YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

The day began loaded with excitement and anticipation.  Clear skies, except for a small ribbon of clouds etched in the slightest tones of red, and warmer temperatures.  Perfect kind of day for the sightseer but not so for the photographer and wildlife watcher.  Warm weather sends the animals hiding in the shade of trees or on a hidden snowbank.  And, clear skies makes for some harsh light when it comes to taking photos.

But, still, it was exciting, thinking about that moment beyond the gate that remained locked all winter for us common folk.  Freedom!

As I passed through Mammoth there was a Great Horned owl high on top of the bare branches of a tree.  Good sign for things to come, I thought.

Not much further down the road a Pygmy owl flew to the top of a tree.  Rarely do I see owls but it wasn’t even officially dawn that two sightings already.

And, not all that much further down the road, just past Wraith Falls, I saw a black wolf.  Of course my heart stopped and so did the car a little too fast when my foot stomped the brake.  I spooked the wolf but he recovered and continued on his way.  I watched through binoculars and my immediate thought was that 926 had come west.  But, logically, I know that could not be.  I continued to watch and finally he turned his head – it was her son, 967 with the white box on his collar.  His stomach was bulging from what must have been a huge meal, giving him the appearance of a pregnant female.  He looked great – nearly grown up but not quite, and he was all alone.

After he disappeared from sight I counted on to meet up with someone for a camera and a key.  That journey took me all of the way to Little America where I grabbed the items and turned around and left.

But, along the way the Sandhill Cranes at Floating Island were mating.  They quit when I turned the camera their way, darn it.  There were some bison on the hill, lit by morning’s first light and they had some snowcapped mountains way far in the background

On my way back west a marmot crossed the road in front of me.  They are truly out in force right now.

I heard about a sighting of 3 wolves on the Blacktail but could not find them and so started west again until getting another clue that wolves were being seen.  I went back and eventually located the animals.  There were six all together – 763, 965, 964, two black pups, and one tannish colored pup, I believe.  They were headed west and I soon lost them.  But, not before being able to share my scope with a couple whose biggest hope was to see a wolf.  I love it when they look through the scope and they see the animal – the thrill and excitement is worth everything to me.

After looking around a little, I headed south, definitely feeling that jubilation at leaving the gate.

First thing I spotted a grizzly on Swan Lake Flats and thought, wow, this is one of those days that keeps on giving.  Not knowing that that was it – the end.  Not of the day, which turned long, dusty in the construction zone, warm and blank.  Yellowstone down south, with no snow left, reminded of the moment between life and death – a limbo of uncertainty.  I saw a lot of sandhills and a few bison but nothing more.  No elk, no coyotes, nothing.  A long blank stretch.

The geysers were busy at old Faithful but with the cloudless washed out light it wasn’t worth the stop, not unless I wanted to walk around.  And, I did not.  Well, I did, but I wanted to find something.  The photographers were even absent – there was just nothing.  I drove to Canyon also, where there was some snow, but the road stopped at Chittenden Bridge and so nothing to see.  The falls were there, but , again, the light was not inspiring.

Most of the roads were bare but there were a few places that were still closed with just a touch of snow.  It felt like the park did not prepare for opening day, or even give it much thought.  The snow poles still up, the outhouses dirty and none had yet been cleaned out from winter.  Slough Creek outhouse still closed, as is the road that has been bare forever.  Bare but not yet grated.  Something felt off but it is hard to say what it was.

Still, it felt nice to venture into other territory.  But, I felt anxious to get back to Lamar.  Which is where I found out from Bill that Scarface had been seen above the valley, early in the day.  And, 926 and Twin were across the valley.  Twin tried to return to the den area twice but 926 did not follow.  And, so he stood on the hill and howled for her.  And, there was a return group howl that startled everyone.  Some were worried that the Mollies were still there and that they attacked 926, but she eventually showed up as if everything was fine.

So, who were the howlers?  Supposedly the Mollies returned to Pelican Valley yesterday.  I have a theory and that is that the other five pups are over there – that they have come home.  But, then why didn’t they return to the den with 926?  Maybe a slow process.  Or, maybe they can’t return.  I have spent the past two hours watching and waiting to see if the pups would begin to make their way home but nothing yet.  So, I will leave for the night, and of course something will happen.  Maybe all will be back to normal by morning.  Maybe not.  It doesn’t hurt to hope.

Oh, by the way, it was a day with virtually no photo ops.  Sad but true.  A lot of sightings and action but that was it.

And, while I did not drive towards West Yellowstone (the only road I did not take today) Judy, Verne and Andrew did.  Here is Judy’s report.

Not much.  We went to the west and didn’t see much at all. We spent a good bit of time talking with the flag lady at the north end of the road construction and asked her what she had seen. She has been working 2 weeks during which time she has seen zero bears, one wolf, and she heard a great gray owl.  On the road from Madison Junction to West Yellowstone our friend Andrew saw a pine marten run across the road just before the big dead tree with the eagle nest.  We looked for the pine marten a while but it had run into almost solid small pines.  We knew it was in there because several nuthatches, a couple of robins and some other birds were raising a big fuss but we couldn’t find it.  We went to the eagle nest to see if it was occupied.  It was, but not with what we expected.  A pair of Canada geese had moved in and one of them was arranging sticks. I don’t know if the female will lay eggs but I do know if she does the jump to the ground will be a long one for the babies.

We went out of West Yellowstone to Baker’s Hole on the Madison River. There are 3 or 4 osprey nests in one smallish area on the Madison.  Only 1 platform had a pair of ospreys but the rest will soon.  We saw some young bighorns butting horns above the Gardiner on the way home.