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.