September 29, 2016
Pongo and I took a drive around Yellowstone National Park on Thursday. It was eventful, I'll probably let the pictures tell the story. The day started with a rainbow over Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. That was a good omen.
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| Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY |
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| Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY |
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| Lewis River, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Lewis River, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| River Otter -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
I was thrilled to see four river otters in the beaver pond near Lewis Falls. I've seen a river otter in the wild once before but I wasn't able to get a photograph. The otters were very active and often out of view behind the bushes that line the pond. These aren't the greatest of photos but I'm still pretty excited by them.
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| River Otter -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| River Otter -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Tundra Swan |
The best animal sighting of the day occurred on the Northern end of Hayden Valley. The was a small group of photographers on the side of the road near a turnout. I pulled over and asked some people walking toward their car what they had seen. A badger was digging a burrow, they told me. Holy cow! I never thought I'd see a badger in the wild, and here was my opportunity. I left Pongo in the car for this particular session. He doesn't mind, to be honest. He loves being alone in the car and it was a cool, overcast day. He gets to guard it, barking at people that walk by and running back and forth from the back to the front. He's also recently discovered the horn. He was pretty good at honking it by the end of our road trip.
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| American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Badger -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
The animal awesomeness wasn't over for the day, though. While photographing the badger a lady told me there was a grizzly bear up the road a few miles. Holy mackerel. A badger and a grizzly bear on the same day? Could it actually happen?
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| Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
Yep.
The bear was on the edge of a meadow a couple of hundred yards away from the road. A large crowd was watching the bear from the road with a couple of harried rangers directing traffic. All I could make out with the naked eye was a dark spot in the field. My camera and 400mm lens did a little better.
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| Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Yellowstone National Park, WY |
On our way back to our campsite at Grand Teton National Park we encountered another large group of photographers. They were all looking at a tree. Well, not at a tree but at a bird in the tree. It was a great gray owl. Man, what a day!
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| Great Gray Owl -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Great Gray Owl -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
Our final animal encounter of the day was with a small group of elk who were walking toward the ranger station on the Southern end of the South Loop. They looked like they were checking out for the day. Miller time.
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| Rocky Mountain Elk -- Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY |
Soundtrack:
- Daniel Amos -- Alarma
- Echo & the Bunnymen -- Ocean Rain
- Jack White -- Blunderbuss
This is a great batch of photos. Lucky to see all this wildlife. I haven't been to Yellowstone since the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Definitely one of the best days I've had seeing wildlife. It was all from the side of the road, too. A bit cheap in this sense, but I'll take it.
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