National Elk Refuge

After the bear encounter, we returned two days later and found out the road had been closed, (due to bear activity). After a day of laundry, we decided to head over to the National Elk Refuge, just outside Jackson. It was the earliest we have ever been there and the Bighorn Sheep still had on their winter coats, (later in May they will be shedding and will look mangy. As the Bighorn Rams descended the steep mountainside, two of the rams decided to butt heads.

Two more cars with photographers showed up and started to point out things we were missing. There were five coyotes, an elk that had been killed the night before by wolves, and lots of ravens. Renita had heard howling the night before,

We never saw the wolves, they had already left, and the coyotes moved in ate their full and were followed by a flock of ravens.

Soon after the ravens began feeding, three bald eagles decided it was their turn, and they claimed the carcass for the rest of the day.

One fed while the other two watched and waited for their turn.

One of the other photographers pointed out a coyote on the hillside.

It stood up and snuck down the mountain, spotting three resting bighorns. The wind shifted and the sheep detected the danger.

The larger sheep stood up, facing the coyote, which promptly decided the bighorns horns were too dangerous and wandered away. Finding a lone bighorn on a rock face the coyote moved towards it until the sheep ran down the hill and joined a large group of other rams.

Things finally settled down and so we took a short walk, our first exercise since we left the Texas Coastal Bend. It had been a great day, and we headed into Jackson for a bit of grocery shopping. Clear skies

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

Visiting Jen and Eric in Hamilton, Montana

Our daughter and her husband moved from sunny Florida to the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. They were tired of the crowds, traffic jams. Months long red tides. It was quite a move from an area that has millions of people to a city of four thousand. They had a problem finding a place to live and so they rented a Vrbo. Another place came up and they moved into work housing at a much cheaper price. There was time left on the Vrbo and so they invited us to stay there for free. It was perfect timing as our place in Star Valley was not yet open.

Jen had warned us that as soon as we arrived a flock of chickens would come rushing up and demand that we feed them. We both laughed as we watched their wobbly run from the chicken coop to our vehicle. Jen had provided us with breadcrumbs, which the chickens gobbled up, (this turned into a daily occurrence/ritual).

The next day the kids, (they will always be kids), took us for a drive into the Bitterroot Mountains. Elk grazed in the pastures and bighorn sheep fed on high pastures, before later coming down to the road, to lick salt on the highway.

Both are into fitness and hiking and so we took a short hike. The next day Eric drove us to The Metcalf Wildlife Refuge. There we took a longer hike and enjoyed the warm temperatures and birding opportunities. Right away we got a picture of an American Goldfinch singing from the top if a tall tree.

A savannah sparrow serenaded us, and we spotted a western bluebird. As we neared the Bitterroot River, an osprey flew over and two mallards jumped from a small pond. Buffalo Head ducks worked the other bank of the river and at one-point turkeys paraded in their spring display ritual. The highlight of the hike was when we neared three red tail hawks.

They were each perched atop a tall ponderosa pine tree and were calling one another. They all flew from their perches and circled as as they competed for a female’s attention, (The shot was just after the hawk took off and is the best hawk picture I have ever taken).

After the hike we stopped at a large antique store, but I was not impressed with the few rocks they had for sale. We also stopped at an antique store. They did offer a couple of stone axe heads but with no provenance, they were just rocks with grooves and overpriced. A third day we walked the downtown area. Shopping is definitely not Erics favorite thing but at one farm store chickens were for sale and Jen gazed long fully at the little chicks, hm. The kids are in the process of building a new house on an acre of land and we think a flock of chickens may be in their future. Enough for now. It is snowing here in Wyoming so we will finish writing about our visit in the next blog. Clear skies

Grand Teton National Park, Three bears in one day! May 9th, 2021

It was Mother’s Day, and Renita wanted to go to the park for a day of bear watching. We had already been to the park twice before and on May 1st had spotted a Grizzly bear at Pilgrim Creek, (or should we say we spotted the bear jam and then the bear).

As we entered the park, we passed several roads and before we saw people getting out of their cars. As we slowly drove past them Renita yelled out black bear and so we found a safe parking spot, (you must be off the road). She took off with our small camera and I carefully changed the lens on our dslr.

There were not many people to contend with and meeting Renita I cold easily see the black bear. It was in a small clearing on the other side moving but obscured by thick brush. I changed the camera setting to manual and took quite a few shots, but most were out of focus.

Hanging back to automatic I watched as the bear moved past several holes in the brush and I got lucky as the bear stopped and looked at me through one of the holes. The bear was at a safe distance and our new telephoto lens, allows us to take a great picture. Still, it was a little unnerving as the bear was definitely staring at me.

We watched the bear for a little bit longer before we decided to look for another one and made the decision to continue down the road. We had not drove far when we saw other cars stopping and there was a grizzly bear trying to cross the road, (note the claws on the bears front paws. I got a few shots as it crossed and then handed the camera to Renita as the bear was on her side of the car.

She rolled the window down and, as we were taught in Denali, only stuck the lens out as the grizzly walked past us. It continued on and moved down a hill to a safe distance, (100 Yards). Getting out of the car I moved to the shoulder and took quite a few images as the bear fed.

A crowd of people formed, and they started to encroach on the bear. Its hackles, hump, were raised and the bear stood up as if to warn the people that they were encroaching on its space. It worked and the people moved back as the grizzly turned and walked slowly down a small valley.

Cars kept stopping but we decided to continue on to Willow Flats, another spot to watch for bears as elk were moving to the flats to calve, and that always draws hunting bears, (two years ago we watched a grizzly feed and then cache an elk calf that it had just killed).

We did spot some elk moving and took some pictures of several bull in velvet. They were just starting to grow this year’s antlers and both bulls seemed to promise a big rack.

We continued on hoping to catch a glimpse of bear 399 and her four cubs.

There were only four cars at Pilgrim Creek and so we continued on. Again, it was a good decision as a few miles further on another grizzly was feeding on the side of the road.

This one wanted to cross the road, but the cars kept coming and the bear was confused.

Finally, the Park Interpreter got the traffic to stop and told the bear to cross the road.

Clapping her hands, the bear finally walked across the road before running into the woods about two hundred yards away. I took a few images, but the bear was so far away that they were to fuzzy and not worth posting.

Three different bears in a day is a great day, heck one bear is, and we drove back to Pilgrim Creek. There we parked in one of the spots and had a picnic lunch. After lunch we continued our drive but did not see any more bears.

As a last stop Renita wanted to see the Bighorn sheep on the Elk Refuge. It had been forty years since I had been there and then they were only a couple of bighorns on the hill top.

Today they were every where and one almost got hit as a car barely stopped in time as it crossed the road.

We both took lots of pictures and as you can see the Bighorn Sheep.

Having parked our car and walked down the road we got close to the sheep, but tried to keep the recommended twenty five yard separation.

It was another great stop and if you are ever here in May be sure to drive the Elk Refuge Road.

Later we learned that 399 had put in a brief appearance with her four cubs before leading them back into the forest. We never did see bear 610, you may recall or pictures from last year.  We posted pictures of her two-year-old cubs as they fed on Willow Flats.

Word is that she has pushed her “teenage cubs” away and already the male has gotten in trouble. He peered into a window as the owner was eating breakfast and was raiding bird feeders. The young sub adult bear has been trapped, collared, and released on the boundary of Yellowstone National Park.

Now we are finishing up our tasks of unpacking and so it will be a few days before we head back to the park. If you do see a bear, remember to stay one hundred yards away, oh and carry bear spray!

Clear skies