Yellowstone, day 3

Day 3 in Yellowstone and another early start. We wanted to beat the crowds and get up to Mammoth before it got too busy. Spotted this Yellow-rumped Warbler, auduboni, juvenile in the pines outside the cabin:
















Heading up through the Hayden Valley we passed a herd of Bison containing mothers and calves, including this pair:















Just short of Roosevelt-Tower we spotted this Sandhill Cranes:















The cranes in Yellowstone are brown instead of grey as they dustbathe. No one knows for sure why this is as there's plenty of water about, but it does distinguish them from the fellows outside of this part of the US. In Mammoth itself they have manicured lawns (and there's a drought on!) which are watered regularly. The Uinta Ground Squirrels seem to enjoy the manicured surface:















Of course there's lots of swallows about but this Tree Swallow stands out for the stunning colours displayed:




















Our plan on getting to Mammoth was to hike the Beaver Ponds Trail, a 5.5 mile loop with an elevation gain of just over 400ft. The first part of the trail is a steep climb on a road that runs alongside the walking trail; they split at the top of the hill. About 3/4 of a mile into the walk we saw this long Pronghorn or American Antelope, grazing on the trail. It was clearly his trail so we had to detour around him by some 50 yards:














Yellowstone at this time of year is alive with insects of all kinds, and is home to some stunning butterflies, when compared to the varieties I am used to. For example this Western-tiger Swallowtail:














The very first clump of trees you encounter, after about a mile was occupied by Chipping Sparrows, with their distinctive chestnut crown:
















We saw another Western Tanager along the trail too:











The Beaver Ponds themselves are at the far end of the trail after 2-5 to 3 miles. We spotted this Ring-necked Duck on one pond:















Red-winged Blackbirds moved among the reeds singing and calling:













At the far most pond we were lucky enough to see a few Yellow-headed Blackbirds too, including this one:
















Their song is even stranger than the Red-winged Blackbird's. The ponds themselves are a magnet for mammals and birds of all types. We saw our first Common Yellowthroat Warbler here too:
















and our first Hairy Woodpecker, this one just off to feed the young:

















We rounded the trail into some deeper and darker woods with a couple of streams feeding down towards the ponds. As we were walking along the trail we heard some voices shouting to us, repeating from ahead 'there's a bear right in front of you'. Turns out they were right. We froze. In the vegetation literally just off the trail and no more than 30 yards away was this cinnamon coloured Black Bear, and a big one too. We decided to try and link up with the couple and child who were warning us, by detouring across the bears path but off the trail. We went about 20 yards into the woods and then circled around in front of him. I stopped to take a single picture conscious he was watching us and keen to move out of his way:














Once we'd crossed he headed down to where we'd been and beyond to sit in the cooling waters of the streams, in the shade. He was a very scary bear! By this point we'd had enough close bear encounters to last a few holidays, so were glad to head out of the woods and on to the trail back to Mammoth. The views from the trail were stunning:
















On the return led we passed through more wooded areas, and spotted this Williamson's Sapsucker (click on the pic to look closer at the yellow and red patches on his plumage):


















As we approached Mammoth again we could hear screaming. People coming up the trail told us that a herd of Elk were hanging about at the trail-head and that someone had been charged while trying to get past. As we progressed down we heard more screaming. At the trail-head there were around 20 Elk, most dispersed around grazing but with about 10 concentrated around a hut between the trail-head and the road.














On the trail side was Helen, me and a silent and scared looking woman who was milling about trying to get past. We invited her to walk with us, she did though she didn't say a single word through this time, through the herd. I followed George's advice from the previous day, and lowered my head and talked to the Elk in a single controlled tone to let them know we were there and calm, and then started to walk into the herd. We were doing fine and turned around the corner of the hut to find yet more Elk standing, some lying down, etc with a worried looking Ranger trying to keep all the tourists at bay. We kept up the talking/walking until we got down to where the Ranger was. He looked annoyed that we'd gone through the herd but there'd been no other way of leaving the trail. So we returned the silent lady to her party and then decided to mooch around the hot springs and take a couple of snaps:














Surprisingly, there was a lone Killdeer dabbling in the water at the base of the hot springs:














We headed back to our cabin at Lake Yellowstone to pack for our move down to Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton the next day. Walking along almost at the trail-head for the Elephantback Mountain trail Helen spotted this lone Coyote:

We decided to take a picture of our 'companion' this juvenile Cliff Swallow in the nest which was located in the 'storm porch' of the cabin. He watched us in and out every morning and afternoon and his mum would zip in and drop off some food. When we left the next morning she was completing an extension to the nest, to stop her fresh eggs rolling out (we picked up the remains of two smashed eggs):