We got down to breakfast early, before they opened, so wandered down to the lakeside to see if anything was about. Gone were yesterday's Goldeneye flock, today a solitary Western Grebe was on the water:
George picked us up in the company minivan and we headed for the East Entrance road, stopping along the shoreline for anything that caught the eye, including this drake Lesser Scaup:
accompanied by his partner:
and one of the very few waders we saw across both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, this Spotted Sandpiper:
We continued to head out along the East Entrance Road, entering 'prime grizzly habitat', that is looking for them along the edge of the forest on the meadows. Along the road there was a group of cars at a pull-out which at 7:30 am means bear! This male Grizzly was below the road in an area of light forest. We got out of the car to watch, as he decided to cross the road:
(click on the pic for a larger image)
He stopped to browse:
before heading off over the hill:
Close encounters like that are real 'pinch yourself' moments. No one was talking just a group of about 8 people watching this majestic mammal going about its business of feeding and foraging.
All around is evidence of the volcanic history and activity in the Yellowstone area, this mountain peak shows clearly it's own past:
We stopped at Sylvan Lake to determine what were the 'white things' we could see on the water. There were around 8-10 Common Mergansers, including this pair:
In the rest area (Americans use the Picnic sign as a euphamism for toilet facilities) this Three-toed Woodpecker was hopping around, though this area was in shade so hard to get a clear picture in a hurry:
We turned around and headed back into to the main park, stopping off briefly alongside the lake again to snap these Bufflehead ducks:
From the East Entrance road we turned north, heading for Canyon Village and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, with our next stop at LeHardy's rapids. Here we observed four drake Harlequin Ducks sat or bobbing around in the fast running water, including this fella:
It was quite something to see these ducks precariously perched in the torrent of rushing water. George told us that in autopsy it is common to find a drake with multiple healed fractures, showing that they have adapted to this hostile environment, possibly as a means of avoiding predation. In fact whenever we weren't watching the wildlife George was briefing us on the history of the park, the animals and the native peoples, ensuring the entire trip was jam-packed.
We headed on up to Canyon, pausing briefly at 'Sulphur Caldron' to take in the sulphur smells and sights:
A little further along the river, away from the rapids, we watched this American Pelican heading in towards the river:
and then come in to land on the water:
Pelicans are a common feature across the habitable stretches of the park, unlike the Trumpeter Swans, which it seems has been driven off by human activity in the past couple of seasons.
As we headed up the road, we entered the Hayden Valley, one of the two areas of high wildlife concentration in the park (the other being the Lamar Valley). There is a significant herd of Bison in this area during the summer months, significant both nationally in terms of numbers but also in terms of its genetic purity. The shame is in winter the herd is driven to lower elevations, if they head for Wyoming, they're safe. If however they head for Montana they are destroyed as a risk to the livestock industry (and state taxes), which makes a mockery of the whole conservation ethos. Even more hypocritically Montana cashes in on Yellowstone for all it's worth, there's even a Yellowstone County with Yellowstone ranches and hotels well over 100 miles away from the park proper!
In amongst the herd you can tell the Bull Bison as they are starting to square up to each other at this time of year, in preparation for the breeding season ahead:
Before Canyon Village we stopped at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, which is a visually stunning location, as you can see from the pictures below, encompassing a high falls (over 100ft) and an array of different rock colours and formations, it's actually very tricky to capture the scale and impact this all has on the eye:
We did spot an Osprey's nest in the valley but it was too far off to take any useful pictures. However a little way up from the grand Canyon of Yellowstone on the road to Tower Roosevelt, we pulled into a pull-out to observe this nest of Peregrine Falcons:
You can make out the chicks behind the bush. Away from the canyon and onto flatter ground (always my preference!) we headed towards the petrified tree exhibit on the Tower Roosevelt/Mammoth road. There's a bend looking down into the the valley, with a nesting Red-tailed Hawk on one of the not too distant trees. This image shows it tearing into a Uinta Ground Squirrel which it then proceeds to feed to the left-hand and larger of the two chicks:
Here the Hawk has finished feeding and is ready to head off in search of more prey:
(click on the pic for a closer look)
We need to think about lunch now, so turned around and headed back towards Tower-Roosevelt and on to the Northeast Entrance road. On the way we caught up with another Bear jam on the road, this snoozing Black Bear being the cause:
We stopped to look but he wasn't really up to much so we headed on to the first picnic area heading from Tower-Roosevelt toward the Lamar Valley. We spotted this Mountain Goat and Kid navigating a steep incline above the road:
At the picnic area, while selecting our spot, this Least Chimpmunk was darting around the small stones looking for a meal:
We sat down to a huge lunch and just watched what was about. A Northern Flicker flew into the trees in front of us. You can always tell them on the wing, a pair of rufous coloured wings passing by:
Of further interest, their call is almost identical to the Green Woodpecker in the UK, which suggests a common heritage of old. The next bird to present itself was this Western Tanager:
(it's worth a closer look to check out the colours on the bird)
There were other smaller birds that we've already recorded and it proved an excellent spot for lunch. As we'd already used about 65% of the time alloted we need to head back towards the Lake area. En route we passed a small herd of Bighorn Sheep grazing and resting from the sun, inlcuding this adult:
There were other smaller birds that we've already recorded and it proved an excellent spot for lunch. As we'd already used about 65% of the time alloted we need to head back towards the Lake area. En route we passed a small herd of Bighorn Sheep grazing and resting from the sun, inlcuding this adult:
As we approached the spot where the snoozing bear had been it was apparent he was up and about. The ranger stopped the traffic and was shouting to the bikers to kill their engines (apparently the bike engines are so noisy they startle wildlife throughout the national parks and are suffered in silence by the park auhtorities as no agency wants to take on the bike lobby but they are environmentally very damaging). George was expecting us to be moved on, as would be usual, but the Ranger wanted to use our car as a barrier to get the bear headed back away from the road, so we had a Black Bear walking up to and alongside the minivan before turning away and out of sight:
Heading away:
The last beast of note spotted on the return trip was this male Elk, in velvet, reputedly one of three brothers:
Day 2 was awesome and exhausting. We covered a lot of ground on our 9 hour safari, saw a lot of new things and gained a deeper understanding of the park and wildlife inhabiting it. Our gratitude to George who was tireless, enthusiastic, an invaluable guide and a great companion.
Day 2 was awesome and exhausting. We covered a lot of ground on our 9 hour safari, saw a lot of new things and gained a deeper understanding of the park and wildlife inhabiting it. Our gratitude to George who was tireless, enthusiastic, an invaluable guide and a great companion.
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