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A Few Water Birds

Winter is not a great time for bird diversity in Yellowstone. We probably saw less than a dozen species of birds. Bald and Golden Eagles, American Robin, Barrow’s and Common Goldeneyes, Mallards, American Dipper, Clark’s Nutcracker, Mountain Chickadee, Common Raven, Black-billed Magpie. I think that’s all.

The goldeneyes were in small mixed groups, diving and feeding most of the time and easily seen from the road. The dippers were busy too, flying up and down the stream, calling to each other. Only once did I get a chance to make photos of them.

Yellowstone Fox

We’d been told it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a fox in Yellowstone but that wasn’t our experience. We got to see one as we were making our last drive through the northern part of the park. A number of other people were watching and photographing it so it was easy to spot. Several us photographed from the road but one person had made her way down into the draw to the viewer’s left and after a few minutes the fox got up and moved farther to the right. Maybe the animal felt that she had invaded its space? There are strict guidelines for watching and photographing wildlife in the park and no doubt, it is tempting to want to get closer. It appears that this animal has a case of mange or maybe an injury to its tail.

Elk and Bighorns and Moose, Oh My!

Yellowstone is home to all manner of wildlife and we enjoyed watching lots and lots of animals in the snow. Our biggest challenges were moose, otters and fox. We did find one fox on our last day as we were leaving the park. We never saw an otter. And as we approached our friends’ house, south of Missoula, Brad jumped out of his car and began waving his arms like crazy. What? There was a cow/calf pair of moose in the pasture not a mile from their house. They weren’t in the park but we were happy to see them on our vacation to Montana and Yellowstone!

Yellowstone Bison

We saw lots of bison in Yellowstone. It’s been a long winter for them (and everyone else) and their preferred route through the park is the paved, plowed road. We were often in bison jams. A scientist explained to us that if a bison is holding its tail up, it is ready to charge or discharge. And they have been known to charge cars. People too, under bad circumstances. You really do want to avoid getting close to these huge mammals. All of these photos, except the one with the scopes, were made from the car. It was pretty nerve-wracking to watch the enormous bull walk past that row of scopes knowing that if he made one turn, they’d all be smashed to the ground.

Last year’s calf
They move their head back and forth in the snow to open an area and find dry grass to eat. I don’t know how these animals can live on dry grass through the long winter.
A striped tongue?

Raven Portraits

We just returned from a winter trip to Yellowstone National Park. For some people, that might seem counter intuitive but for me, it’s been a long time coming – a real bucket list trip. Now that I’ve gone once, I can’t wait to visit there in the winter again.

While we saw lots of charismatic megafauna and I had opportunities to photograph many of them, my favorite photos from the trip are these of the Common Ravens in the Tower Junction area. This pair seemed to dominate the parking lot where there was a dumpster, recycling bins and toilets. I have no doubt that they are true scavengers living off what we humans leave behind. I think they also were very used to people and have probably been fed many times. When another pair of ravens flew overhead, these two hopped up and down on a snowbank making threatening calls. I think they were saying “Get out of here, this is our place.” They are beautiful and smart birds.