Friday - 24 July 2009

Lots of traffic and all lodging filled by the time I got to Yellowstone. I visited Hayden and glassed going over Dunraven Pass. Finally at 6:45 p.m. I found a black wolf on the West end of Jasper Ridge (being really harassed by a pair of coyotes). This is the same lone black wolf from last weekend. Rick says that there is actually two different lone black wolves that have been around Jasper Bench lately. One has a thin tail, the other a bushy tail. At 8:10 p.m. I found a small grizzly in a high clearing between Penny Lane and the fingers of Norris. Just out there grazing. On the way out of the park for the evening, I spotted a cinnamon black bear in Round Prairie. Nights were mild for the weekend, 41 Saturday a.m. and 46 Sunday a.m. Highs in the low 70's, but a little wind and cloud cover made it really nice.

Saturday - 25 July 2009

At 5:45 a.m. I found the same small grizzly in the same high meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout. Rick called on the radio and had one of my favorite animals south of Dorothy's Knoll. When I arrived shortly later 6:00 a.m. there was a small grizzly just across the river and two Druid female wolves, one gray and one black. A little interaction and then the grizzly was off for Crystal Drainage, but was harassed by the two coyotes most of the way there. The small grizzly (sub adult or 3 1/2 year old I think) had his moment as be chased a bull bison for a few hundred yards. Can't figure that out, there were actually a couple of cows with really small calves near by, but the grizzly was in his prime. Soon the wolves moved west and over to Crystal, with the two coyotes harassing them all the way. Meanwhile I found a grizzly crossing Ski Slope while all this was happening. I headed from Dunraven Pass, stopping at the rock pullout (between # 57 and # 58), saw a bunch of cars stopped near Mae West. It was the blond grizzly back again. He was just above the road, then the tourists ran, and he crossed the road. I decided to go that way, and found he recrossed the road and was again above it. I moved to Hayden Valley for the rest of the morning with a short nap at Cascade Lake Picnic area.

Sunday - 26 July 2009

Some of Druid wolves were back in the valley this morning. Three gray (including the alpha female 569F), and two blacks. They were south of the Lamar Ranger Station and moved to the east, ending up in the tree line near the old rendezvous area. Meanwhile, I spotted a grizzly in a very high and very far back clearing behind Ski Slope. Rick called from trash can with a bear between the river and the road near Midpoint. I couldn't see from Picnic so I moved west and it crossed close to Midpoint. At 7:40 a.m. found a grizzly sow with one cub of the year (coy) in A-Z meadow, watched her for over 1 1/2 hours. At brief sighting of a grizzly in the clearing above and east of Square Meadow around 8:00 a.m.

Other News

Still seeing the Canyon Group including the black pup from the grizzly overlook in Hayden, or around there. A few nice sightings of the Blacktail Pack including 302M, near the Blacktail Ponds, but no pups lately (no longer at their rendezvous area). Still no sightings on the Druid pups (6-9). Believe they are high in a new rendezvous area, but no sightings. The plane saw 11 adults 1 1/2 weeks ago and then signals in a treed area with no sightings of adults or pups this week. Both eagle chicks (Madison and Lamar) are off the nests. Quite a few black bears around, a sow and one cub at Petified Tree and a sow with two coy's at Elk Creek, but I never went that way.