A Bear-y Good Day

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far:  pronghorn, horse, llama, elk, bison, grizzly, bighorn sheep, mule deer, Uinta ground
squirrel, wolf, black bear, moose, coyote, fox

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far: bald eagle, grouse, osprey, magpie, red-tailed hawk, Canada goose, great horned owl

 

[Click on any photo to enlarge.]

 

As most of you know, wildlife can appear in or around the campground at any time.  One afternoon a cinnamon colored black bear and her two yearling cubs (one black, the other cinnamon) created quite a stir back by the amphitheater.  We were having trouble seeing them among the trees so drove up the hill to town hoping to get a better view looking down.  There was quite a large group of folks doing the same thing, and though still a little tough to
see in the shadows, I did manage to get a picture of the cubs.  Then one morning a couple of days later as we were leaving for work, we heard the yipping of a coyote and finally spotted it on the hill across the road.  Another not so great shot but more visible than the bears!

 

The next day we decided to take a drive out to Lamar Valley as we’d heard there was a lot of bear activity this spring.  We’ve gotten beyond the stage of getting up before sunrise to head that way on the off chance of seeing wolves in the distance so didn’t leave the campground until about 9am.  But as luck would have it, about 15 min. later just before Blacktail Pond we spotted a wolf on the hillside close enough to see with the naked eye!  Timing is everything!

 

We had heard that just past Tower Junction a black bear sow and her 3 cubs (born this year) had been hanging out, and sure enough not quite a mile past the Junction we saw the mass of photographers trying to get that perfect shot.  Mama could be seen grazing among the trees, and initially the cubs were nowhere in sight but then gradually came out of hiding, one at a time.  Two of them started wrestling while the third just hung back observing…way too cute!

 

Continuing on out to Lamar we spotted a mule deer bull with its growing antlers still in velvet and stopped to check on the osprey in her nest.  Once in the valley we watched as a small group of pronghorn successfully attempted to cross the road, dodging cars as they ran.  We continued on and joined a group of folks in a pullout
who were spotting something with their scopes.  Seems that off in the distance were two grizzly sows each with 2 yearling cubs.  They were close enough to each other that we could actually see all 6 at the same time through our scope!  I wasn’t able to get any pictures, though, because they were just too far away.  Someone also spotted 3 bighorn sheep way, way up on the side of the mountain which we could see through the scope but again too far away for a photo.

 

Moving on down the road we got to see some critters that we rarely see in Yellowstone...moose!  And not just 1 but 3!!  They were moving in and out of the willows but I was at least able to get a halfway decent shot of one of them.  Of course you can't go out to the Lamar Valley without seeing herds of bison, and this year there seems to be an abundance of new calves.

We decided to start heading back home but our critter sightings didn’t end.  Another large group of folks pulled off to the side of the road afforded us the opportunity to see a grizzly sow with her cub born this year following mom and trying hard to keep up.  About 15 min. later another pullout allowed us to spot another black bear but couldn’t get a really good shot as it had started moving into the trees by the time we arrived.

 

About 15 min. from home, Russ spied 3 coyotes in a small clearing across the road.  We pulled over as soon as we could and I quickly made my way up a hill opposite of where they had been.  Several others must have seen them as well and pulled over, exiting their cars and hoping to get a better
   look.  Of course the commotion spooked them and 2 had scurried off into the woods.  However one remained a little behind the others, occasionally stopping to check behind, perhaps spooked by the group of bison who were coming down the road.

 

So all in all over the course of 5 hours we saw: 1 wolf, 13 bears (8 grizzly, 5 black), 1 mule deer bull, 3 moose, 3 coyotes, 1 osprey, 1 red-tailed hawk, 3 bighorn sheep, several Canada geese, pronghorn, elk, and hundreds of bison!  A bear-y good day indeed!

But our critter sighting was not done for the day.  A couple of hours later we drove up into town because near the superintendent’s house we’d heard that a great horned owl had built a nest.  We were able to easily spot one of the adults and a fluff ball hidden next
   to it, and as we continued to watch, one of the owlets made a brief appearance.  There are actually 3 owlets in the nest but on this evening we only caught a glimpse of 2.  Perhaps we’ll get to see all 3 another day.

 

Yellowstone Tidbits:

• Black bear:  Color can be black, brown, blond, or cinnamon; male (boar) weighs 210-315 lbs., female (sow) weighs 135-200 lbs., young (cub) weigh 8 - 10 oz. at birth
• Grizzly:  Color varies from blond to black; male (boar) weighs 200-700 lbs., female (sow) weighs 200-400 lbs., young (cub) weigh about 1 lb. at birth
• Great horned owl:  Grow to a length of 17-25 in. with a wingspan of 36-60 in., can weigh up to 3-1/4 lbs.; baby owl is called an owlet and can fly competently by 10-12 weeks; group of owls is called a parliament
• Wolf:  Stands 26-36 in. at the shoulder, 4-6 ft. from nose to tail tip; males weigh 100-130 lbs., female weighs 80-110 lbs., young (pup) weighs about 1 lb. at birth
• Coyote:  About 1/3 the size of a wolf; weighs 25-35 lbs., 16-20 in. high at shoulder