Category: Jackson

OK, I'll admit that I have been remiss in updating the blog recently but I have had a truly amazing two weeks. It started last week in Yellowstone National Park as a simple visit to the Lamar Valley.  Sounds easy from Jackson, well, it is in the summer season but when the south entrance is closed, it means a drive south and west into Idaho, then a long but beautiful drive north through West Yellowstone, Montana then along the Gallatin River up to Bozeman.  From Bozeman it is back east to Livingston and then south to Gardiner and the north entrance to the park. It was a nice, warm spring day and there were lots of animals - elk, mule deer, big horn sheep, and even some pronghorn antelope.

We drove a couple of hours through the park from Mammoth Hot Springs to the Lamar Valley and on to the northeast entrance and Cooke City for the night. The next morning we found the carcass.  A young bison had fallen through the ice in December in the Blacktail Ponds area. It died, froze, and was covered with snow. The day before we arrived a large boar grizzly bear had come out of hibernation a bit hungry and 4-month old submerged bison sound like just the thing. He pulled the carcass partially out of the water and he and dozens of other birds and animals made a very interesting 4 days of photography.

During daylight hours the carcass was visited by bald and golden eagles, dozens of ravens, and several coyote. At dusk and into the night, the grizzly returned with as many as two others. When the grizzlies left, the wolves arrived. It was well after dark so photography was out but the viewing was very good. Coyotes crying in the night added to the drama and the same scenario played in reverse order each morning. The close proximity of the carcass to the road resulted in dozens of posts to The Spotting Scope and other web sites.

The drive back home around the west side of the park was another adventure with a full spring blizzard and white-out conditions. A double tanker truck jack-knifed and rolled over and driving conditions near West Yellowstone were miserable. Teton Pass back to Jackson was clear and the remainder of the drive was uneventful.

How could you possible top that adventure? Well, beloved grizzly sow 610 and her three two-year old cubs came out of hibernation in Grand Teton National Park. She was spotted on Monday and a storm of photographers and observers arrived for the rest of the week. The clan put on a great show every day with a backdrop of Trumpeter Swans, white pelicans, Canada geese, beaver, river otter, muskrat, coyote, bald eagles, and other waterfowl.  We visited on Wednesday to watch their migration from Pacific Creek up to Ox Bow Bend on the Snake River. It was a comedy of foraging for frozen fish in the river to random cub wrestling matches as they dug in the snow and ice along two miles of river. They were clearly un-bothered by the 10-20 photographers and visitors as they made their way along the large island at Ox Bow.

On Friday we returned to Ox Bow Bend about 35 minutes from our Jackson home to watch the family again. On the day we missed, 610 had helped the cubs retrieve a frozen beaver carcass from the ice and on this day the family was content to spend the morning in the woods on the island. We photographed beaver and waterfowl and were about ready to pack up the gear when a large boar grizzly appeared on the ice at the south end of the island. He was being harassed by a very brazen coyote but finally sent the coyote packing and took off at a full run through deep snow and dense willows toward 610 and her cubs. 610 continued to prove what a great mother she was, leading the cubs into the woods and across the wind as the boar charged on only about 50-100 yards from them. The boar was distracted by the scent where the cubs had been wrestling in the woods and perhaps by the consumed beaver carcass while the family ran through the woods and emerged again at the south end of the island. 610 sent her cubs across the frozen river to the mainland while she stood ready to defend them from the aggressive boar.  Once the cubs were safely on the mainland and downwind from the boar, she crossed the ice and led them back toward Pacific Creek. It was an amazing display of predator behavior and a mother's protective instincts. Some of the photos are posted on my Facebook page:  

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.560940470593138.1073741825.522413177779201&type=3

The national parks are coming alive! Thanks for visiting.

 

Wyoming? I often get asked why in the world did you move from Florida to Wyoming?

The reason is pretty obvious when you take a look at my last Friday. I started the morning with the drive to take sunrise photographs in the Grand Teton National Park about 15 minutes north of my home in Jackson.  After a few shots I decided to return to Jackson and have breakfast at my favorite restaurant. On the way back to town I noticed the the elk herd at the National Elk Reserve had started to migrate north toward their summer home in Yellowstone National Park.  About 100-200 elk had crossed the Gros Ventre river and many of the 5,000+ elk remaining in the reserve were headed towards the river. I sped home grabbed some more gear and had a quick breakfast at Bubba's.

After breakfast, we decided to return to the Kelly road to observe the migration of Elk crossing the Gros Ventre. I grabbed my 7D and a 100-400 mm zoom and walked a quarter mile across hard pack snow into the woods. I hadn't walked 100 yards in the trees when I practically ran into four moose. Three of these were very close in the trees and occupied about 45 minutes of shooting time. I kept walking through hard packed snow to the Gros Ventre.  Here I was treated to a spectacle unlike any other. About 100-200 elk had already crossed the river and were grazing in the tree line. The snow was completely covered with elk tracks and other signs of the moving herd.  I turned to the West and walked along the river looking for the massive herd to follow.  During my walk I was greeted by three bald eagles swooping down the river looking for fish. At the first bend in the river a flock of Canada Geese were chattering noisily along the rocky bank. This deserved another couple dozen photos.

I continued along the river and to my amazement on the high banks on the South side there were literally hundreds if not a couple thousand elk who had moved from the refuge to the high bluffs of the river. I remained there for about an hour watching the elk but they had laid down and it was clear they would not be moving in the next couple of hours. As I walked along the river I estimated that there were elk for about 2 miles positioned nearly nose-to-tail along the entire ridge line.

On the way back to my Jeep I stopped again the photograph a cow and two moose yearlings.  They posed majestically in a cranny between two trees, seemingly unbothered by my presence.  I continued my walk through the woods and was startled by another cow elk as she ran across my path.  Over the two hours of my trek, the warm sun had softened the crust on the top of the snow making the walk across the meadow "interesting." I consistently broke through between six and 12 inches of snow as I crossed the meadow to the steeply inclined gravelly bank back up to the parking area on Gros Vente Road.

Before returning to Jackson, I drove down the road past the small town of Kelly seeing three more bald eagles and several more moose bringing the total moose for the day up to 19.

Why do I like Wyoming? This was just another spring morning and a very good Friday.