The Lamar Valley was sans wolves today so we wandered over to Slough Creek and found a Black Bear foraging along the Lamar River in Lamar Canyon. Black Bears are omnivorous and come in many stylish colors besides black, including blonde, cinnamon, brown and the Alaskan Glacier Bear which is blue-grey. Yellowstone has both Black Bears and Brown Bears (grizzly) but the reproduction rate of the Brown bear is much slower than the Black Bear. Grizzly bears used to be found all over America but now, in the lower 48, they are found only in the greater Yellowstone greater and Glacier National Park....

When we get tired of the crazy tourists abandoning their cars in the middle of the road or pointing the wrong direction in the lane, we go to Slough Creek for a quiet morning watching birds. The slough is one of the few wetland areas in this part of the Park. We've seen Avocets, Eagles, Great Blue Herons, Peregrine Falcon, Sandhill Cranes and this pair of American Coots feeding their chicks. This morning, just as we were about to head back to the campground, we saw a coyote ambling along the creek. He came real close and I was kicking myself for not having the camera with the long lens set up on the tripod....

We drove part way up Lulu Pass today to get views from on high. We saw an incredible display of wildflowers (photos to come later...) and views of surrounding peaks that we can't see from down in the valley or from the campground. The photo above is a panorama comprised of four photos "sewn" together. The two jagged-looking peaks on the left are Pilot and Index. Pilot is just over 11,700 feet high. The road to Lulu Pass is one of the highest roads in Montana and the pass tops out at 9,846 feet. I intend to try riding my mountain bike up Lulu Pass road. It will be a tough ride! Today was another...

We didn't see any wolves today but there was a report of a black wolf from the Junction Pack heading west through the Lamar Valley. We waited and watched from a pull-out east of Slough Creek, hoping to see the black come over the ridge but we had no luck. We did see a black bear, however, making its way up the slope to the ridgetop. We then went to a pull-out that has a great view of the Slough Creek valley. I sighted four Great Blue Herons sitting together on the branches of a large bush along the creek. (In the photo above, the bush the Herons are sitting in is in the far left of the image,...

Watching wolves in the Lamar Valley can be challenging. Because the road is heavily traveled on the north side of the valley the wolves are mostly seen on the south side of the valley which can be 1 to 2 miles away. Viewing with a spotting scope vs binoculars can make a big difference in the enjoyment. This morning we were following 6 members of the Junction Butte pack getting close to the border of the Lamar pack's territory. I think one of the younger males spotted a herd of Pronghorn and decided to chase. The older, more experienced wolves would have known it was a fruitless effort. It was no contest....

On our way into the Park this morning we saw a cinnamon-colored black bear foraging not far from the road. It was still rather dark so the image-quality is not great. Breakfast. Everybody needs breakfast including wolves. This grey wolf seems to be taking hers back to her pups. Next entry in diary

This morning found four Junction Butte wolves heading east in the Lamar Valley. We moved from the "Trashcan" pull-out (all the pullouts are named by the "Wolfers" so they can figure out where a sighting is made from) to "Exclosure" by the confluence of Soda Butte Creek and the Lamar River for a closer and better view. From there we watched three black wolves and one grey for a couple of hours. At one point, we noticed a couple of Bull Bison traversing the slope behind us. They got real close and there was no place to go. We gave them all the room we could, moving off the trail and down the steep...

A restocking trip was in order so we headed out early to Cody, Wyoming the closest metropolis. It is a beautiful drive with a lot of history. This Raven stopped by to tell the story of the Nez Perce at the top of the pass. In 1877, Chief Joseph lead 600 Nez Perce, in an attempt to flee from the murderous General Howard, over an 8000ft pass into the Absaroka Mountains. It was an arduous passage for his people and winter was nearly upon them. They fooled the army into following a false trail as they moved in the opposite direction over the steep pass. The variety of landscape...

Sunrise yielded some nice views with fog on the way into Yellowstone this morning. The fog drove us out of the Lamar Valley and over to Slough Creek where we went looking for a Golden Eagle nest. We did'nt find the nest but, in a little cattail pond nearby, we found Yellowheaded Blackbirds singing a morning song. They are really striking with their yellow heads and white epaulets. Next entry in diary

A beautiful sunrise over the Beartooths this morning. Spotted a Sow and two cubs in the Soda Butte area this morning. The clouds closed in unfortunately and it was very dark. Got a few bad photos but... Next entry in diary