Thursday, September 10, 2015

Today was quiet. Yesterday, on the way to the bear spot, I saw a barn that looked like it might make a good photo. So, after stopping a few minutes to see 3 of the Prospects, I went out and took some shots

And, with that, my trip here is done, I think. I'm leaving tomorrow and should return home on Saturday.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Today was lots of wolves and grizzlies – 13 of each.

I started early up on the blacktail plateau looking for the the Prospect Peak wolf pack. They are the most reliable wolf viewing right now. I got lucky and saw 13 of them for about an hour. They were way far away, though – about 3 miles – so no pictures were to be had.

While I was there, people told me of a place grizzlies congregate to dig up roots. It's outside the park to the north, so I went there this evening. They weren't kidding. There were 13 bears – 8 cubs, 3 moms and 2 single bears.

They were a long way off and the wind was blowing making things tough to photograph,, but I did get these 2

It's on the edge of a ranch's pasture land, thus the fence in the first one. In the second, you can see a deer behind the bear. It wasn't really nervous, so I'm guessing it was a long way behind.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Kind of a nothing day today.

I started out in the Lamar Valley looking for wolves...nothing. The people with the receivers for the radio collars said they had no signals. This pack is out of town.

I had heard of an antelope that had been hit by a car, so I went looking for that. The rangers had moved it away from the road into some deep sagebrush and about all you could see were ravens. I breifly saw a coyote, but that was it.

So, it was back to camp for a shower and lunch, then laundry later.

In the evening, I went back to the antelope carcass, but even the ravens were gone, so I played with the scope and camera. This photo is from about 1/3 to ½ mile away and is way better than the 600mm lens would do, so it is possible. I just need more practice and technique:

Monday, September 7, 2015

The morning started off watching the Prospect Peak wolf pack in the northwest part of the park. They are a long way off – around 3 miles away. I saw 8 of them today.

Later, I went down to the Hayden Valley and missed the wolves, but got to see a grizzly for a while. It, too, was a long way off, but I got a couple OK pictures:

Later, there were pronghorn near the Lamar River bridge:

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Back to the Hayden this morning and saw 3 of the 4 pups:

Saturday, September 5, 2015

More wolves.

Early I went down to the Hayden valley and got to see all 6 members of the Wapiti Lake pack:

The gray ones almost disappear in the sagebrush:

Later, I took some pictures of bison

Friday, September 4, 2015

More New Wolves!

Got up early this morning and went west to the far end of the Blacktail Plateau where Doug has been reporting seeing the Prospect Peak wolf pack. When I got there, the fog was trying to cover them, but for about 30 minutes we got to see them chasing bison and then being chased by the bison.

The rest of the day was spent driving to Bozeman for some warmer pants. The weather is supposed get cooler and I'm not really ready for it.

In Mammoth, there was a large bull elk lounging on the lawn:

On the way back it looked like he was still there, but a closer look shows a different animal:

Back in camp, the bison was back:

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Not much today. I didn't sleep well the last 2 nights, so today I spent napping and dealing with the fresh and waste water tanks in the trailer.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

New wolves!

Went down to the Hayden Valley early this morning to see if I could see the Wapiti Lake pack, a new pack formed this year. The alpha female is from the Canyon pack who used to own this valley while the make is the former mate of 832 – a very famous wolf who was shot when she left the park in December, 2012. He's been searching for a new mate ever since and seems to have found one.

We got to see all 4 pups and the adults this morning, Way out about 1 2/3 mile away. No pictures were to be had.

One good story, though. While we were watching, a family with a small girl, about 8 years old, came up and asked if we knew where they could see wolves. I lowered my scope tripod so she could look and she got to see all 6. She stayed glued to the scope for about 20 minutes. While she watched, her mother said that wolves were her favorite animal and they had not seen one up until then. They were on their way out of the park and, up until then, the little girl had been very disappointed. They left very happy. It was a good morning.

The afternoon was spent on chores and shower and goofing in camp.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Since the most visible wolves are gone, I decided to focus on other things. I want a really good photo of a bison. This is a start:

Then there were some pronghorns

The rest of the day was back at camp working on photos and blog entries. I'm gonna grill a steak for dinner and, after that, go out to the Hayden Valley to see if there are any wolves to be seen there.

Later: No wolves, but I did see some swans:

Monday, August 31, 2015

No pictures today. I went out early to the Lamar Valley to confirm that the wolves are gone. There, I talked with Doug McGlaughlin. He thinks they are gone for the season, moved further east up the valley towards Cache Creek. Laurie Lyman, owner of Yellowstonereports.com, a website that reports all the “official” wolf sightings each day, thinks that they are just gone for a few days or so. We will see.

In the meantime, I went up to Bozeman for a small piece of camera gear to try out. It sort of works, but I need to get a different one. I'll order it when I get home.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Moving day for the wolves

This morning started like most. I left just as it was getting light and got to the far end of the Lamar Valley around 7:00. Soon after I got there, the wolves started moving around. Then they started howling:

After a bit more stirring, all of them, including the pups, started moving south:

They all moved in a line south through the trees until I lost sight of them about a mile away.

They were later seen up on a ridge line to the south, moving east.

So, that was the wolf show for the day. I did see Yoshi, who is back in the park for a while.

In the afternoon, I went down to Moose Falls to take a picture with some filters:

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Just a few more wolves.

I slept in this morning and did chores. Then I went back out to the Lamar Valley in the evening and learned that I had missed several wolves crossing the road carrying food for the pups.

This evening we didn't see much. A single yearling on the east side and an adult and yearling on the west: