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: