Two Ocean Lake Birding and Bear Closings

Before I get into our birding day at Grand Teton National Park, I need to stress that a fed bear is a dead bear. Once the bears get used to people’s food, they become problem bears and are captured and euthanized. A bear can easily rip open a car and eat any food, (this happened to our friends whose car was destroyed because the bear smelled the M and M’ s they had in their ash tray). Its not unusual as bears have an incredible sense of smell! A black bear in Grand Teton National Park was caprutred and euthanized last week, (five more black bears have been fed by people and are being monitored). We heard that there were bears at Two Ocean Lake and the road was open, Driving the short but rutted drive we arrived at the parking lot and were greeted by lots of cars and few parking spots.

Planning to hike the trail I discovered that I had forgotten the bear spray and so we decided to bird just the beginning of the trail. We only walked a short way before we spotted a huge flock of swimming Common Mergansers. They were accompanied by two American White Pelicans and as they neared us they dived and fed on a school of baitfish.

They had been herding the baitfish to the shallow end of the lake and all dived at once. If you have never seen this behavior, it’s common.

We also spotted a Song Sparrow,several Ospreys, and Renita got a great shot of a tanager flying overhead.

Finally, being chased by mosquitoes, be sure to bring bug spray, we headed to our next spot, the Hermitage Trail. The trail begins at Colter Bay and after parking we were greeted with a bear warning and closure signs. A grizzly with three cubs is in the area and no one wants to bother a mother with cubs, (it's different when a bear uses people to keep any boar away).

A hiker approached and stopped for a visit. We mentioned to him that the bear spray he carried was in a bad spot, attached to the back of his pack. We had been chastised several years before for doing the same thing and warned that we would never have time to reach it when we needed it. Keep it in front! Deciding not to hike the trail we headed to our usual lunch spot, a small pond near the Moose Entry! On the way we watched as a helicopter was being used to move supplies to an area of a trail being repaired.

As soon as we left the car, we spotted two Sandhill Cranes with their chicks. The parents, which are usually shy, were feeding directly below us and feeding the young,

Every so often the chicks would practice flapping their wings, getting ready for they day they would take to the air.

It has been a short but fun day. No bears but lots of birds! Clear skies

Mothers Day, 2026

We usually go to Grand Teton National Park for a day of wildlife viewing followed by a picnic in the park. However, this year we were invited to go to our daughter's, Jen and Eric's house, to celebrate the day at their place in Montana! It’s a three-hundred-mile drive. On the trip we first drive through the Idaho National Laboratory, It’s about one hundred miles from Idaho Falls to Salmon, Idaho before the scenic drive over Lost Trail Pass. The pass was the pass that Lewis and Clark used to cross the Continemtal divide and head for the Pacific Ocean , (its named Lost Pass because it’s one of the few parts of the trail that no one is sure about)). The weather was extremely warm for this time of year in Northern Montana.

The Bitterroot River was high with the early snowmelt, so we decided not to go fishing, (Renita is a good fly fisherwoman and has earned an award for her catching the four types of cutthroat trout), native to Wyoming.

Other options, before Mother’s Day, were to go to the Farmers Market in Hamilton, Montana, take hikes along the river, and go birding, (we did all three). For Mother’s Day, Renita wanted to go to the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge for a day of birding and wildlife viewing.

The trails at Lee Metcalf are easy, level hiking, are well maintained, and so well-traveled that we didn’t have to worry about it being the spring wood tick season. California Quail are everywhere. It was a short drive to the Refuge and as we drove to the parking lot we passed wild turkeys, and sandhill cranes.

Under one tree, a wild turkey thought it was hiding so we stopped and took its picture. I also tried to vocalize a turkey gobbling, and the bird answered me. The few times I went turkey hunting I had bought a turkey call, but the turkeys didn’t like its tone.

Walking down the trail we spotted a tree full of holes left by a Pileated Woodpecker. Notice the large triangular hole indicating a hole drilled by a Pileated.

Nearby a Hairy Woodpecker drilled holes looking for larva, and a little bit later a Lewis’s Woodpecker landed near the top of a tree, (the woodpecker was named for Meriweather Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

As we walked further a Bald Eagle Soared overhead and a possible Golden Eagle flew by.

Sheepherders are having problems with the Golden Eagles as they hunt and kill lambs. In one area of Wyoming, they are killing Golden Eagles because of the predation, (allowed by the Federal Government).

Arriving back at their house we watched as Jen planted rows of plants in ter huge Garden! Eric worked on mowing their one-acre lot. Renita and I got tired from watching them work, so we rested in their lawn chairs.

An osprey sat on a man-made nesting platform, unconcerned whe we stopped to take a picture.

Driving to a small marshy lake a Pied Billed Grebe paddled away, and a Ruddy Duck posed for a picture. Mallards were everywhere including this close up of a female.

As we left, we did see more turkeys, but I don’t know what subspecies these turkeys are, (in Wyoming the turkeys are from the Rio Grande. It was a fine day in Northern Montana. Arriving back at their hose we watched as Jen planted rows of plants in her huge garden as Eric worked on mowing their one-acre lot. Renita and I got tired from watching them work, so we rested in their lawn chairs. The evening ended after a great meal at a local restaurant. Clear skies ps Hope yall had a great Mothers Day!

A Day filled with Moose

We had heard that the grizzly bear Miracle, (not an official name), had appeared and so we headed back to Grand Teton National Park. We weren’t sure of the right spot to sit and wait but as an Ecotour bus showed up and waited, we figured we were probably in the area. After having lunch, we waited for several more hours with no luck. We needed to return home as we were driving to Montana for Mother’s Day. It is always a great day when we are in a National Park and this day turned out to be exceptional one as we saw and photographed four moose in three different spots, (often it is difficult to see any moose as they are hiding from bears and wolves).

The first Moose was a bull that was feeding of willows near Willow Flats, (Imagine that). It was a Mature Bull, and you can see in the photos that its antlers were beginning to grow. The willow trees produce a chemical from which aspirin was discovered, so besides being a food source, the trees also act as a pharmacy especially for cow moose that have given birth to their new calves, (not sure if you should call them foals).

We also had spotted a smaller moose in the same general area, and a little further down the road a very pregnant moose was sitting on a snowbank, along with a two-year-old calf.

Our day’s total was five moose, which is really great! It was a moosey day! In case you are wondering the park service recommends you stay at least twenty five yards from Moose, Elk, and Buffalo. This is the minimum distance for safety and two often we see people getting to close. Later that day we saw people trying to get close for pictures of a bull elk growing a nice set of antlers. Thwy pushed the bull into the willows and lucky for them did not enter the thick growth.

Clear skies

Watching a dolphin fish in Rockport's Harbor

December has been an extremely busy month! Between Renita shopping and my rush to make jewelry, we haven’t done a lot of exploring. So, when our friend John told us about a place where we could catch fish from shore, we decided to take a short drive down Waters Street. Parking, we grabbed our phones and polarized sunglasses and headed out for a short walk along a small, protected part of the Harbor. As we neared the end of the walkway a dolphin surfaced.

It had been doing its own fishing and didn’t stop just because it had an audience. The large male dolphin would swim and herd the school of mullet into a frenzied mass before it would dive under and rising through the school emerge with a fresh fish in its mouth! I

t was the first time we have ever seen a dolphin with a fish in its mouth, and the first time it had a large mullet or speckled trout! Swallowing its meal it then hurried to cause the school to panic into a tight group before it again dive and then rose through the middle of the school with another lunch in its mouth! We only had our phones for pictures, (the pictures are Renita's using her old I phone), so they are not the best but she caught the action. Now that Christmas is over, we hope to do some fishing ourselves. Renita is excited about the new fishing reel Santa left her! Clear skies

Illinois and Texas Bound, A wild Stallion in the Red Desert

Our place is in the mountains. Two years ago, we got twenty-one feet of snow and we hire a man to shovel the snow off our roof, The forecast for today is for sixty mile per hour winds and for six to fourteen inches of snow. Thats why we left last week) We looked at the weather forecast and the winds were predicted to be over forty miles an hour with snowstorms. Two of the passes were expecting heavy snow. That made our decision on our route for us…

The route we chose was to go south over Salt Pass and then east, crossing the Wind River Mountains at Atlantic City, (which is almost a ghost town). Crossing the Red Desert north of Rock Springs, we kept watch for wild horses. We did see a group of three, but they were too far away. A little further we saw a car stopped. A lady was taking pictures of a wild mustang, and we pulled over. The beautiful horse stood proud and gave us a perfect profile. At one point it turned and looked directly at us before walking away. Continuing we drove east and passed a rock shop. It was open and so of course we stopped. Renita mentioned that she thought we had enough rocks, but she was wrong. We added to our collection with some cabochons, already cut. The ones we purchased were Graveyard Plume Agates, from Washington State, green aventurine, a blue optical fiber piece, and five pieces of red carnelian, (one of five gems mentioned in the bible).

While I make my own cabochons and love making them, these save me about two hours of work for each piece. I am simply buying time, which is the most precious thing one has. I also bought two slabs of Teepe Canyon agate from the Black Hills and a slab of Montana moss agate from the Yellowstone River. Renita purchased a ring made of moonstone set in sterling silver. We were both excited about our purchases, and when we arrive in Texas I will set mine in sterling and 14 K gold-filled wire. Clear skies

A great Day in Grand Teton National Park A face off between two bulls!

We were busy packing when our neighbors Becky and Fred told us about their trip to Grand Teton National Park. They had made a quick trip to the park and in only six hours got to watch two moose and a black bear! The weather here has been crazy with daily heavy rains, but the forecast was for a one-day break before the rain and cold weather returned. So the next day we got up early, at six am, and headed to Jackson for a quick breakfast at McDonalds before heading to the park. Taking the roundabout, we drove towards Kelly and quickly ran into a moose jam. Stopping, we talked with a person who told us four moose had been in an open area but that they had just disappeared into a thicket of willows,

Looking further north we saw people still taking pictures and so we parked, grabbed our cameras and joined the group photographing a huge bull moose guarding a single cow. At one point the bull turned and looked at us but he decided we were not a threat.

A smaller moose calf fed in the willows. Suddenly a small bull moose appeared across the Gros Ventre River.

He was smelling the cow and walked up to the water before the huge bull made an appearance.

The much smaller bull seemed to lose interest, and the large bull decided the challenger wasn’t worth the effort and the cow laid down for a siesta. The young bull decided the time was right to try and sneak across the river as the smell of the cow in estrus was driving him wild.

It’s rutting time and it was the first time we have ever seen two bull moose squaring off over the cow. The young bull started to wade across the river. It would take a few steps and then paise looking for his opponent.

Slowly he approached the south bank of the river when suddenly the huge bull stood up and appeared on the bank.

We have never seen a moose move as fast as the young bull as it splashed away to escape the massive rack.

Discretion can be better than valor. The young bull decided to leave the area and disappeared in the willows on the north bank of the Gros Ventre. What a start to the day

. Clear skies In spite of the government shutdown, the park was open, but without any services besides the restrooms. The entrance booths were unoccupied, not that it mattered much as we both have Senior Passes.

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