Back to Grand Teton National Park

We left Hamilton and heading south, our hope was that the snow in Grand Teton National Park had melted. There had been reports of bears out of hibernation, both grizzly and black. Our rv park in Star Valley park was still not open, (due to a record snowfall of 250 plus inches of snow), so we stayed at a motel in Jackson. It was the off season ,so the room cost was very reasonable. Entering the park, we quickly realized that it was still winter.

Bears were out but they were having a hard time finding anything to eat. It was reported that grizzly bear 610 had collapsed on a park road and was having a hard time finding enough food to feed her cubs.

A flock of trumpeter swans were preening in a thawed channel of the Oxbow turnoff.

Renita got a great photo of a northern harrier flying low over the upper bench along the Snake River.

The bird has also been named the grey ghost because of its darker topside and a white underside with black wing tips.

Moose were easy to spot as they are so large especially when feeding in the sagebrush at Moose Junction.

A pack of coyotes were engaged in mousing just south of the Oxbow and we watched as one caught two mice and gulped them down. Using their superior hearing they locate the prey and then pounce headfirst into the snow.

We watched as a pair of bald eagles soared overhead. Below the dam I took a great picture of a pair of hooded mergansers.

The light was just right, and the beautiful plumage shone in contrast with the Snake Rivers blue water! I thought I saw a black bear, but Renita pointed out that it was just a person wearing a black coat. Bears don’t have human heads.

We took pictures of an Audubon’s warbler which is a subspecies of the yellow-rumped warble.

It has different coloration of the yellow-rumped warbler, (named Myrtle’s Warbler that we see along the Gulf Coast), especially the bright yellow throat.

The next day we drove to the Elk Refuge looking for Bighorn sheep. There are currently over five hundred sheep in the herd. That’s a huge number and usually such a large number results in a drastic die-off as they spread pneumonia to one another.

It has been proposed to have a special bow hunting season to reduce the numbers and prevent the spread of the disease. The sheep are so used to people that they approach both people and vehicles, even licking salt off cars and trucks, (which also spreads the disease. Both of us were concerned with how close the rams neared us, before crossing the road and grazing on the other side. \Never spotting any bears, only bear tracks we enjoyed the time in Jackson by eating at two of our favorite restaurants, between trips into the parks. Clear skies