Driving from our Home to Buffalo Bill State Park

It’s been a while since we last posted. We are now back home, recovering, from an eight day trip to Cody, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone. I have so many pictures and stories to share so I guess I will start with the drive. In March we reserved eight days at Buffalo Bill State Park, outside of Cody Wyoming. The reasons were two-fold, spend quality time in two of our favorite national parks, and to sell our jewelry at the Cody Wild West Arts Festival, (July 2 through the 4th). After some truck repairs we loaded up the car and truck and took off for Buffalo Bill State Park. The journey was just two hundred and twenty miles and took us through Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Having our cameras ready we entered Grand Teton National Park and encountered a traffic Jam. As I was driving the truck, loaded with our Camper, I didn’t have any place to pull over and ended up driving to a pull out near Leeks Marina. Renita was able to find a spot for the Subaru and tried to take pictures of the small bear. It is the only survivor of the three cubs of the grizzly 1063. It was not with its mother and its doubtful it will survive., (I will post the picture if I can find it…). Leaving the park we continued on to the South entrance of Yellowstone National Park. From there the first part of the drive was up to the rim of the Caldera’s crater, marked by a sign that we were crossing the continental divide. The truck did not overheat and as we headed down, we drove through a thick forest seeing little in the way of wildlife. Turning onto the Grand Loop Road we reached the edge of Yellowstine Lake and stopped at our usual place for a picnic. A cold wind was blowing off the water and so we ate and then headed for Sylvan Pass. There were not many people on the Fishing Bridge and we didn’t see the usual number of Buffalos along the shore of the lake. Starting up to the pass we encountered another bear jam. This one was a large grizzly bear busy digging up plants, The bear was either grubbing or rooting, (they have over two bhundred foods in their diet). It was in an area where trees had blown down from a past fire and the bear would disappear, occasionally lift its head over the deadfall to make sure the crowd of people were not approaching. No one was stupid enough to bother a large grizzly bear, (I am still looking for those pictures), As we could no longer see the bear, we continued up and over the pass to the East Entrance of the YNP.

Arriving at Buffalo Bill Stat Park we set up camp. Our campsite had great views of Rattlesnake,(first picture) and Sheep Mountain. I will write more on these two Mountains in one of the next blogs. Clear skies

Alpine, Wyoming Mountain Days, 2025

We only do five or six shows each year. The Texas shows are now an early memory and now it’s Wyoming showtime! Here we have a stretch where we exhibit and sell at three shows in three weeks. The first major show is the Alpine Mountain Days and this year the weather was windy and cold. The first day, the wind came up and gusts blew down some of the other canopy tents. Luckily, we were in a good place with trees, other secure tents, and even a school bus blocking the wind.

Another factor is the four fifty-pound bags we use on each corner and a ten-pound weight anchoring the center. We also have an advantage as our jewelry cases are heavy and so we never have had any major problem.

However, the first day ‘s crowd was less than usual and so we hoped for better weather on Saturday. The weather finally cooperated, and it reached sixty-five with some sun and we had a good day with many returning and new customers.

Sunday’s weather however was another matter as a cold front arrived, with snow just above our elevation, The show opened, with upper thirty-degree temperatures. It only warmed up to fifty-two! Both of us had every layer we owned on, and by drinking coffee we stayed kind of warm. At one point I was chilled and forced myself to eat, or inhaled, a hot funnel cake covered with sugar, (it helped, the first one I have eaten in years). In the afternoon some customers did return, and we had a few sales. Enough to make it an ok show, not great, but still ok. This week we are heading to Cody Wyoming where the temperatures are forecast to be in the mid-eighties. It’s usually a great show for us and hopefully this year will be good! Clear skies

Fly Fishing Wild Native Cutthroat

We are way too busy and it seems like every year gets harder to find fishing time. Remembering the wall hanging that Renita’s sister Pam gave us, (a quote from Jed Clampett)) that says, “ Anyone to busy to go fishing is too busy!”, we took a day off.

As we drove to one of our favorite streams, Renita discovered that she had forgotten her fishing license! This delegated her to a different role as the photographer! Reaching the stream, we parked and after rigging up my flyrod, a lengthy process, we walked to the nearest hole.

Making cast after cast nothing rose to my fly. There were quite a few fresh new boot prints so it was obvious that we were not the first anglers of the day. Moving to the next four holes produced nothing, but at the fifth hole, I got a fish to rise.

The fish was only slightly larger than my fly, which was a size sixteen dry fly. Fearing the worst, we walked to the next hole we finally had a larger but still small trout take the fly. It was my first cutthroat of the season. The next hole produced two more. All were safely released. These fish are wild native cutthroats, not hatchery produced, so keeping them would destroy the population.

At the next hole, a large trout rose and took my fly, I had switched to a size eighteen dry fly<(which is really tiny), and I lost the fish after a brief fight. Making another cast, I hooked it again and again and the fly pulled out! Moving further upstream produced a nice, larger trout. By moving a little further I ended up catching and releasing ten cutthroats. It had been a great morning and as we tire easier than we use too, so we called it a day.

Renita did a great job of taking pictures of my fish and also took pictures of wildflowers. All the pictures were taken with her IPhone. Next time it will be my turn as she found her license in another purse. Clear skies

The Grey's Lake Refuge, Spring 2025

Last year, we were so busy with the new park model that we were unable to take the time for a birding day at the Grey’s Lake Refuge. While we are still not done with our projects, we are waiting for a contractor, we invited our friends Fred and Becky and off we went for a fun day of birding.

Always hoping for a new life bird, we concentrated on recording the calls and taking lots of images. As we turned north on the East Refuge Road, we photographed a pair of Long Billed Curlews. Stopping we noticed several small chicks that belong to the pair and the parents provided a defensive wall as the chicks hurried to get in long grass and hide. It’s the first time we have ever saw Curlew chicks and they have a lot of their bill to grow! You can barely see the short bill. Not wishing to bother them anymore, we continued on, spotting Sandhill Crane pairs, a Northern Shoveler, and American Kestrels.

The Kestrels did not like their photo being taken and whenever we stopped, they would fly further down the road. Renita finally got a good image of one. It’s nice to have two people with cameras!

Further on we came across a

female Northern Harrier. The hawk was perched on a telephone pole and seemed content to let us take all the pictures we wanted. Next was a Western Meadowlark called from the top of a fence post. The call is my favorite, and I remembered the call as a small child, while visiting my Dads Parents graves in West Union, Iowa

At the refuge headquarters, Cliff Swallows had nested under the eves and the parents were busy feeding them insects. The noise made by the chicks was loud!.

It was the sound of spring and summer would not be far away. Continuing our drive two hawks hunted low to thr ground. I tried to take pictures as they would hover and then land on their intended victim. One of the hawks flew right at us and I got a grest shot of the male.

His head is owllike, and it allows the bird to locate the prey as its ears are far apart, (that’s how owls locate their prey). It was a Northern Harrier.

As we drove, we reached a place where the marsh waters stood on both sides of the gravel road and that’s when we saw lots of Yellow Headed Blackbirds.

This year I got a great picture of a female yellow headed Blackbird. A pair of American Avocets were guarding a nest and so we took a quick pic and moved on.

Next were Glossy Ibis and Western Phalaropes.

This year’s chicks were already swimming. They are so tiny, and of course I did not get a very good shot of them. Down the road I spotted a bird we see down south, a Marbled Godwit.

We didn’t see many other birds, but we did stop and spot four elk, or should I say Renita spotted them. Leaving the refuge, we headed back home after stopping for a picnic along the way. It had been a perfect day even though we did not see any new birds. Thanks for joining us, Fred and Becky! Clear skies

A nice day spent in Grand Teton National Park

It had been a while since we went to Grand Teton National Park. Renita had been watching Facebook and had noticed pictures of Black and Grizzly Bears. One even was taken of the dominant male grizzly bear nicknamed Bruno. Since we photographed him in April, he has had a fight or two and has had chunks taken out of his face, (not my pic so I can’t use it here). Arriving at the park we got our cameras out and drove our usual search patten, but did not see any bears.

Cow Elk were visible near the South Yellowstone Entrance, and a large buffalo herd, with red dogs was at it usual place near the Moran Junction.

The park was crowded as you would expect on Tuesday after Memorial Day. Renita spotted a Blad Eagle sitting on a nest, but it was so far away we could only see it’s head.

At the Sawmill Pond, we were rewarded with a Red-Tailed Hawk, glaring at us from its tree perch.

No moose, no bears but we did see a herd of life size Asian Elephants,just to the north of the National Wildlife Museum. The elephants are part of a traveling exhibit, and all are up for sale. They were constructed from a nasty invasive species weed in India. We talked about buying one but our place in Star Valley is too small. Guess we will just decorate it wilh more rocks….. Clear skies ps the opening photo is of a plant named Arrohead Leaf Balsom Root

Birding out the windows. Lots of Goldfinches

We have had lots of rain and snow showers. That has put a halt to most everything we do but it has given us a chance to work on projects inside and planning for home improvements. We hired a contractor to install a heating and air conditioning system so there went quite a bit of money, (it’s kind of a waste as we only use the air conditioning a few weeks in the summer, (we never had it in Gillette and we lived there for thirty years.

The entertainment has been the flocks of birds. They are feeding on the aspen’s flowers. Which look like brown worms, after they seed. The migrating birds are hanging around as the daily snows are keeping them at our elevation which is about six thousand feet. A few days ago, a flock od American Goldfinches have arrived and feed each day on our neighbors Aspen tree and bird feeders.

They are accompanied by Cassin’s Finches and now Evening Grosbeaks,

of which populations are declining dramatically. The Grosbeaks are here year-round. We are doing a lot of window birding. Meanwhile we putter around the house working on jewelry and grinding cabochons and enjoying home cooked meals.

It’s supposed to warm up this weekend and so we will head to the park. The bears are still acting like cows as the elk have not yet calved. Clear skies

Mothers Day In Grand Teton National Park, 2025

I asked Renita what she wanted to do for Mother’s Day and of course she said, “Go to the Park, (meaning Grand Teton National Park)” We both thought there was a pretty good chance to see bears. We left our place in Star Valley at eight and arrived at Moran Junction about Ten. Turning North we stopped at the Oxbow and glassed for birds before continuing. Stopping at Willow Flats we spotted quite a few elk gathering there. It’s one of the calving spots in the park and the elk will give birth to calves.

The elk calves have no scent and will lie motionless as grizzles, wolves, and everything else will be hunting them, while the cow elk will graze in the open. The herd is good sized, which means lots of eyes watching for predators. As long as the newborn calves remain motionless their chances are pretty good, but if they spook and run, they are goners’ Further up the road we passed the place where we had seen Grizzly 1063 and her one-year-old cubs.

It wasn’t much further, and we saw the traffic jam and the four grizzlies. We had already had our cameras out and Renita dropped me off before finding a parking space. If you ever come looking for wildlife, you must be parked outside of the white line, or you will get a ticket. The bears were heading to the northeast, and I did get some good shots, Renita arrived, and we took lots of pictures. The bears next headed towards us and the Wildlife Management Team warned that the bears were again getting too close, less than 100 yards. Returning to our vehicles we were close enough that we had to get inside.

Meanwhile the bears stopped and so we were able to get quite a few pictures. The bear stayed far enough away that we only had to get inside for a little bit before we got the all clear from the Wildlife team, (I would like to thank them for the challenge of bears and too many people. They are an outstanding team!)

We ate lunch at the Willow Flats area and then decided to drive up Teton Park Road. There were a few cars parked, and people were taking pictures. Another bear jam, and this one was a small black bear climbing up the hill. Before I could get a picture, it disappeared into the trees. It didn’t matter as we had seen five bears in a day. That’s not our record but it was a great day, Our record is eight grizzlies). Leaving the park, we had to resupply and so we drove home. Clear skies. We found out that the next day two of the cubs were killed by a male grizzly. They kill the cubs to bring the sow into heat, No one had seen the third cub, and we feared for the worst. However today 1063 was spotted with her surviving cub, Thank goodness! By the way Renita took over 370 pictures!

More Grizzly Bears in Grand Teton National Park

Leaving Jen and Eric’s house we headed to our place in Star Valley. A day before we arrived we received an email from Josh who told us or place was all set up, (in other words he had dewinterized hooked up the water, etc). The next two days involved unpacking, cleaning, and checking our rock collections, (they all survived the winter). Deciding we needed a break we decided to visit Grand Teton National Park, hoping to find a bear or two. Soon after entering the park, we drove past the Oxbow Bend and found a huge bear jam.

Our cameras were ready and so Renita dropped me off, found a parking spot and walked back to meet me. The bears were still visible. They were on the other side of a copse of trees and Renita started taking pictures, using the manual focus. Whenever the object is in or behind trees the automatic focus is worthless as it puts the trees in focus and the subject is blurry, (the first pictures were all Renitas).

The bears teased us, as two of the cubs were sleeping. Bear 1063, (nicknamed Bonita), was grubbing. Grizzly bears are diggers. If you look closely, you can see the hump which is not present on Black Bears. The hump is a mass of muscle and bone which provides support for their digging. Finally, the other two cubs woke up and joined Mom and the largest cub digging for grubs and plants.

It always amazes us that grizzly bears graze like a herd of cows. That is until the cow elk calves are born at which time the bears, wolves, and coyotes all hunt the newborn calves.

Several times the sow, Bonita, herded her cubs towards the road, attempting to cross. The members of the Wildlife management team blocked the road, and one drove his vehicle in front of the bears hazing them using his horn, siren, and flashing lights to prevent them from crossing. In past years they were allowed to cross, and we wondered why this has changed, (perhaps because 399 and another of her offspring were hit and killed by cars). Do not speed!.

Bonita was blocked and so she tried to walk around a tree and cross at another place. Again, she and the cubs were hazed and again we wondered why. In the past, bear 399 and her cubs were allowed to cross. One of the team spoke to us and said that they didn’t want them at Colter Bay as there were too many workers getting ready for the summer season.a S

wainsons hawk soared overhead an I managed to get a decent photograph, We decided we had enough pictures, about four hundred, and so we had a picnic lunch at the Jackson Lake overlook.

Calling it a day we drove back home, stopping at Jackson to buy necessities. It had been another great day as we spotted four grizzly bears, numerous elk, and even a yellow rumped warbler. We did use the app Merlin, to record the singing birds, but it was just the usual red crowned kinglets. Clear skies

Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge May 2, 2025

Jen and Eric were working so we decided to go birding at one of our favorite places. Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge. It’s a short drive from their house in Hamilton and we usually see an occupied great horned owl nest.

The nest was empty so the owls must have flown, if they used it this year). So we continued on our walk. Hearing several different birds, Renita used her Merlin app to record their sound and to identify them. One of the birds it identified was a new bird for us, a Vaux’s Swift. They are migrating and they do nest in the area so we got one for our life list. Other birds we spotted and photographed were a cinnamon teal,

a Northern Shoveler

,

A Red Tailed Hawk, (with a vole in its claws), and a wild turkey.

As we watched the birds a muskrat swam by and a prairie dog/ground squirrel stood tall.

Nothing unusual but any day we get a new life bird is a great day. Clear skies