Summer’s End in Yellowstone
This was a trip I’ve been waiting for. Between hectic work schedules, closed venues, and being cautiously responsible about COVID, scheduling a wildlife photography adventure has been a challenge all year. However, in the last week of September we finally made time for a 5 day trek and attitude refresher to Yellowstone. Three days of exploring valleys, watching wolves and other fascinating creatures, and taking photos of whatever nature offered up at the time. The last week of September can be pushing it, but the weather was mostly cooperative. Still, the seasons were rapidly shifting - with snowfall hitting the peaks and temperatures plummeting into the 20s on the day we left. It was what the doctor ordered, and timing was perfect. Hope you enjoy the images!
Bison are what makes Yellowstone an icon of the American West. Some photographers skip by them, but I never tire of admiring them.
One of several black bears we encountered- each busy gorging themselves in preparation for winter. Only about half of the black bears in Yellowstone are black- others are blond to cinnamon brown which can cause their misidentification as a grizzly. This is one of the few places left in the lower 48 states where black and grizzly bears still coexist.
I’ve always been fascinated by the American Dipper (aka “water ouzel”) and their interesting manner of feeding on river crustaceans while swimming upstream. This one allowed me to hang around and photograph- a real treat. It is said that Teddy Roosevelt marveled at the Dipper and said it was a comparative injustice that it was not a more noteworthy bird.
Most ducks migrate north to south in winter, but Harlequin Ducks migrate east-west. While their populations are declining throughout the US, the river rapids of Yellowstone provide important breeding areas. Soon they will make their way to the Pacific coast for the winter months.
A young bull moose caught in the morning light. Mature moose drop their antlers in December to conserve energy for the winter, but young ones like this may hang on to them until spring. Moose populations declined significantly after the fire of 1988, and today they may be being kept in check by bear and wolf predation.
The big excitement of the week in the park was Grizzly #791, who made national news after killing an injured bull elk and spending a week on the bank of the Yellowstone River protecting his winter sustenance. Of course, this also caused a major bear jam on the road, which I’m usually not keen on joining. I snapped this photo on a driveby just to say I saw him.
The falls in Yellowstone’s Grand Canyon are nothing short of spectacular.
Just along for the ride? Small birds follow bison and feed on insects they stir up, while also doing the bison a favor in picking their fur clean.
There are typically somewhere around 90-100 wolves in Yellowstone, with 8-9 packs that shift membership and numbers from year to year. The wolves in Lamar Valley provided great entertainment- but almost always at a vast distance. A mediocre snapshot, unless you were there to remember taking it.