Fields of grass that were once green have mostly turned to a golden brown as our hot and dry summer begins to wane. Calves of many species are still staying close to mother both for protection and for cues to find the most nutritious forage. Views like this are common along Mormon Row in the evening. We sometimes see groups of three Pronghorn calves following a single mother. Can you see all three calves in this photo? Soon the long days of haze will be replaced by long cool nights.
Taking advantage of seasonal abundance
Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks are home to some pretty amazing species of birds. None, however, is more colorful than the Western Tanager. These birds nest along the Moose-Wilson Road and are often seen perched in the roadside Choke Cherry trees. The native peoples of this area believed that this bird had the ability to start forest fires and was to be both feared and respected. These birds are only in the Tetons for a very short while. They are one of the last migrant birds to arrive and first to leave, taking full advantage of our 3 month wild berry and insect bonanza. Today we had some very intimate looks at a caring father taking a break from berry picking to feed a few insects to its fledgling. We didn't even have to leave the van or put on a bigger lens to capture great photos of this feeding.
Four Big Bulls
On Todays Dusk Safari we spotted a Moose along the banks of the Gros Ventre River and got out of the vehicle to have a closer look. We walked down to the banks of the river and viewed a beautiful bull Moose feeding on the other bank. We watched this Moose for about 15 minutes and then returned to the parking area only to find that while we were gone 4 more big bull Moose had emerged from the young Cottonwood forest and were now in plain view feeding along the banks of the river. Moose are fairly solitary creatures. Sometimes we see groups of 10-20 form in Antelope Flats during early winter, but for August this seemed rather like a coincidence. Regardless of how this meeting of the Moose came to be, we turned our lenses on this fine looking group and captured some photographic and mental images.
A Closer Look
Most of our guests come on a safari expecting to get great looks at the megafauna of the GYE and that is certainly what we aim to provide every time. However, being exposed to the amazing stories of the microfauna, for many folks, can be just as exciting. Today we stopped to examine the busy community that can be found on the stalks of a very common plant, Desert Parsley. Aphids love to feed on this plant, as they feed they will excrete nutritious drops of sugar water our of their rear ends. Ants know about this and will not only feed on the sweet sugary drops, but will heard aphids to the best parts of the plant and protect them from their predators, much like human shepherds do to their sheep. It never gets old seeing faces light up as they watch an ant slurp up a big drop of honeydew. Sometimes the best wildlife sightings are right at your feet if you only stop to take a closer look.
Parking Lot Bandits...
I often tell guests that the Common Raven is without a doubt the smartest animal in all of Yellowstone NP. Todays guests witnessed a great example of why this is true. We pulled into the Old Faithful parking lot and noticed that a pair of ravens were very interested in someone's motorcycle. We decided to wait and see what they were up to. Over the next few minutes we watched one of the Ravens open up a zippered compartment on one of the saddlebags, then remove and investigate several things including a box of tic-tacs which were quickly smashed open and consumed. These birds have become so good at exploiting the millions of humans that come to Yellowstone each summer, it is always a pleasure to share those moments with newcomers. Below is a photo I took of the Raven with incredibly fresh breath.
Grizzly Bear...real close!
Timing is everything in Yellowstone. Sometimes a Grizzly walks across the road and is only visible for a minute, before disappearing into the dense Lodgepole Pine forests. On todays Best of Yellowstone trip we had a Grizzly walk across the road and vanish moments later. I made the call to head down the road a little bit and wait in a picnic area to see if the bear re-emerged. Sure enough the bear came back out of the forest about five minutes later and walked right by our vehicle. Our cameras were ready and we all captured amazing close up images of this enormous predator from the comfort and safety of our well parked safari vehicle. You can see his amazing sense of smell at work in the photo. I'm sure you can guess what the kids decided to name this bear who was wandering through a Yellowstone picnic area.
What kind of snakes do y'all have here?
One of the most popular questions I get on a safari is what kind of snakes are in the area. Though there are four different kinds possible we tend to only see one species, the Wandering Garter Snake. Great views were had of this snake lurking in the cracks of a few boulders near one of Grand Teton NP's many lakes. We watched the snake for about ten minutes and it barely moved, their patience is incredible. Both me and one of our guests had telephoto lenses and were able to capture some decent images of the patient hunter waiting for its next meal.
Marmots!
Kind of a slow day for megafauna so we decided to focus on the smaller critters during our safari. Rodents are everywhere in the GYE and they all seem to have very short attention spans and will often go about their business with humans close by. Today we had great up close views of Beavers, Marmots, Uinta Ground Squirrels, and Least Chipmunks. Our safari group was able to capture amazing images of all these animals just by quietly hanging out by where they were foraging.
Black Bears near the road...
Had a great sighting today of a mother bear with her young cub. Not quite sure what they were feeding on but they appeared to be digging under some downed trees. When they lifted their heads they often had plants hanging out of their mouth. I think they were feeding mostly on ants though. In addition to this bear cub we also spotted baby moose, elk, beavers, and bison. Early June is such a fine time to watch baby animals learning what it takes to survive in an often harsh world.
Tense Standoff!
Witnessed a tense standoff between a Gray Wolf and a Bison this afternoon. The weather was cool and rainy but that never seems to stop the wildlife from putting on a show. A bison calf had died in the first few weeks of its life. This is usually an easy meal for wolves, the Bison in the photo had likely seen this calf fed on for several days and had enough. This bison chased the wolf around preventing it from feeding on the remains of the carcass. Every time the wolf would get the carcass in her mouth a Bison would come at her full speed till she eventually lost interest. This went on for over a half hour before the Wolf left the area.
The parsley is blooming and bears are loving it!
A drive down a somewhat popular dirt road in the northern part of Grand Teton NP yielded some close up views of a Grizzly. She was feeding on the flower tops of the Nine Leaved Desert Parsley. May is such a good time to get private views of wildlife, not another vehicle in sight. We also saw a mother Moose with her calf near the Death Canyon junction and noticed that some of our resident summer birds are getting quite protective of nesting territories.
Spring Wildlife in Grand Teton
This is an amazing time for wildlife here in Jackson Hole and on our most recent safari we had wonderful sightings of newborn bison, many birds of prey, recently returned pronghorn and much more. The highlight was certainly seeing nine newborn coyote puppies as they wrestled and investigated their new world.
Black bear, moose, and much more
We began this morning's wildlife safari with sightings of bull elk within 10 minutes followed by moose and then a cinnamon black bear feeding on an elk carcass. Many black bears in this region are 'cinnamon' colored and easily confused with grizzly bears. This sighting was a bit gory at times but fascinating to watch up close. Bison can now be seen with newborn calves and the birdlife is close to peaking here in Jackson Hole.
