit for a short distance. Finally, I saw this wolf (he is #302's younger brother) by himself initially. He started to wonder across a large meadow - - at the end of the meadow was a buffalo. They started to converge on each other which peaked my interest. Ultimately they got close enough for this picture and after they posed for me they went their separate ways. More tomorrow.