In the trees at the start of the walk and regularly occurring thereafter, Gray Jays, including this one:
We headed first to Swan Lake in the hope of seeing Trumpeter Swans, alas none were present. We did however glimpse this female Moose on the water's edge:
Further along the trail I managed at last to photograph one of the many bright orange Butterflies that seemed everpresent. It is, I believe, a Great Spangled Fritillary (good name!):
As the heat built and having again seen fresh Bear scratchings and scat we took the trail cut-off and headed down to Heron Pond. This is the view of Grand Teton itself, from the edge of the pond:
A couple were approaching us on the trail when I spotted a huge bird, heading at pace for the surface of the lake. It pulled up and glided across Heron Pond to alight in trees on the other side. I had no idea what it was other than an Eagle, The couple who joined us were Audubon members (and spookily enough have relatives in Bedfordshire, have been to Sandy and know the membership secretary of old...) and identified the bird as a 2nd summer Bald Eagle:
We chatted whilst the Eagle just sat in the tree, no doubt pondering the failed hunt and then headed off our separate ways having enjoyed the moment.
Along the trail I managed to snap another Butterfly, although this time I have no idea, what it is :)
Towards the end of the trail, approaching the Marina, this Mule Deer was snacking close to the trail:
Having walked about 5.5 miles we decided to head out of Colter Bay and check out a few birding spots. We first stopped at Willow Flats overlook. Willow Flats was closed, with police incident tape, as there's a Grizzly and two cubs in the area and there was an 'incident' in June...
Hopping around the car park was this Brewer's Blackbird:
We headed on from Willow Flats to the Oxbow Bend pull-out, downcast as we'd planned to spend a day walking the trails thereabouts. At the first pull-out we checked out the Canada Geese and Goldeneye on the far shore when Helen spotted a large bird, hovering like a tern close to the next pull-out. We hopped in the car sharpish and drove the near 200 yards to the next pull-out in time to photograph this Osprey seeking prey in the river below:
The Osprey dived, made a catch and took off again behind the cover of the trees. I did get a few blurry snaps which show he had a fish caught in his left claw, then he flew away.
The view from the Oxbow bend is impressive:
Flitting in amongst the trees we spotted a warbler, in fact another Yellow-rumped Warbler, Auduboni, but this time an adult:
On the way back to Colter Bay we stopped to get another shot of the view into the canyon on the other side of Jackson Lake:
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