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A Snowy Memorial Day in Yellowstone

Photo of snowy road in Yellowstone on Memorial Day.
Snow Plow Leads the Way

This is what it looked like as I headed toward the Lamar Valley yesterday.  That’s a road grader plowing the way.  Its top speed seemed to be about 10 MPH and at a spot short of Tower the driver got out and waved us around him.  I don’t know what happened to the trucks that usually do the plowing. It looks like 6 inches or more fell here.

“This is nothing compared to winter here.”
Photo of a bison feeding during a snowstorm on Memorial Day.
“This is nothing compared to winter here.”

These conditions were no problem for animals like this cow bison.  However, I’m not so sure about animals born yesterday.  The snow was that wet, heavy type.  I wouldn’t want to be a baby elk born yesterday or the night before.

Photo of a bull elk in new snow on Memorial Day.
Snow on Memorial Day

This bull elk looks healthy and a little snow is probably no big deal to him although his winter coat would have served him better than his summer coat.    This photo was taken in the afternoon and most of the snow had melted by then.

Coyote

Wet Coyote, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a wet coyote.
Wet Coyote

The snow that fell yesterday was sticking when it landed on vegetation, but not on the roads or animals.  This coyote was probably hoping it would either get colder or warmer.  It looks soaked.  The temperature ranged between 30 and 35 degrees.  It’s about the same today.  There was about four inches of snow on my car this morning and it was still snowing.  Fortunately, it’s let up, at least for now.

Grizzly Bear

A Grizzly Hunts for Food, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a grizzly bear.
A Grizzly Feeds Near Soda Butte Creek

This young grizzly is the same individual I photographed yesterday.  It was looking for food by overturning rocks and turning over clumps of dirt.  While what it was finding will keep this bear going, it would really benefit by finding some meat.  It’s eyes don’t look sad anymore.  It’s looking at me.  Hmmm.

It has been raining and snowing for the past few days.  Today it snowed lightly almost all day in the park and caused me some focusing problems.  The snow stuck to vegetation, but melted quickly when it hit dirt and asphalt.  The forecast is for more of the same.

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a grizzly bear.
Spring Grizzlies Are Hungry Grizzlies.

This is the only grizzly so far that has been close enough to photograph on this trip to Yellowstone.  It’s a young bear and when I look at its eyes it seems sad.

Those aren’t insects flying around the bear.  It’s snow.  We’ve had rain, hail and snow the past couple of days.  That’s not unusual this time of year.

There’s no time to cull photos.  This is the first one I saw that looked OK.

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane near Blacktail Pond, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a sandhill crane.
A Sandhill Crane Near Blacktail Ponds

When people think of the wildlife in Yellowstone they think of wolves, bears, especially grizzlies, and elk.  But there are lots of other critters.  You can probably think of many others, but you may not put the sandhill crane on your list.  Yet there are quite a few to be seen there.  This crane was with a couple of others near Blacktail Pond.  One other large bird I’m used to seeing here is the trumpeter swan.  However, I haven’t seen any this trip and don’t recall if I saw any in my other recent trips.

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Any Day in Yellowstone …

Photo of two black bear cubs.
“Put Yer Dukes Up.”

Any day in Yellowstone is a good day.  That is especially true in the spring.  In the six days I’ve been here I’ve seen numerous bears and several wolves.  Black bears are so numerous that I’ve stopped keeping track of sighting them.  I photographed the spring cubs above the first day.  I haven’t seen nearly as many grizzlies, but I’ve seen two sows with one cub each and a few other adults.  They tend to be much farther away than black bears.

It’s a little early for babies, other than bison calves and bear cubs, but a newborn elk calf was in hiding just inside the Roosevelt gate this afternoon.  I’ve been looking for them and bighorn lambs and pronghorn fawns.  News of the elk calf will get me looking for babies more intently.  The elk calves and pronghorn fawns stay hidden most of the time for the first week or so, but the bighorn lambs can keep up with their mothers the day of birth as well as the bison calves.  Deer fawns arrive about a month later.

I’ve had my eyes peeled for badgers, but haven’t seen any yet.  I was telling a guy that two days ago and he told me he photographed three of them earlier that day.  Needless to say,  I’m looking harder now.  I got really close to a sandhill crane today.  I’ve also been photographing a lot of marmots.    Like I said, any day is good in Yellowstone.

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Second Anniversity of My Blog

Two years ago this month I started this blog with a trip to Yellowstone.  It seems fitting that I am in Yellowstone now.  This is my favorite time to be in Yellowstone.  I saw 14 black bears today, not counting repeats.  Four were spring cubs.  No grizzlies yet though.

Unfortunately, my laptop is has something wrong with it.  Not a good sign and not a good time for this to happen.

Below is a photo of what is probably Yellowstone’s most famous area from a wildlife standpoint.  The photo shows a small part of the west end of the Lamar Valley.  The valley is sometimes referred to as America’s Serengeti because of the sweeping vistas showing large numbers of wildlife.  Numerous bison are visible. There may be some smaller animals in there as well.  The valley has been the best place to spot wolves among other things.

Hopefully, this laptop will remain alive until my trip ends.

Bison Herd Across the Lamar River
The Lamar Valley, America’s Serengeti