After a slow, relaxing, enjoyable morning with the Matthews family, Carrie and I said our goodbyes and left for the West entrance to Yellowstone National Park. What a wonderful time we had seeing Mark and Heidi and getting to know their two boys, Caleb and Daniel!
As we drove toward Yellowstone, we saw several more Swainson's Hawks. At one point, we stopped at a gas station to get a look at three hawks flying together with a Common Raven in what appeared to be a dog fight. Two of the hawks were Swainson's, but I could not get a clear identification on the third. I thought it might have been a Ferruginous Hawk, but by the time we stopped, and I got out of the car, it was flying away as were the other birds. Here is one of the Swainson's Hawks we saw.
Soon after we entered Yellowstone, Carrie noticed some ducks, so I got out of the car to see what they were. They were Common Mergansers.
Next, we came across a couple of Common Ravens. Common Ravens were plentiful both in the Grand Tetons National Park and in Yellowstone.
Yellowstone, though very different than the Grand Tetons, was full of beauty.
Our first destination was Old Faithful, but after we arrived, we had a little time to kill before it erupted.
So we walked one of the paths in the basin with hopes of seeing some of the birds which had been reported in the area such as Ferruginous Hawk and Prairie Falcon.
There were many geysers, hot springs, and fumeroles.
And there were quite a few birds, but mostly sparrows, Mountain Bluebirds, and Cassin's Finches. Cassin's Finch was a lifer for both Carrie and I.
Though not our first of the trip, the Mountain Bluebirds were stunning! If you look carefully, you will see a grasshopper in the moth of the bluebird in the second photo below.
This Buffalo was a little too close to the path for comfort. We were looking for it on our way from the geyser, but somehow walked right by it, and did not see it until we started back toward the geyser to see the eruption.
This Uinta Chipmunk was far less foreboding.
We returned to Old Faithful in time to see the eruption.
After photographing this Raven in the parking lot, we headed back to Biscuit Basin, which we had passed on the way to Old Faithful.
Biscuit Basin was beautiful! I enjoyed walking through the warm vapors and inhaling them though they smelled like sulfur. There were numerous geysers and hot springs of varying sizes. These thermal features are delightful but deadly. More people have died from scalding to death in Yellowstone than from Grizzly Bear attacks. And of the 20 who died from falling into hot springs, geysers, or mud pots, eight were small children. So be very careful if you take your little ones to Yellowstone.
After Biscuit Basin, we headed North toward Gardiner, Montana where we would stay for the night. I took these shots somewhere along the way.
Eventually, we passed through Mammoth Springs.
We stopped at a store in Mammoth, and while Carrie looked around inside, I got my best looks at Clark's Nutcrackers behind the store and in the park out front.
I also saw this Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warbler and several Brewer's Blackbirds.
After Carrie came out of the store with a Yellowstone sweat shirt, she noticed some Elk approaching across the road. One of them appeared to be pregnant.
As we started to drive out of town, we noticed that the whole herd had come in to feed on the well-tended lawn.
Guarding the herd was this enormous Bull Elk!
He chased away the smaller bull above and then came back for a rest.
Gardiner, Montana was a little bigger than Mammoth, but not much different as far as Elk were concerned.
These events took place on September 4, 2014, but this post was written and published on October 18, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment