Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is famous for Grizzly Bears

Caty and I like to go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton and we go fairly often. We like the bears ... 

Black …

Black Bear

 … and Brown (Grizzly) …

Brown Bear

We like the Wolves …

Wolves, 2016 (before I had a scope)

We like the Bison …

American Bison

We like the Elk …

Rocky Mountain Elk

We like the Pronghorn …

Pronghorn

We like the Moose …

We like Yellowstone Moose, but it appears I haven't photographed one since 2006!!!

We like the occasional Bighorn Sheep …

Bighorn Sheep, 2014

We like the birds …

Trumpeter Swans

We like the Deer ...

White-Tailed Deer, 2013

And, we like the scenery …

Grand Prismatic Spring

But, mostly we like the Grizzly Bears …

Grizzly, 2013

2017 Eclipse

We try to go at least every other year. Our last visit was in August 2016, this time not for animals, but for the Solar Eclipse. That was fabulous, but not particularly animal-filled. So, it was time to go back.

As exotic as Yellowstone and Grand Teton are, they are actually pretty convenient. Only a seven-hour drive from Caty’s, it’s easy to get there. The trick is lodging. It books up fast, so you have to plan ahead. 

We like to stay in Canyon Lodge in Yellowstone because it is convenient to the Hayden Valley, where we have had the best luck seeing Wolves. 

Canyon Lodge

And, we like to stay at Dornan’s Spur Ranch Cabins in Grand Teton because it’s convenient to the Moose-Wilson area and the cabins are nice. We were able to get lodging both places, so off we went.

Pahaska Dining Room

Caty ended up not having to work on the day before we were originally planning to leave, so we added a night. We snagged a room at the Pahaska Tepee Resort immediately outside the east entrance to Yellowstone. 

That’s our go-to when we can’t get lodging inside the Park. 

The cabins are cute and the location lovely, but it is a bit of a drive (over a winding mountain road) to get in and out of the Park. They have lots of activities available at Pahaska, but we never do anything there except sleep and sometimes eat.

After we ate dinner when we arrived at Pahaska (they have a pretty good restaurant) and drove a short way into the Park, but we turned back because it was rainy and getting dark. We got up very early the next morning and headed in.

Morning Sightings

It was cool and foggy and there were some pretty sights on the way in, starting at the parking lot. 

Morning outside the Pahaska Tepee

Especially lovely was misty Sylvan Lake, where the morning provided a few nice reflections.

Sylvan Lake

But, just as the sun was starting to burn off the mist, we saw two people stopped and out of their cars with cameras. Could it be? Yes, it was!

This is what I saw on the camera

The couple told us that they had seen two “Black Bears” cross the road and they were nearby in the woods. We looked a bit and finally saw a Bear deep in the trees moving quickly away. It was dark and very hard to see. 

We snapped a few photos, knowing that it would take Herculean PhotoShop to pull it out. I mean, the RAW shots on my camera viewer were black!

Coming down the hill

As we were following the Bear, hoping for a better look, we heard a noise and turned to see a small log rolling a short distance down a steep slope. 

Behind it was another Bear coming down this hill. No mistaking this one. It was a Grizzly! 

We figured that it was the reason that the other Bear was booking it out of there. So, we turned our attention and took pictures as it came down the hill, putzed around and then climbed a ridge beside the road.

Walking along the ridge

It was a very pretty, rather light-colored Grizzly. We took lots of pictures – and, it’s a good thing we did because it was the closest Grizzly Bear of our visit.

A pretty Grizzly!

Later, when I posted the pictures on Facebook, several people pondered if it was famous Yellowstone Bear, Snow. I don’t think it was. And, one person insisted that the pictures were of two different Bears. Nope, just one damp Bear in the shade and out.

What a gorgeous coat – even in the rain!

Just a few minutes in the Park and two Bears, including one Grizzly. Cool.

A good start for the day

But, it turned out that it wasn’t exactly as we thought it was. After spending a whole day telling people that we had seen a Black and a Brown Bear, I discovered when I processed the pictures that Bear #1 was not a Black Bear, it was a black Grizzly. Cool!

This is the first Bear after some PhotoShop magic

Don’t know the difference between a Black and a Brown Bear? Click here. 

Left, Black Bear; Right, Brown Bear

Raptors

After the Bear ambled off, we continued on. Almost immediately, we saw a raptor sitting in some forest fire tree remnants. But, we didn’t know what it was. We stopped, took pictures and consulted Merlin, which was offline because Yellowstone and Internet don’t mix, but still working. We decided it was a dark-morph Swainson’s Hawk. 

Swainson's Hawk in the early morning light

A few minutes later, we saw another one that confirmed that assessment.

Swainson's Hawk

Then, a quick muffin in the car. While we ate, a juvenile Brown-Headed Cowbird dropped by the say “Hi.”

Juvenile Brown-Headed Cowbird

Shortly after we headed on our way, we saw a juvenile Bald Eagle stretching its wings.

Juvenile Bald Eagle

Then, we climbed up and out of the fog into the Park.

Leaving the fog below us

It turned out that those were the closest Brown Bear encounters of the trip and the close-up visit with the Swainson’s was foreshadowing of several other Swainson’s we saw, all hunting. In fact, later that day I got a few nice shots of a hovering hawk …

Hunting Swainson's Hawk

Plus, some nice fly-bys by a Northern Harrier, another bird I don’t see often in Yellowstone.

Female Northern Harrier

We have often seen Golden Eagles, but did not this time. We did, however, see several more Bald Eagles, the rest being adults or sub-adults. We saw several staking out a Bison carcass that I will talk about in a moment. 

Bald Eagle waiting for a chance to feed

And, at one point, we came across two just chillin’ by the Yellowstone River in Hayden Valley.

Bald Eagles by the Yellowstone River

But, it was, in the end, Swainson’s that gave the best show. 

Incoming Swainson's Hawk

We encountered one hunting near Lake Butte that (after lots of hovering) pounced on and caught a vole or mouse that it ate in the top of a burned tree.

Swainson's eating a small rodent

The Swainson's Hawk (Buteo Swainsoni), is a large hawk named after British naturalist William Swainson, that is colloquially known as the “grasshopper hawk” because grasshoppers are a major part of its diet.

Range Map: Cornell

Swainson’s Hawks are major travelers. 

They breed on the prairie and dry grasslands of western North America and then migrate all the way to Argentina for the winter, a trip that covers up to 7,100 miles and takes at least two months.  

Swainson's Hawks are just slightly smaller than their relative, the Red-Tailed Hawk, but have a slightly longer and slimmer wings. 

At 17-22 inches long, they weigh 1.1-3.7 lbs. and have a  46-54-inch wingspan. Like most raptors, the females are larger than males.

There are two main color variations. Over 90 percent are light-morph; the dark morph is most common in the far west of the range.

Dark-morph Swainson's Hawk

Light-morph adults are white on the underparts with a dark, reddish "bib" on the chest and a noticeable white throat and face patch. The underwings, seen as the bird soars, have light linings (leading edge) and dark flight feathers (trailing edge), a pattern unique among North American raptors. The tail is gray-brown with about six narrow dark bands and one wider subterminal band. The upper parts are brown.

Light-morph Swainson's Hawks are the most common

Juveniles are similar but dark areas have pale mottling and light areas, especially the flanks, have dark mottling. The chest is pale with some darker marks. The subterminal band of the tail is less obvious. 

Dark-morph birds are dark brown except for a light patch under the tail. There is a rufous variant that is lighter on the underparts with reddish bars. The tails of both these forms resemble those of the light morph.

Dark-morph Swainson's Hawk

Swainson's Hawks hunt using various methods. Many still-hunt, watching for prey from a perch such as a tree, bush, telephone pole or other high object. Others hunt by soaring over open ground with wings held in a dihedral, using their razor-sharp vision to watch for prey below. They occasionally course low over the ground like a Northern Harrier or hover like a Rough-Legged Hawk while hunting. That’s the activity we saw. 

Hovering while hunting

When hunting grasshoppers, they sometimes stride across the ground, pinning down their prey. While the grasshopper is a favorite food, Swainson's Hawks expand their diet when nesting, eating rodents and other small vertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, birds and roadkill.

The oldest wild Swainson's Hawk on record was 26. They have suffered population declines since the first half of the twentieth century and are on the National Audubon's List of Special Concern. They are not, however, considered a threatened species by the IUCN.

Striking a pose, showing off the dark coloration along the trailing edge of the wings

A major cause of Swainson's hawk population decline was pesticide use in its wintering grounds of Argentina. Farmers there were using pesticides (including DDT) to control grasshopper and locust infestations, and Swainson's hawks were ingesting these pesticides in several different ways, but mainly by gorging themselves on the insects as they lay dying. The U.S. has worked with Argentine farmers to resolve this problem.

An impressive bird

While we were watching some Swainson’s near Lake Butte, a Red-Tailed Hawk, came after one of the Swainson’s and a spectacular mid-air battle ensued. 

Red-Tailed Hawk attacking a Swainson's Hawk

A spectacular battle

Mid-air engagement

I wish the photos were a bit sharper, but I was pretty happy with what I got considering the distance and the speed of their flight. 

It is not unusual for the Swainson's Hawk to compete with the Red-Tailed Hawk and the Ferruginous Hawk for territory. 

In many areas, these three species nest in the same general area and exploit much the same prey base.

The fight was very cool – and a very different Yellowstone experience than I usually have.

Plus, we saw an Osprey in the Tower Area. I have seen Osprey in the Park before, but never there.

Soaring Osprey

Brown Bears on a Carcass

But, let’s get back to our main objective – Brown Bears (and Wolves, but Wolves never panned out). Both Caty and I brought scopes with us. The girls had given me mine as a birthday present and Scott had given Caty an old one that he had. Just before this trip, we both bought connectors so that we could attach our cell phone for photos and videos.

The scope allows for better pictures of distant activity

My scope is a Vortex and I was able to get a connector specifically designed for my model. I found it worked rather well, although the part that connects doesn’t actually snap in, so it takes some tinkering to get it to stay on and, then, the weight of the phone keeps it from easily holding the phone horizontally. I might MacGyver it with duct tape for a more secure fit.

The carcass was far away

We got the scopes to view and photograph Wolves in Yellowstone, because they are almost always far, far away. We didn’t see Wolves at all this time.

That was a bit surprising because there was a dead Bison and (allegedly) a dead Elk in the Hayden Valley and dead Bison are a really big draw from apex predators. We never saw the Elk, but we did spend MOST of our time in Yellowstone observing Brown Bears feeding on the Bison. According to reports, we missed some Wolves there, especially the day after we left.

Dead Bison? 

Arriving Bear

A common question is whether these huge beasts were taken down by the Bears. 

Probably not. Bears are cautious and a bit lazy. They generally will not go after very large and dangerous adult Bison.

They will go after calves or attack a sick or injured adult Bison, but even that can be risky and difficult. 

More often, the Bison has been killed by another Bison during the rut (which was just beginning while we were there) or, even more likely, the Bison died after being hit by a vehicle.

That was the case of the one we watched this time and of the one we saw in 2014 when Caty and I went to Yellowstone with my mother-in-law and my great niece.

It is possible, of course, that Bears finished off this Bison because, after it was hit, it was still able to make it off the road, down a slope, across the river and back up the bank before it died.

When we first came across the carcass, we watched a large brown, collared Brown Bear approach and feed for about 45 minutes ...

Actively feeding

... before it finally waddled off ...

Departing after feeding

We left for a while after that and when we came back, we watched a black Brown Bear come out of the woods and feed for awhile ...

The second Bear on the carcass

... before deciding to take a nap – on top of the carcass ...

Post-breakfast snooze

While it was feeding and sleeping, we saw several other Bears come out of the woods and then decide not to challenge the Bear on the carcass. It appeared that there would be only one Bear at a time at this buffet.

Another Bear waiting in the woods

The next morning, when we stopped by for “just a minute.” The first day, we had ended up spending seven hours in total watching Bears there; how much more could we need? We planned to just take a quick look in hopes of seeing Wolves. No Wolves, but FOUR Brown Bears. 

Four Bears!

Four feeding together. Well, we had to stop.

Seldom are so many seen together

Most of the time, these four big ones, which included (we believe) both of the Bears we had seen the day before, were peacefully chowing down next to each other. 

Three of the four nicely sharing

But, a couple of times, there were some tussles. I missed a few and got a few on video …

A bit of a conflict

It was so interesting to watch. And you can watch it on video here, here, here, here and here.

Such a treat to see

The final morning in Yellowstone, we stopped and there were no Bears and the carcass was starting to look pretty depleted.

Black Bears

Yellowstone is famous for Brown Bears (AKA Grizzly Bears). But, it also has Black Bears. The first time we left the Brown Bears on the Bison carcass, we headed out Lamar Valley and encountered a big, very, very dark Black Bear eating berries on the opposite bank of the Lamar River very close to the road.

A very dark Black Bear

It was in an area where the banks are very steep and the Bear had come out of the bushes on the top and climbed (gingerly) down the slope to get berries closer to the river.

Coming down the slope

Fortunately, he had picked a spot near a parking area with some guard rails and a bridge. 

The river had steep banks

We stayed quite awhile (along with many other visitors) to watch and photograph the Bear as it worked its way across the slope stripping berries (I believe hackberries or huckleberries) from the bushes.

Stripping berries off the bush

Flexible lips help grab the berries

In the late summer, Bears spend up to 20 hours a day eating, trying to fatten up for the cold, barren winter. Black Bears can eat 30,000 berries – up to 18 pounds – a day. 

They use their sensitive, mobile lips and dexterous paws to gather the berries. 

They swallow them whole and their two-part stomachs grind and digest the pulp. 

They also eat plants, moths, insects, small mammals and carcasses. It is much more efficient to go after easy pickins’ than to aggressively hunt difficult-to-kill large mammals.

The Bear has already stripped this branch; time to move on

This particular Bear looked like it had done a pretty good job fattening up. It was sure giving it its best shot.

Pffffttt

My apologies for so many photos of the same Bear, but we were there a long time and I took more than 700 photos!

A real beauty!

We saw several other Black Bears during our time in Yellowstone, but most scurried away too quickly for photos and others were just too far away.

This is the more typical distance

Scenery and Birds

Caty and I have been to Yellowstone National Park many, many times. It is a gorgeous place, but we go mainly for the wildlife, so we don’t generally do lots of “sightseeing.”

Sometimes you get scenery AND wildlife

We’ll do a quick stop at Yellowstone Falls …

Yellowstone Falls

And the Tower Falls area …

View from the Tower area

If they are not too crowded.

Sometimes, we’ll drive through Mammoth Hot Springs ...

Mammoth Hot Springs, 2013

Or just through the western side of the Park ...

Roaring Mountain

And, I am a sucker for a huge herd of Bison traversing Hayden or Lamar Valley …

Bison in the Hayden Valley

I don't usually think of birding as my primary reason for visiting Yellowstone, but we always see a good variety, such as the raptors I talked about above, and Great Blue Herons ...

Great Blue Heron

Green-winged Teals ...

Green-Winged Teals

Greater Yellowlegs ...

Greater Yellowlegs

Canada Geese ...

Landing Canada Geese

American Coots ...

American Coots

And, Common Ravens ...

Common Raven

This time, we did stop for the views at Lake Butte (although I admit, we were really looking for Bears known to frequent the area).

Yellowstone Lake from Lake Butte

But, we generally avoid the very crowded geothermal areas unless we are taking a newbie with us to introduce to the glories of this magnificent Park. I mean, Old Faithful is fun, but not worth fighting the crowds if you have already seen it.

Grand Prismatic Spring

This time, however, we did have a scenery goal. I have visited and blogged about Grand Prismatic Spring before, but we were finally going to get a different view. 

Grand Prismatic Spring

We are somewhat annoyed that many of the promotional materials about Grand Prismatic feature aerial views. Views you can’t get unless you have a special permit to fly over in an airplane or helicopter! What a tease!

This is the best you can do for an "aerial" look

But, we knew that the park had recently opened an overlook trail with a different, slightly aerial view. So, we headed over (just missing a Brown Bear in the overlook trail parking lot) and prepared to take the half-mile hike up. We wanted to get to Grand Teton as early as we could, so we were going to make it quick.

Dusky Grouse

We did make an unexpected stop, however, when we encountered a female Dusky Grouse right by the trail. The bird seemed to have some chicks with her, but she quickly hid them in the tall grass and then put on a show for us. I think she was making herself seen to distract our attention from her chicks. It worked. We never saw them again, but did get some nice pictures of her. After we decided we had bothered her enough, we headed up the trail.

A great mom, protecting her chicks

It’s a nice trail, not particularly steep but potentially hot and dusty mid-day. 

A smaller hot spring along the trail (with the river in the background)

It was busy when we were there, but well worth it. 

A crowd on the platform

The views of the colorful spring with its deep turquoise center and brilliant orange and yellow algae banks looks like some sort of mystical eye from that vantage point. Because it was fairly warm that morning with a good breeze, we didn’t have to contend with a huge fog bank obscuring the spring. 

The steam did not obstruct the view, as it can sometimes

So, so beautiful.

Caty and I are so glad we went

We did not go to the main viewing area, where you can walk up to the spring.

We didn't walk the boardwalk this time

We have done that before.

2013 view looking back where the overlook has been built

Oh, warning: there are no restrooms in the overlook train parking lot; you have to go the very, very crowded main Grand Prismatic lot or one of the slightly farther-away picnic areas.

After Grand Prismatic, it was on to Grand Teton National Park ...

Grand Teton National Park

Trip date: August 15-20, 2019