Fawn-ally!

[Click on any photo to enlarge.]

Coyote in the campground

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: elk, mule, mule deer, llama, prairie dog, donkey, bison, coyote, pronghorn, Uinta ground squirrel, black bear, moose, bighorn sheep, yellow-bellied marmot, wolf, least chipmunk, fox

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2015 trip so far: California condor, Brewer’s blackbird, American kestrel,

Brown-headed cowbird on bison's back

spotted towhee, magpie, wild turkey, mountain bluebird, bald eagle, Canada goose, Clark’s nutcracker, sandhill crane, osprey, red-tailed hawk, mountain chickadee, Northern flicker, great horned owl, Peregrine falcon, brown-headed cowbird, cliff swallow, Cassin’s finch, western tanager

*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2015 trip so far: 6
 

There are 285 documented species of birds established within Yellowstone with about 150 of those actually creating nests and fledging their young here.  Every so often we are lucky enough to see one we haven't seen before like these Cassin’s finches that appeared in the campground.  The fella above left was in a nearby bush, and 5 days later anoter guy and his presumed mate were in the grass just outside the RV.

As you know several thousand bison roam the park mostly out in the Lamar and Hayden Valleys (yep, all those dots in the photo at left are bison in Lamar).  But as you also know, at various times througout the year we also get them in our neck of the woods.  One day as we were traveling 
   towards Swan Lake Flats, we spied a couple of bulls taking a stroll across the Golden Gate Bridge.  They were definitely in no hurry, letting the traffic pile up behind them, and we turned around for a better view from a pullout.  After
     watching for a bit, we headed back towards Mammoth and got an up close and personal look at one of the big guys…at least he wasn’t giving us the evil eye!

 

This is our 5th year campground hosting in Yellowstone and our 6th
year coming to the park, and one thing we had never seen was a pronghorn fawn.  We decided to head out to Lamar Valley one morning and along the way we stopped to watch some baby marmots play among the rocks while a couple of red-tailed hawks soared overheard.  We drove all the way out to Pebble Creek where
we spotted a bull moose but couldn’t get a decent picture, and then on our way back we noticed several folks parked at Soda Butte with their scopes pointed across the road.  There on the side of the hill was a pronghorn nursing a very young fawn, probably only a few hours old!  Finally!! They are grey at birth so blend in very well with 
the sage, and if it hadn’t been for those folks, we probably would have totally missed it figuring it was just another pronghorn on a hillside.  Pronghorn generally have twins, and one couple said that there was another one bedded down in the sage out of sight. We watched for awhile, and I almost couldn’t get enough watching this young one trying to keep up with mom, figuring out how to use those legs.
 

On our way back home we came across a large traffic jam across from the Petrified Tree road so of course we parked and got out.  It was a black bear sow with her two cubs born this year that we’d been hearing about but had not yet seen (though I was only able to get a picture of one cub).

 

Before heading back to the RV we decided to drive up towards the Terraces and were rewarded with a fabulous view from the overlook that we just had to share.

 

The next day we needed to go to the grocery store in town and on
   the way back had another one of those firsts.  We knew the Canada geese had been nesting along the Gardiner River, and for the first time in all the years we’ve been coming to the park we got to see some goslings!  There are 3 of them next to the goose on the left.

 

There haven’t been nearly as many elk in the campground this year, but this young lady at right seems to have staked out her tent site!  And speaking of elk we finally saw our first elk calves of the season.  One was just inside the north  
      entrance though I couldn’t get a good photo of it, but this one in the campground a few days later was a perfect candidate for one of those impromptu shots.

 

     On the social scene we attended a retirement potluck earlier this month for Ranger Keith that was held across the street at the Mammoth Community Center.  There was a nice crowd on hand, and it gave everyone a chance to mingle and reconnect as some of
   us had not seen each other since last summer/fall.  As always there was more than enough food to go around, and the exquisite cake supplied for the event highlighted Keith’s years managing the wildlife (though it’s really more like managing the people!).  After everyone had eaten, several friends and co-workers got up to
share stories and pay tribute to his 31 years of service.  At the end during a well deserved standing ovation, his wife Cheryl joined an emotional Keith to give her thanks for everyone’s friendship, generosity, and support over the years.  It was truly a fitting tribute.

 

Rounding out our trio of hosts this year at Mammoth Campground are Holli and Steve who actually worked here with us three years ago but due to circumstances were not able to return until now.  Each year we’re required to attend a radio training class to learn/review the proper technique and use of the park radios we’ve been issued.  It’s a combined class between our
campground and the hosts from Indian Creek and was also held earlier this month.  As campground hosts, some additional training for the proper use of bear spray and when to use it is given, and following radio training Nate and Dan from Bear Management came by Mammoth for a brief class. We are each provided with a can during our stay that we're
allowed to also take with us when we go out into the park. The range is 30 ft. max so you have to wait till the bear gets pretty close before using it. However, if common sense is used, one should not have the need to use it, but situations can arise so best to be informed. Nate brought an inert canister that sprayed only a water mist but still allowed us to get the feel of how it handles.  Let’s just hope we never have to use it!

 

Yellowstone Tidbits:

• Pronghorn:  Male (buck) 100-125 lbs., female (doe) 90-110 lbs., young (fawn) can walk within 30 min. of birth and outrun a human in a couple of days; both sexes have horns, males are pronged and they have a black cheek patch.
• Canada goose:  Male (gander) weighs about 7-14 lbs., female (goose) weighs about 5-12 lbs., young (gosling) are able to walk, swim, and find their own food as soon as they hatch; has a wingspan of about 50 - 73 in. and can be very aggressive when defending its territory
• Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.