Yellowstone 2021, Part 2 of 3

This is part 2 of 3 of our 2021 Yellowstone adventure, covering May 29-June 5. Part 1 is here, covering May 23-May 28. You can also read a shorter summary of our visit.

May 29 we got a slow start in West Yellowstone, so we decided to take it a little easier and visit the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, which we had never visited before. It is a nice little preserve. The animals there cannot be released into the wild for a variety of reasons (largely, habituation to human presence and human garbage). You can see bears and wolves much closer than you typically can in the wild. including this fine wolf:

They also have River Otters. Sadly, these are the only River Otters we saw on this trip:

We did see this nice Violet-green Swallow perched on a roof peak:

We drove on to Madison Junction for some other meadow time. Among other small animals, we saw some Sandhill Cranes:

Our big hike for the day was up to Grebe Lake. We did see Grebes. We also saw Barrow's Goldeneye, including this nice male, who was performing a breeding display:

Bushwhacking around the lake, we heard a strange call. Looking up, we saw it was this Osprey. The call was a mating call - there was another Osprey who would swoop close to this one. They then flew off together:

After completing our hike, we headed down to the Hayden Valley, where we saw this Bull Elk:

We also saw wolves high on the hills overlooking the valley, but did not get any very good pictures. We went to our campsite at Canyon Campground and retired for the night.

The next morning, May 31, we got up very early to head to Lamar Valley. We hoped to see wolves and bears. We had mixed luck. On our way, we did see this well-trained Bison using the crosswalk as it should:

We stopped by Swan Lake, where we got a nice shot of the sun shining on Antler Peak while the Tundra Swans rested in the mist around the lake:

In the Lamar valley, there were lots of Pronghorn about:

We stopped at Slough Creek to check on the wolves at the Sage Den. This is where I got my best Wolf picture of the whole trip - which is not saying a lot:

Better than no wolf picture, though. We continued to the east end of the park, where we checked on the Mountain Goats high on the canyon walls. Several were on the south wall of the canyon - the first time we saw them there - they are usually on the north wall of the canyon:

On the way back to our campground, we made a quick stop at Sheepeater Cliff. I got a nice photo of this Gray Jay:

I also got this fun photo of Marmot smooches:

We returned to Canyon Campground, and retired for the evening.

The next morning. June 1, we decided it was Yellowstone Lake time. In the West Thumb bay, we saw several groups of Eared Grebes:

We stopped at an overlook on our way east, and saw this nice Violet-green Swallow with a love offering for its intended:

We exited the park, and drove another hour to an RV park on the outskirts of Cody. We had originally planned to camp at Bridge Bay, but they postponed opening that campground, so we had to scramble for other arrangements. This park was much too far away, so we only stayed one night.

The next morning, June 2, we drove back into the park. At the Lake Butte Overlook, we saw this Mountain Bluebird:

We also saw this flycatcher. I'm not sure of the species (edit: my brother-in-law Edward identified it as a Townsend's Solitaire):

We hiked out to Storm Point, where I took this panorama of Yellowstone Lake:

On the way back to the car, I had a David Attenborough moment as I watched this wasp drag its paralyzed victim back to a hole, where it would lay its eggs on them so the young could feast on its still-living body:

Also on the way back to the car from Storm Point, we were buzzed by a pair of Sandhill Cranes flying very low. We think some other hikers must have startled them:

Our camp for the night was going to be Canyon Campground again, so we stayed close by. We found this beautiful Bull Elk resting in the shade:

We also got a nice late-afternoon view of Lower Yellowstone Falls. The palette reminds me of old 1960s postcards:

On the way back to camp, we saw this Great Blue Heron fishing in the Yellowstone River:

We then stopped at Canyon Campground for the night.

The next day, June 3, we got a nice relaxed start. We thought, "Might as well head up to Lamar Valley to see if anything is happening." And we are very glad we did! First stop was some bushwhacking off the road at the Moose Exhibit where we saw this juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk (I think - it might be a Cooper's Hawk):

We also spotted this pretty Ruby-crowned Kinglet there:

We stopped at Sheepeater Cliff to see if we could find a Pika - and we did! This one is chirping at us:

On the way to the Lamar Valley we saw several bears (see the Summary post for collage of all the bears we saw). We checked on the wolves. We peeked at the Mountain Goats. And then we headed toward our next camp - at Madison Campground again. On the way, we saw some female Bighorn Sheep in a nice still-life with Sandhill Cranes:

We saw this mellow Bull Moose settling down for the evening:

But the highlight of the evening was this mama Black Bear and her cubs:

Here is the whole sequence - upper left to lower right in order. When we first saw her, she seemed to be alone. She ambled down to the bottom of the hill, where she turned back and did something to signal. Two cubs tumbled out and followed her down. She stopped for a moment beside the pond at the bottom of the hill, and the cubs frolicked at the water's edge. She then decided it was time for swimming lessons. She got in the pond, and the cubs followed her. When they got out, the cubs shook the water from their fur, but mama decided she liked the cool water on her skin:

Here is a closeup of the swimming lessons:

Here is a closeup of the cubs shaking the water off:

We then continued toward our camp. On the way, we saw this mama Grizzly with one cub (cub not pictured):

Exhausted and exhilarated, we got to Madison Campground and packed it in for the night.

The next morning, June 4, we did (of course!) Meadow Time. We saw this pretty Wandering Garter Snake who stuck its tongue out at us to see what we smelled like:

We wandered down the valley and did the long version of the Mystic Falls hike, where we took this selfie:

The stuffed moose represents our Granddaughter, who we hope to bring to Yellowstone some year when she is old enough.

We then headed down to Grand Teton National Park for one last night. We stopped at our usual bear stop along the road, where we did find a Grizzly. It wandered casually along the treeline for a while. Then the wind shifted, the bear sniffed, and seemed to get agitated. The rangers told everybody to get in their cars and fasten their seatbelts. We think another bear may have come within nose range:

We camped at Gros Ventre Campground for the night - very nice! After finding our spot, we went back out to search for Moose along the river. We saw four, including this nice young Bull (see the Summary for a collage of all the Moose we saw on our trip):

We looked back at our camper (on the left) with the setting sun of our last full day in Yellowstone / Grand Teton lighting the sky over the Tetons:

The last day, June 5, we headed to Schwabacher Landing, one of our favorite spots, It is very picturesque:

We went looking for birds and small animals, and were not disappointed. Here is a Yellow Warbler:

Here is he is again, warbling:

I saw this industrious Muskrat taking some grass back to its den:

We saw a flock of Goldeneye ducklings - amazingly cute little creatures:

Something spooked them and they had a motorboat race back toward shelter:

I found some nice butterflies:

I spent some time chasing Tree Swallows around, and finally got a nice shot of one flying over a pond:

Near the parking lot, we found this Barn Swallow resting on top of a small shelter, where they were nesting:

We headed back to the Gros Ventre River to find more Moose, and were not disappointed - we found two:

Finally, we headed back to our Likely Bear Spot along the road. While waiting for a bear, we saw this Coyote, apparently swallowing a ground squirrel of some kind whole: