Yellowstone June 2011

[kittykat23uk]

We moved on to Swan Lake Flats where the sow grizzly with the two cubs could be seen at quite some distance. We met a nice couple from Santa Barbara as we watched. Later on we got stuck in a queue of traffic due to a nasty accident and at Grizzly Overlook saw two pelicans and another coyote. We stopped at Le Hardy Rapids in the hope of finding some harlequin ducks, Our quest was only partially successful with three female ducks found. Thick snow impeded use of the boardwalk.

 

 

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[kittykat23uk]

As we made our way towards Old Faithful we stopped frequently to scan Yellowstone Lake for wildfowl. Common merganser, Eurasian and American widgeon, Barrow’s goldeneye and mallard were seen.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

To end the day we spent some time around Old Faithful geyser basin. We seemed to time it perfectly as it wasn’t long before Old Faithful erupted. After watching this spectacle we explored the boardwalks photographing the pools and geysers. Plume Geyser saw fit to erupt, which was less showy than Old Faithful.

 

 

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[kittykat23uk]

Having checked into Old Faithful lodge and quickly dropped our bags we headed on to Castle Geyser, as it was due to erupt around 8PM. This turned out to be my favourite of the three eruptions we saw, because the “castle-like” structure of the cone combined with the lighting of the water was quite beautiful.

 

Finally, after checking out the options for having a meal, we settled on the “posh” option of the restaurant. It was lovely to actually have a bit of time to relax and eat, rather than grabbing a snack at one of the diners. I chose the prawn and feta cheese linguini which was rather nice. We even pushed the boat out and had a couple of glasses of wine. After that, we retired to bed.

 

 

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[kittykat23uk]

Day 6 June 6th Canyons and critters

 

The hotel had cleverly placed a plush buffalo toy in each room in the hopes that we’d give into its cuteness and buy it. After staring at its plaintiff expression we both caved in and the next morning “Bernie” and “Billy” were firmly ensconced in our luggage. We planned to make the most of our last day in the park and checkout was slower than we’d hoped. Granted it was half five in the morning, but we were willing the clerk to get a move on! It didn’t help that after he served Abbie, at a snail’s pace, he turned his attention to another couple further round the desk. After loudly exclaiming “excuse me!” several times, we finally dragged him back to sort my checking out, whilst Abbie went to get the car. He charged Bernie to Abbie’s credit card, even though I had the cash in my hand. Not wanting to waste any more time, I resolved to sort it out with Abbie later on.

 

So there we were, on the road again, for our final day in this wonderful place. We left Old Faithful heading towards Fishing Bridge. A gray jay was seen down by the lake. We tried Sedge Bay/Mary Bay for a last chance of the confiding grizzly in better light, but the only one we saw was much more distant at Pelican Creek. Still, we watched him through the scope for a while as he bathed in the river. We also enjoyed showing him off to day trippers who appreciated the views on offer through my scope. There were a few birds around on the water too including western grebe, cinnamon teal, green-winged teal, bufflehead, sandhill crane and cliff swallow.

 

We stopped at Fishing Bridge for a cup of tea and then tried again for harlequin ducks at Le Hardy Rapids (again only females were seen). We spent some time around the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone admiring the spectacular views of lower falls. A red squirrel put in a brief appearance, but was too quick to get a photograph.

 

 

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Edited August 6, 2011 by kittykat23uk

[kittykat23uk]

At Swan Lake Flats the grizzly sow and her two cubs were causing a big bear jam, but thankfully there were plenty of places to pull off the road. She was still some distance away, but closer than she had been before. We watched her playing with the cubs until she decided it was time to take a nap. The distance and heat haze involved made taking anything but a record shot very difficult. After she’d settled down into the sage brush we decided it was time to move on.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

The next stop was Mammoth and we treated ourselves so some blueberry cheesecake ice cream. Then we headed on towards Gardner to look for bighorn sheep. We didn’t see any but I spent the time photographing Brewer’s blackbirds in the sage brush whilst Abbie explored the other side of the river.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

With the afternoon already half gone we then headed towards Lamar, stopping for bison just before Lamar Bridge.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

Further on, a crowd could then be seen staring up at a cliff on the other side of the river. It was a large grizzly bear that was relaxing on a ledge. He got up, had a look around and repositioned himself before settling back down again for a nap. It must have been cooler down by the river. After watching for a while we, headed down into Lamar but it was very quiet.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

We decided to head back. Near the construction site, a juvenile golden eagle could be seen being mobbed by ravens and a black bear was seen in the clearing where moose had been seen before in the tree line.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

After a quick meal at Mammoth, we returned to Swan Lake Flats but the grizzly mother had not reappeared. A new bird sighting was a pair of northern harriers. Back to Lamar again and on the way we found a couple of white tailed deer.

 

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[kittykat23uk]

We can across a massive herd of bison next, which we stopped to photograph for a while. We had to be quite careful as they got pretty close to the car. One actually sneaked up on me and I let out a surprised “Ooh” as I quickly retreated to the car, much to Abbie’s amusement!

 

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[kittykat23uk]

Another new raptor was an American kestrel hovering over a hill. We then saw a cinnamon black bear cross the road up ahead of us near the Yellowstone picnic area which seemed to have a limp. Then further on, just before the bridge over Gardiner river, a second cinnamon black crossed the road. We arrived just in time to see its back end disappear. Lastly, we had a failed attempt to spot bighorn sheep on the way out, as it was now quite dark and our time in this wonderful park was drawn to a close. We arrived late into our hotel in Bozemen, tired but joyful that we had experienced such an amazing trip together.

 

 

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P6029994 adj framed copy copy Bucking Bison by kittykat23uk, on Flickr

[Pangolin]

You've done a great job showing the beauty and allure of Yellowstone. I would love to see half of what you saw when I'm there next.

[kittykat23uk]

Thanks Pangolin. I only wish I could have stayed longer! I will be back though!

[USAnimalfan]

Great report with a lot of good photos. We plan to visit there summer of 2012.

[kittykat23uk]

Anyone planning a trip should join Y-Net, it's the equivalent of SanParks fo Yellowstone:

 

http://www.forums.yellowstone.net/

 

I'm on there with the same username.

[Brian's Art for Animals]

WOW, what an amazing trip and such an excellent report!

Well, after ignoring my own countrie's wildlife for far too long, I am going to Yellowstone to film my little youtube safari seires this September.

I will be there from Sept 15-24th ish'. We start flying into Salt Lake and going to Tetons and then go to Yellowstone.

 

If I see just 25% of what you saw, I will be VERY happy. (all that you missed i think would be a photo of a cougar sleeping on your car..GREAT shots by the way.

Did you find that alot can be seen from the road?

And also did you get out of your car to view the bears, or did the rangers like you to stay in the vehicle with bears around?

I know they have the rule of 100 yards for bears and 25 for other wildlife..i hope to not only film the wildlife but the stupid people trying to get too close to bison and elk.

[Atravelynn]

Wishing you many bears, bison, and elk, and few stupid people, Brian.

 

The framing is great! Still lots of snow by the looks of the bison jam.

[twaffle]

Brian, have a great trip and I hope you will post the series here when it is finished as I do enjoy your style of filming and dialogue.

[Brian's Art for Animals]

I will for sure post it here.

[kittykat23uk]

Hi Brian, I hope you have a wondeful trip- I'm sorry I have only just seen this and I guess you are out there already! You are allowed to get out of your vehicles to view the bears and other wildlife, epecially when it is at a distance and you're not allowed to just stop on the road, you hae to pull off completely. The black bears who killed the elk in front of us were seen on foot and the rangers did a good job of directing us to move away when one decided to cross the road. In some cases we didn't get out of the car e.g. a Griz by the side of the road, the mother cinnamon black with her cubs. That was because it was safer, warmer and just as easy to shoot from the vehicle. They do tell you not to approach the animals but that doesn't help when a coyote walks straight up to you and passes you within touching distance, or when a buffalo creeps up behind you when you're focusing on it's mates in front of you!

 

We got very close to some animals like some of the bears, buffalo, coyote, but were very far from many others. Sadly we missed our chance for a close encounter with the wolf but we spent many hours viewing them through the scope.

Edited September 22, 2011 by kittykat23uk

[Brian's Art for Animals]

thanks for the reply.. the trip back in September was fun, but i was not that lucky with wildlife viewing..only saw black bear and from VERY far.. oh well. Lots of locals were also saying in the week i was there that the viewing was very low for some reason of all animals. I will start the trip report here on Safaritalk very soon. (late Nov/Dec?).

[kittykat23uk]

Oh dear! I'm sorry to hear that. But look forward to reading your TR in any case.