Yellowstone Leftovers

Some of the wildlife in Yellowstone was very comfortable around people - maybe too comfortable.

I was changing the disk in my camera when I heard Bill (who had gone ahead down a trail) make a noise to get my attention. I looked up and this beautiful coyote was not 5 feet away. He paid absolutely no attention to me as he was on the hunt for a small ground squirrel. I've seen coyote before but never this close and never looking this healthy with such a nice full coat of fur.

And this is my Grizzly Bear! We were out driving after dinner and stopped to see what a crowd was looking at. One of the rangers had a scope set up. All I saw was a black spot - and I would never have seen that had it not been for the ranger.

The ranger told us that this is "Scarface" the oldest Grizzly in the park. It's not much of a picture - but it's proof that I actually saw him!

Momma Elk with her baby keeping cool beside the river.

There were hundreds of RV's traveling through the park - and I swear they were all rentals - like in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation. I looked for Chevy Chase but he must have been in the camper.

The Lake Yellowstone Hotel is quite a structure - but I loved the bus even more! We saw it several times driving visitors around to see the sights.

The best part of Yellowstone are the geothermal features - and there are lots of them! Yellowstone is actually a massive caldera of a supervolcano. There is a great explanation of the Yellowstone Geology on Wikipedia.

Boiling Water...

Beautiful colors...

Bubbling mud...

Fabulous vistas...

and more boiling water. The side excursions to see these sights are well worth it - plus you get some exercise. Ample signage explains everything you are seeing - but, for a better understanding, I would recommend doing some homework before you go.

I can't help but think that sights like this - beautiful as they are -are begging for a wildfire.

We left the park by the NE entrance/exit, into Montana for a minute and a half and through some beautiful parts of Wyoming via the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.

I don't know who this fat, white-hair old lady is - or why my wonderful hubby Bill is posing with her at the summit!

A Mountain Bluebird greeted us at the top. It was a great trip and I'm anxious to return!

Yellowstone Birds

 There are over 300 species of birds in Yellowstone. I had the official list and expected to spend time looking for them all but with only a couple of days in the park - dedicated birding didn't happen. Most of the time we were in the car driving the figure 8 inside the 3-thousand square mile area. There are lots of stops, lookouts, picnic areas, short walks and photo opportunities but many of the hiking trails away from populated areas were closed because of bear activity.

Western Tanager

This was the first year we didn't have migrating Western Tanagers in our backyard, so I was thrilled to see them in Wyoming.

Western Tanager

Western Tanager

This handsome, hungry guy was posing for me along the side of the road where we had stopped to check out a bear sighting. 

It's common in the park to see a gathering of people where wildlife has been spotted. As we were hiking back to see yet another beautiful mountain stream vista, several tripods and cameras with ridiculous lenses were set up along the walkway. We assumed the friendly English visitors were looking at the far-away hills for wolves, but they had their cameras aimed at a small hole in a large tree stump not a dozen feet from the path where a Williamson's Sapsucker had a nest. Hearing that, I joined the long wait for the birds to make an appearance.

Williamson's Sapsucker (female)

The female was inside the nest. When she left, we knew it wouldn't be long before the male appeared. The female looks very different from the male.

Williamson's Sapsucker (male)

Soon, the colorful male appeared. He landed on the back of the stump and quickly walked around to the side so I could get a great look at his colors - black and white with a bright yellow belly and red chin.

Williamson's Sapsucker

 I wish my picture was clearer but I was focused on the hole in the tree.

Williamson's Sapsucker

 His back is not as interesting. This was a Life Bird for both Bill and me.

Canada Geese

 We saw lots of Canada Geese along Lake Yellowstone.

Barrow's Goldeneye

 Our first day in the Park was extremely windy - so windy that trees blew over closing roads until they could be cleared. The lake was so choppy that many of the ducks were hugging the shoreline. It was very difficult to get decent pictures. We have Common Goldeneye Ducks here in Colorado, but this was my first sighting of a Barrow's Goldeneye.

Cliff Swallow

 I don't think I've ever seen as many Swallows as I saw this trip; Tree Swallows, Violet-green Swallows and Cliff Swallows. They are impossible to photograph in flight so I was glad to have some pose in their nests.

Cliff Swallow

 These mud nests were lined up on the back-side of one of the clean, well-stocked rest rooms that are abundant throughout the Park.

Violet-green Swallows

Dark-eyed Junco

Green-winged Teal

 All of the many, many ducks were far away so pictures were challenging - especially in the wind. We saw 3 kinds of Teal - Cinnamon, Blue-winged and Green-winged.

Red-breasted Merganser

 And we saw lots and lots of Mergansers with their unique profiles.

Lesser Scaup

 I hope I have these Scaup identifications correct!

Greater Scaup

Red-winged Blackbird

I was surprised to see so much water in the Park - lakes, ponds, streams, rivers - water everywhere. And where there is water, there are Red-winged Blackbirds.

Yellowstone National Park

Our short trip through Wyoming, Pinedale, Jackson Hole, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and home via the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, Cody, Casper and Cheyenne was fabulous!

We spent the first night in Pinedale Wyoming, south of Jackson Hole on Route 191. Hotels in Jackson were just too expensive. We LOVED Pinedale; it's a super clean and friendly mountain town. We stayed at the Best Western and shared a delicious bison burger on the new deck of the Wind River Brewing Company. (...and, yes, their beer is yummy!)

Fremont Lake is located just outside Pinedale. We headed out shortly after arriving to walk the trails, do a little birding and get some exercise before dinner.

Every time I see an interesting butterfly I think of Megan and just have to get a good picture for her. I'm sure she will help with identification.

What a treat to spot this Yellow Warbler!

This Song Sparrow was singing his heart out.

Once he turned around so I could see the prominent central spot on his chest, I could make positive identification.

Swallows were everywhere! This is a Tree Swallow.

Another Tree Swallow.

And Another...

I loved the beautiful wild flowers!

This is our first look at the Grand Tetons. Wow. This picture was taken from Jackson Hole where, in the Fall and Winter, thousands and thousands of Elk gather. I would love to see that!

A little further up the road we saw a mamma Black Bear with 3 cubs. It's not a very good picture - but you can tell it's a bear.

Once inside Yellowstone, we went to see Old Faithful. We arrived just as she was about to spout.

It was interesting but a little anti-climatic after seeing so many pictures and videos over the years.

The Old Faithful Inn was far more impressive!

There were lots of waterfalls throughout the Park and we saw most of them!

How cool is this? We saw the most game early in the morning - including this impressive herd of Elk.

An Elk calf with mom close by.

Bison! We saw hundreds - maybe thousands - of Wood Bison.

We thought this bison was a statue because he was very still - and very close to the Lake Yellowstone cabins. He wasn't.

This is a typical vista in the park.

There were quite a few bison calves.

Another typical park vista.

More wild flowers.

A very friendly Uinta Ground Squirrel atop Mount Washburn. I'm still editing images from our trip including all the fabulous geo-thermal features, the Grizzly Bear, lots of ducks, a fantastic Life Bird and a close encounter with a coyote.