YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

The morning began with thick, impenetrable fog and so I went to Slough Creek and struggled with the internet for a little while before deciding to move on.  The big complaint I have heard from visitors this weekend is cell coverage has been horrible!  But, I believe that it must have resolved last night because oh so much better today.  My apologies for not being able to post regularly.

I moved on from Slough Creek, thinking about heading towards Blacktail when through the fog I saw two large shapes moving east.  Had to be wolves!  It was wolves!  I excitedly grabbed my radio to let folks know and someone was able to get a scope set up so that many could see the animals.  I was excited because it had been so long since I had found wolves and seen them up close.  The two, 911 and the Black female crossed the road in front of me and I was stunned by how tall 911 had grown and how thin and different the female looks.  She has a white patch on the back of her neck and looks like a totally different wolf.  In the past she was always quite stout – hunting must not be good for the duo.

We saw the wolves again in Lamar Valley and a number of people were able to see them, which was good because some had driven right on past me when I had first found them.

Some time later there was a jam around the way and I saw our valley girl trying to get across the road.  Unfortunately, she did not make it.  Could have gotten a photo of her but I was more concerned with how we could move cars out of her way.  Someone told me later that they got great shots of her as they followed her down the road.

I heard Rick say this morning that the Lamars were at the Rendezvous site last evening with 911.  Wonder what that means and what the day will bring.

They had great views of 763’s group yesterday but I did not make it out there.  And, Rick found a fifth puppy with the Junction Buttes.  What great news.  I saw mama Canyon all stretched out on a hillside yesterday afternoon, looking like a white rug.  And, Simon saw a black wolf at Yellowstone Lake.  A lot of great sightings!

Also saw two sows and three coy – grizzlies that is, along with two sub-adults.  The sow and coy, LA Sow, continue to stay high in Lamar, near where the two sub-adults are hanging out, and I finally saw Quad Mom again, on Swan Lake Flats.  For a change I saw zero black bears.

The cutest coyote pups are hanging out in Lamar Valley – very small and they blend right in with the landscape.

No sign of the Sandhill cranes at Floating Island but I am sure they are close by.  The osprey nest in Lamar Canyon continues to draw a crowd, as does the peregrine nest at Tower.

And, I heard not he scanner that those seven bears were quite close to each other yesterday.  And Scarface was at Chittenden and people were able to get close ups.

I drove all of the way to Lake View Overlook, across to Norris, to Mammoth where I found the photo highlight of the day.  The Great Horned owlets.  I had not shot a single photo all day, since finding the two wolves so while there was great sightings, no great photo ops.

The owlets had some great light coming in on them and were quite cute.

That was nearly the end of my day but I did see one pup on the Blacktail!  A five wolf day for me.  The light was dwindling as I went to my trailer and we had a spectacular sunset but with my camera broken I couldn’t get everything changed over quick enough to capture it so I just enjoyed the wonderful ending to the day.

Now we have blue skies and not a cloud anywhere.  Not a great day for photos.