Thursday, May 26, 2016

Still not enthused about chasing wolves and bears today, I decided to do waterfalls. Here's Upper Mesa Falls:

Cave Falls:

And no Yellowstone Falls collection would be complete without the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River:

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

It was a slow day. It was cold and rainy all day, so not much happened.

I went out looking for wolves and found a few, but for some reason, I couldn't get enthusiastic about it today. So, I did some lens comparisons instead.

While waiting for a wolf to show itself, I took this picture of a pronghorn that was passing by:

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The weather was, finally, something other than cold and rain/snow. It was much sunnier and warmer. It even got into the 50s today with just a few rain showers.

I slept in a little today and, on the way past the Blacktail Ponds, I saw a wolf. It was close enough for pictures through the scope:

I watched it for a while until it was lost from sight in some hills. Then, it was on towards Slough Creek and the den, but first there was a grizzly and 2 cubs at Specimen trailhead They were close enough for photos, too, but just as I got things set up, the bears went over the top of a hill and we didn't see them again.

There was the usual crowd of people at Slough Creek watching the wolf den, but the distortion from the heat waves was so bad you had a hard time seeing things. So, I left in search of other sights.

There was the owl nest, but the light wasn't good for photos. Then grizzly bears we could see from the ranger station in the Lamar Valley, but they were 3 or 4 miles away, so no photos there.

Finally, there was the osprey in the tree near the head of the Lamar Canyon:

It was a good day.

Monday, May 23, 2016

It was a cold and snowy morning. I went straight out to the Lamar Valley where the wolf yesterday had found the bison carcass. Sure enough, it was back on it. Looking through the snow:

But, it was not secure. Bison, sometimes, don't like the wolves feeding on a dead bison. Today was one of those 'sometimes'. First, a single bison came over and sort of chased the wolf off, but it was a bit of a half-hearted effort. Then, a second bison came over. But, instead of helping the first one, it started a fight. The 2 got into it pretty vigorously. When they did, the wolf immediately went back to feeding.

After the 2 bison had settled their differences, they came back and chased the wolf off.

I left after that because the snow and wind weren't fun. While I was gone, the bison left, the wolf came back and then got chased off by 3 other wolves. Other than the food, he wasn't having a good day.

That was pretty much it for me there. On the way back to camp, I saw the fox again:

Back in camp, as I was leaving to get groceries, I saw some people photographing something in the trees. It turned out to be a newborn elk calf. This calf was so new, its legs were still wobbly and it was trying to figure out how to work them:

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Sunday, May 21, 2016

Dryer today, but just a little. It's colder, though. Sometimes the rain showers are snow showers.

Early this morning, I was thinking that I hadn't seen any coyotes on this trip. Today was to fix that problem. I got out early and, on the way to Slough Creek, I saw 2 coyotes on the road. After watching pups and adult wolves for an hour or so, I left for Pebble Creek where there were reports of a grizzly bear. I didn't get ½ mile before I saw another coyote coming down the road. I got pictures this time:

On the way to Pebble Creek, the car in front of me stopped and the driver was waving out to the left. I looked quickly and saw movement. Not wanting to stop in the road, I went to the next turn-out and looked from there. It was a single black wolf being harassed by 3 coyotes. Soon, a 4^th joined and they chased the wolf down the hill and across the road

It wandered around on the valley floor before crossing the river and heading up the other side. There, it chased another coyote (!) away and began feeding on a new bison carcass.

Later, after the wolf had left, all 5 coyotes were seen on the carcass.

That made 8 coyotes for the day. I'd say it makes up for the lack earlier.

Also seen today were a black bear and a grizzly bear.   

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Cold and rainy. Got out late and didn't see much. Because of the weather, I decided to call it a camp day. I did chores in camp and laundry.  

Friday, May 20, 2016

Lots of animals today.

Early it was wolves. We saw some new pups today. They are much smaller than the others, so now the count in this den is either 10 or 11, in 2 litters. Around 9:00 am, a large group of the adults left to the north, apparently to go hunting.

I headed east to see what I could see, At the confluence of Soda Butte Creek and the Lamar River was a moose and 2-year old calf. The mother was always back in the willows, but I got some good photos of the calf.

Around 11:00 they bedded down, so I decided to head back to camp for lunch. On the way, I heard over the radio that there was a black bear with 2 cinnamon cubs near the Yellowstone River Picnic area. I had been wanting to see these cubs for a year and hadn't been able to. Here was my chance. As I got to the area, I saw a large group of people looking off the side of the road and thought it would be the bears. It wasn't:

Apparently, the fox had been spooked from it's den by the bears.

Around the next curve, were more people looking at the other side of the road. The bears had just gone behind a small hill, but they were expecting them to come out the other side. So that's where went. Ray and Lynn were there, and just as I started talking to them, the bears came out, headed right towards us.

After a bit, they did want all animals around there seem to do when I want to take their picture:

Later, they crossed the road so that was my cue to move on.

I got to camp, had lunch and made a run into Gardiner for some groceries. On the way back, I decided that the afternoon would be spent finding 2 nests – the falcons near Calcite Springs and the Osprey in the Lamar Canyon. On the way to Calcite Springs, I passed the same bear with 2 small cubs I had seen the other day:

I think I've seen that crooked nose before. I think it was the bear that had 3 yearling cubs last year. She lived in the same area.

After a bit of hunting, I found the falcon nest and need to figure a way to photograph it. It's in an awkward place. I also found the osprey nest, but photos of that won't be much as it's much higher than where you see it from, so all you see of the bird is its head.

Thursday, May 19, 2016

Not much today. I didn't feel very enthusiastic about seeing wolves and bears, again, si I drove down to Old Faithful instead. It's a good thing I did as it started raining and didn't really quit all day.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Another nice day. It was in the 30s when I left camp at 5:30am, but quickly warmed into the 60s when the sun came up.

At the Specimen Ridge trailhead, there have been 2 dead bison, one after the other. The first one drew large crowds because a black bear camped on it. The second didn't seem to draw much in the way of wildlife until this morning. When I got there, the alpha male of the Junction Butte wolf pack (this is the pack who's den I've been watching) was there with several other members of the pack. I managed to get a couple of photos and some short videos:

After that, the day was a bit of a letdown. We watched the wolves bring the food back to the den and found a grizzly bear with 2 cubs way up high on Specimen ridge. Then I went in search of an owl nest I had been told about. The directions were great and I immediately found the nest. Later, Josh and I went in search of another suspected (or rather hoped for) owl nest with no luck.

I did get a good photo of an antelope:

And saw another black bear near Tower Falls.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Finally some nice weather. Sunny and it got into the 60s today.

Once again, it was back out to the den at Slough Creek. This is the only reliable place to see wolves right now, so I'm trying different ways to get pictures and video. The video today was a bit better because the light was better:

This was one of the adults and several of the pups at the den entrance.

It's over a mile away, so I'm not unhappy with the quality, but I think I can do better.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Cold and rainy, again today. It might have made it into the 40s, but not by much.

It was back out to Slough Creek this morning to see the wolf den and see what happens. We saw a couple of grizzly bears way up high above it, but lost sight of them later. I should have stayed around because, according to people I talked to later, one of the bears got a little too close to the den and was accosted by 7 wolves. He did the prudent thing and left.

I went on to the Lamar Valley and watched several of the Mollies pack surround a bison, but nothing came of it.

Tiring of wolves, I went in search of close bears. Over by Tower Fall, I found some. A mother with 2 young cubs, right next to the road.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

It was a cold rainy day. It rained off and on all day and it never got above 45 degrees. But, lots of wildlife was seen.

I got to the Slough Creek den area early – about 6:00 am. There were already wolves and pups out. I got a bit of video:

It's a bit hazy because it was a really gray day.  

Later, one of the wolves decided to chase a group of bighorn rams along a ridge top. It had no chance of catching them, but I guess it just wanted to run.

A pronghorn came past the parking area and posed for us:

After that, the wolf activity quit, so I went off looking for more adventure. I found a grizzly bear:

And followed it for a while until it crossed the road and disappeared in the Soda Butte Creek bottom. Then there were wolves chasing elk.

Then there were the bison calves. People have been saying that they aren't seeing as many calves as they had in the past. I think it's still early. I came across this area that had 13 adults and 7 newborn calves. Newborn as in yesterday or today. They were very small.

Even newborn, they know how to treat the photographers. Show them your best side:

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Mammoth Campground, Yellowstone.

Back in Yellowstone for 3 or 4 weeks.

I drove up on Thursday and stayed just west of Cody for 1 night. Then, yesterday, I moved up to Mammoth Hot Springs Campground. I'll stay here for 2 weeks or so until Tower Campground opens.

Drove around a bit yesterday and got my bearings. The Junction Butte wolf pack has a den that is in view of the road. The closest you can get is about 1.1 miles away, so the photos aren't great, but you can see what's going on. The light is best in the mornings as in the evening, you're looking almost directly into the sun.