Yellowstone National Park 2019 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
10 through 13 April 2019 - Yellowstone National Park
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~ April 2019 ~
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Wednesday - April 10th
37 degrees in Gardiner but 34 degrees in Slough Creek warming up to 46 degrees. I had a lone trumpeter swan in Slough Creek this morning. I also viewed a golden eagle flying over Hellroaring Overlook this afternoon. The cute muskrat is still at Boulder Lake Pullout in Little America. At 8:30 a.m. we viewed four black and three gray wolves of the 8 Mile pack north of the road on Blacktail Plateau. The 8 Mile wolf pack now has nine members, five black and four gray. Blacks: 1015M the alpha male, the alpha female is black (but a brindle black), 1154F black female, 1155M black male, and 1156M black male. Grays: 1105M gray male, two gray males, and one gray female. At 3:25 p.m. I found a grizzly on A-Z Meadow viewed from the Institute. I moved to Coyote Overlook for a better view. A-Z Meadow is all snow now, not a bit of open ground. The grizzly was going west on the lower part of the clearing then decided to travel straight uphill going over the summit by 4:00 p.m. The grizzly was post holing about every third step. At 4:20 p.m. I spotted the grizzly again from Slough Creek restroom traveling over the ridge behind A-Z Meadow. At 5:50 p.m. we had a red ear tag grizzly just off the road at Blacktail Ponds.
Thursday - April 11th
29 degrees with light snow in Gardiner but only 21 degrees on Blacktail Plateau warming up to a cool 41 degrees. I found another vulture flying over Lamar Canyon West this afternoon. At 6:45 a.m. Jeremy S found the 8 Mile pack far to the west on Blacktail Plateau. We watched from the Nature Trail and I viewed two black and two gray wolves, but Jeremy stayed longer and had three black and three grays (missing one black and one gray today). At 7:30 a.m. Bob and Nell H had howling at Upper Hellroaring. I arrived and we three glassed with our scopes. A visitor from Georgia with binoculars arrived and called out he had a white wolf. Doubting that, we looked where he said to look and there was a light gray wolf, the Junction Butte gray pup. I ended up seeing six blacks and two grays, but after I left the wolves moved across the large clearing going east and the total count was ten (eight blacks and two grays), missing 969F. At 9:00 a.m. Bob L walked down to Bob's Knob and found 969F on the old winter kill bison carcass. At 2:50 p.m. with a little help from others I saw my first bison calf of the season north of the Old Road Pullout just west of the Institute. At 3:20 p.m. Gabriel M found a nice grizzly in Crystal Drainage just above Crystal Rock viewed from the Slough Creek restroom. It too was post holing through the snow.
Friday - April 12th
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29 degrees in Gardiner but 21 degrees at Slough Creek this morning warming up to a cool 39 degrees. I had a white tailed snowshoe hare near Mammoth this morning. I also had a bull moose with only 2 inch antlers bedded in Round Prairie this afternoon. The muskrat was still at Boulder Lake Pullout this afternoon. At 6:50 a.m. I spotted a tall grizzly south of Fisherman's Pullout in Lamar Valley moving south and west. Cliff Brown later saw the grizzly in Crystal Drainage from near Long Pullout in Little America. At 8:15 a.m. we had a dark grizzly near the mixed conifer aspen forest in Slough Creek moving over Divide Pass viewed from the Slough Creek restroom. Reve and Susan found the two Junction Butte yearlings wolves north of the Old Road Pullout in Lamar Valley attempting to get the new bison calf. The cow and calf walked away not injured. I saw only one of the two behind the Institute howling. The wolf plane flew this morning and circled just west of the Institute so we assume most of the rest of the pack was over the hill and out of sight. Someone reported seeing 969F enter the Slough Creek sage den this morning and did not come out. Maybe at least one of the females will den again in Slough Creek. At 2:30 p.m. we watched a nice cinnamon black bear just east of the Yellowstone Picnic Area. At 5:00 p.m. I saw one of the eleven wolves of the Wapiti Lake pack on a kill south of Geode Pond. Apparently they wounded a bull elk who was 100 yards off the road, but later a carcass was found farther to the south. People watched most of the day and counted seven of the eleven wolves including the alpha white female. The Wapiti Lake wolf pack currently has eleven members: Blacks: 1014M Alpha male, 1201F, and three black yearlings (last year’s pups). Grays: the white alpha female, 1203F, a gray male yearling (last year’s pup), and three gray yearlings (last year’s pups).
Saturday - April 13th
29 degrees with light snow at Gardiner and 25 degrees in Little America this morning warming up to at high of 43 degrees. I watched a bull moose in Round Prairie this afternoon. At 6:40 a.m. I found a large grizzly on a new bison carcass in Little America from Lamar Canyon West Pullout. This carcass is fairly close to the road but out of sight because of hills. The grizzly would leave the carcass for about 25 yards and then return. I finally figured out that he heard cars and retreated when he did. After a little while he headed away south and made his way into the Crystal Creek drainage. At 12:40 p.m. we had a smaller grizzly this side of the tree line south of Picnic Pullout. He must have found an old winter kill carcass and rolled and sat up on it for hours. He did a little eating so I am guessing there was not much there to actually eat. At 7:35 p.m. we had a large grizzly at Lava Creek Picnic area slowly heading towards the road. A few cars had spotted him before I arrived, so I guess he would not be crossing until after dark.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Lizzie C, Dan and Laurie L, Doug M, Melba C, and Ron and Linda. From Wyoming: Larry and Linda H. From California: Bob and Nell H. From Colorado: Jeremy S. From Arizona: Reve and Susan. From Idaho: Ray L and Kathy. From the UK: Kirsty P. And from the Netherlands: Pauline M. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Virginia: Daniel and Gabriel M. From the Netherlands: John P. And From Montana: Shari and Kate. Others seen this report: From Montana: Bob L, Leo L, Audra T, Reggie and Linda C, Dan and Cindy H, Ken S and Cara M. From Colorado: Jim and Bobbie F. From Washington: Nick and Diane L. From Wyoming: Josh G. From Iowa: Jim.
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Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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