Sunday, July 09, 2006

July 9, 2006: Yellowstone Nat'l Park and Red Rock NWR, Montana (18 PHOTOS, 6 BIRDS/ANIMALS)

Our early morning entry to Yellowstone for birding was disrupted by the road construction at the East Entrance from Cody - the road was closed until 8am! Most of the day was spent in Yellowstone, though we skipped, or spent little time in many areas, because crowds were huge!

One of the burnt areas near the eastern end of Lake Yellowstone

Another scenic field near eastern Lake Yellowstone

  • Nice collection of bird and animal mounts at Fishing Bridge Visitor Center.
  • We saw many Buffaloes along the Yellowstone River, driving north towards Artist Point

One of the many buffaloes seen on the way to Artist Point

This image was taken on the trail running downstream from Artist Point

This interesting shot of a burn area just starting to grow back was taken from Mount Washburn Road.

The obligatory 'Artist Point' stop and photo for all visitors to Yellowstone

Between Mammoth Hot Springs and Tower is where we saw the only bear in the park (mother with cub along the road, along with dozens of dumb tourists!)

  • The early afternoon was spent in Southwestern Yellowstone in "Tourist land", Fountain Paint Pot, and Old Faithful.We saw Old Faithful erupt (another obligatory stop for EVERYONE, based on the huge number of people there!)

One of the bubbling mud pots at Midway Geyser Basin

Another boiling pit at Midway Basin

After Yellowstone, we headed to much less crowded environs, west through West Yellowstone, Montana, into Idaho, and back into Montana, and Red Rock National Wildlife Refuge (to look for Trumpeter Swans and Sandhill Cranes) We found both! (Along with billions of mosquitos)

The mountains at Red Rock were beautiful

The road to Red Rock NWR

During the drive from Red Rock to Targhee, Idaho (the stop for the night) we drove through more terrible monsoon thunderstorms!

BIRDING: Many BARROW'S GOLDENEYE and WHITE PELICANS in the Eastern Yellowstone Lake area, also possibly some COMMON GOLDENEYE, eclipse plumage in some ducks made things difficult. MOUNTAIN CHICKADEES at the Fishing Village. Along the Yellowstone River many GREAT BLUE HERONS and WHITE PELICANS, no Cranes. Also many COMMON RAVENS and RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS, but no needed Three Toeds. Near the East Entrance, we heard a LINCOLN'S SPARROW, and saw a BALD EAGLE fly by.

At Fountain Paint Pots, there were quite a few DARK-EYED JUNCOS. At Artist Point, some YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS. In general, the huge crowds in Yellowstone definitely kept bird numbers low.

Red Rocks: TRUMPETER SWANS and SANDHILL CRANES! Many many BARN SWALLOWS, also YELLOW WARBLER, MARSH WREN, and several sparrows, including SAVANNAH SPARROW, and WESTERN BLUEBIRDS. On the road to here, right at the Montana/Idaho line, great looks at some EVENING GROSBEAKS!


Barrow's Goldeneye: Lake Yellowstone

White Pelican (with some Goldeneyes): Lake Yellowstone

This Coyote ran across the road near Norris.
Trumpter Swan: Red Rock NWR, Montana. (Melissa's photo)

Sandhill Crane: Red Rock NWR, Montana (Melissa's photo)

Evening Grosbeak: Targhee National Forest, Idaho

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