Wildlife and Ecology of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: September 11 to 19, 2010
Photos by leaders Sean Grace and Patrick Scheuer
To download a copy of the trip species list in pdf format, click here.
Saturday, September 11
Today, most of the group arrived in Jackson Hole. After getting settled into our accommodations we met for the first time as a group at 8:00 P.M. Tour leaders Sean Grace and Patrick Scheuer handed out information packets, including maps of both Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, bird check lists, mammal check lists, Jackson Hole information maps, and Grand Teton National Park seasonal papers. After introductions we discussed goals and logistics for the trip. Everyone was excited for what the week would bring. Many in the group really wanted to see wolves. Although there are never any guarantees when it comes to wildlife, Pat and Sean promised us that just when you think the scenery will not get any better… well, just wait and see. This trip means more than racking up a wildlife sighting list. The trip is about the power of the place, with majestic landscapes formed through complex geological processes which provide home and habitat for plant communities and animals.
Sunday, September 12:
After continental breakfast at the 49’R we headed off towards Gros Ventre Junction to begin our GYE adventure. Along the way we got our first look at Sheep Mountain, also known as the "Sleeping Indian", that lies to the east overlooking the National Elk Refuge. The Elk Refuge is a 30,000 acre parcel of land that is wintering grounds for elk, bison, and bighorn sheep.
Our first stop along the banks of the Gros Ventre River Road brought looks at the "Red Hammer" or Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Western Red-tailed Hawks, Western Meadowlark, Bison, and a lone rutting male American Antelope. We spent a bit of time glassing the willows along the Gros Ventre River hoping to spy a moose. Sean explained that these riparian corridors are utilized by 95 % of the animal species in the American west for foraging and/or migration. Water is a determining factor for locating both plants and animals on our adventure. Directly behind us to the North, was Black Tail Butte, and a measured look at it revealed that trees grew in north-facing aspects and ravines hold moisture in the form of snow, while vegetation in the drier parts of the slope was composed mainly of grasses and sage brush.
We made a brief stop at the Gros Ventre campground and continued along to Mormon Row, historically one of the first places settled in the valley. We learned that this area is an alluvial flood plain from Ditch Creek, coveted among the early settlers for its finer grained soil. Today, this massive plain is prime wintering grounds for moose, and summer habitat for bison and antelope. A drive along a dirt road known as “Hot-ditch” brought us a dark phase Red-tailed Hawk, close rutting antelope and a calling Killdeer, while an immature Northern Harrier coursed the sage flats. We flushed a Great Blue Heron just before arriving at Kelly Warm Springs. Here we found several Audubon’s Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Mountain Bluebirds, green frogs and had a brief look at a Sage Thrasher. We continued North towards the Gros Ventre Mountains, 50 million years older than the Tetons, to a massive landslide known as the Gros Ventre slide. Hear Sean described the underlying geology and weather that led up to this catastrophic event in 1925. We had some of our best looks at pika at the slide.
At Lower Slide Lake we watched a Kingfisher and an immature Bald Eagle perched on snags sticking out of the lake, before heading further up into the Gros Ventre for a great view of the Tetons. We arrived at the National Wildlife Art Museum for lunch at their café and a docent walk.
Half of our group stopped at the National Elk Refuge for Sandhill Cranes that were molting into winter or bluish plumage from their summer or brown plumage. We found our first coyote of the trip far back close to Miller Butte, which reinforced how massive this landscape is. An Eastern Kingbird was sitting in a willow while Barn Swallows cruised for insects.
At 6:45pm we headed out for an optional owl prowl, and were treated to one of the most unique animals of the tour; we saw a beautiful red fox in a unique color morph: black under-fur with silver guard hairs. These foxes are referred to as a "black, silver, or blue fox". After an entertaining view of our foxy friend, who stopped to check us out as he ran up a hill, we found a herd of female elk with two bulls courting them. We had little owl success; Sean called for a Great Horned Owl and was answered, but the bird refused to fly in closer. We moved back down the road where Sean called again and got a far off response. Meanwhile Pat spotted a Great Horned Owl on a pole and scoped it but only half the group got a look before it flew. Sean kept calling and the Great Horned Owl kept coming closer until it finally flew in onto a tall snag right above the group. The owl and Sean debated territorial rights as they called back and forth and we all watched the owl tip forward and raise its tail as it called. After declaring itself the rightful owner of this territory the owl moved on. It is always a special moment when you find a cooperative owl!
Monday, September 13:
We began our day by heading along the back side of the National Elk Refuge behind Miller Butte. Our first species was a Black Billed Magpie along the cliffs of Miller Butte, which happens to be wintering habitat for Bighorn sheep that migrate down and out of the Gros Ventre Mountains. We rounded the corner and had some tough looks at Western Meadowlark and a far off Red-tailed Hawk. Moving further down the road, we found Horned Lark, Water Pipit, and a distant look at a Swainson's Hawk. Several Mountain Bluebirds offered brief looks.
We departed in search of moose before meeting our Snake River Guide, Reed Finlay, and heading north to float the Snake River. It was interesting to hear Reed’s take on the valley, how the river changes seasonally, and how the river has changed during his sixteen years guiding. Imagine logging 23,000 miles on the Snake River. We had warm sunny weather and spectacular wildlife sightings including a pair of river otters and a black bear in the brown color phase. What a show…the Bear came out of the Ditch Creek Drainage and swam across the Snake River just behind us!
After the float, we headed to Dornan’s for a delightful roof-top lunch with a view of the majestic Tetons. After lunch we decided to visit the new Moose visitor center, appropriately named as we spotted a cow and calf moose while crossing over the Snake River. Most of the group headed back across the river on foot to get some pictures of this largest member of the deer family. To the group's amazement she disappeared in a few feet of willows, bedding down for the remainder of our visit. After a viewing the newest visitor center in GTNP we headed into town for some rest before heading back out for another optional nighttime wildlife viewing. Sean and Patrick took us north into GTNP, and we were fortunate enough to find several herds of elk, with the largest herd close to the road. There were over 80 females and a large bull in full rut. He was actively tending females, bugling, and chasing subordinate males out of the area. We watched awestruck as the bull tipped his head back, sporting massive antlers, and bugle his claim to the Timbered Island Herd. This would prove to be our best look at rutting elk during our tour. We stopped again, hoping to see some beavers at a promising-looking lodge and learned about beaver ecology.
Tuesday, September 14:
Today we left Jackson early and scouted our way north looking for large mammals. We found a mother mule deer and fawn attempting to cross the road at Black Tail Butte. We scouted several locations before arriving at Ox Bow Bend in the north end of the park, just below the Jackson Lake Dam. The Ox Bow is the former channel of the Snake River before the main channel cut this meandering section of river off, forming a slow moving lazy section of water that is ideal habitat for many species. Before long, we located a beaver swimming along the banks of the bend, found roosting Great Blue Herons, a lone White Pelican, an adult Bald Eagle, a group of Double-crested Cormorants, and a rare and elusive herd of sports cars…the only animals able to outpace Antelope in the park.
We stopped by Willow Flats overlook and spotted distant Trumpeter Swans and some small songbirds including Pink-sided Juncos, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, and an interesting bird that was later identified as a dark race of Fox Sparrow. We proceeded on to Jackson Lake Dam and had interesting looks at many species of waterfowl including, Trumpeter Swan, American Coot, American Widgeon, Mallard, Green-Winged Teal, Horned Grebe, Western Grebe, American Pipits, Barn Swallow, California Gull, Pintail, and a handful of Redhead Ducks.
Our adventure continued on top of Signal Mountain where we discussed the geologic forces that have shaped the landscape, and had a wonderful view of many of the areas we had already explored on our trip. Signal Mountain also provided us with a stunning view of the Teton Range; moraines, Timbered Island, the Kettle Holes, and the Burned Ridge Moraine. Our afternoon continued with lunch at the Signal Mountain Lodge. In the parking lot we had an adult Bald Eagle soar overhead for several minutes.
Next we were off to the North end of Jackson Lake where we found 6 Clark’s Grebes and a long-horned beetle.
We arrived at Old Faithful area at 3:50pm, just in time to see the 4:00 eruption. Several of the group enjoyed dinner at the Snow Lodge. Later that night two Great Horned Owlets serenaded, or irritated us, depending on our sleep requirements.
Wednesday, September 15:
The early risers were treated to rutting bison standing right in front of Old Faithful which was highlighted by a powerful eruption. Today would focus on geothermal features, so we elected a 9am departure, allowing temperatures to rise enough so we had slightly better looks at some of the hot springs along the Fire Hole Drive. This was a nice introduction to the geothermal features in the Park. We just missed one of the grand geysers and saw another geyser erupt.
We continued on and began a discussion about fire ecology, learning about serotinous cones and the lodge-pole pine. Fire opens these pine cones which can seed up to 100,000 lodge pole pines in a recently burned hectare. These stands are often referred to as a “Dog-hair”. After some terrific looks at Mountain Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows, and a mature bull bison, we worked our way to the Lower Geyser Basin. This unique basin has all four geothermal features found in the park including fumeroles, geysers, mud-pots, and hot springs. As we worked our way back to the parking lot we found recent bear scat along the boardwalk.
We headed south to Midway Geyser Basin and had nice looks at Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser. This is one of the better spots to point out that what seems to be a full circle of surrounding mountains is actually the rim of the caldera, and we are down in the bottom of the crater. Grand Prismatic is the largest spring in the park, and the third largest hot spring in the world. After lunch we had an optional drive along the banks of Lake Yellowstone. Although we missed the Three-toed Woodpecker, we did find a piece of black obsidian that had been extensively worked by one of the park’s traditional peoples. We looked at it and discussed some of the ways it was worked, what it was used for, and how it was traded. Seeing the beauty and immensity of this landscape, it is not hard to imagine that traditional peoples once hunted and gathered in the area 130 years ago. We found another Hairy Woodpecker…the second of the day, Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Mountain Chickadee. We also found rafts of Barrow’s Goldeneye while working our way back to Old Faithful.
Thursday, September 16:
This morning we worked our way North towards the Hayden Valley. This would be the group’s first look at the expansive views of the east and northeast sections of Yellowstone. Once we arrived in the Hayden we found three coyotes playing and hunting on the valley floor by the Yellowstone River. We continued to watch as one of the coyotes moved closer to us and started hunting. Coyotes are true survivors and this one was catching rodents and some grasshoppers. Several immature Golden Eagles were spotted along with a Wilson’s Snipe. Bison were seen in full rut, with several males bellowing and tending females.
After lunch at Canyon we continued along to Mount Washburn and saw views of the Caldera and far-off mountain ranges that once connected to Mount Washburn before they were vaporized by the cataclysmic eruption. At our second stop along Washburn we found a Golden Eagle hunting and soaring, a target bird for this high altitude stop. We took a little-traveled gravel road further up to the top of Mount Washburn and watched a lightning strike fire that is being managed as a controlled burn. It was an awesome site and one that the group was happy to watch from the safe distance of a spotting scope. The country is expansive and we spotted elk skulls and antlers along the ridges but wolves and bears proved elusive. Perhaps the fire encouraged them to move out of the area.
We push onto the Lamar and make a stop at a bridge that crosses over the Lamar river. The bridge had choke cherries that recently ripened; we hoped to find birds exploiting this food resource and got a brief look at a Townsend Solitaire. The sun was high in the sky and the birding was slow. We managed to spot two mature Golden Eagles soaring towards the east, and Patrick and Sean managed to hand off scope views to several of the group. The terrain is high open desert with islands of trees…just the sort of habitat in which you would expect to find these magnificent hunters.
We moved further on and scanned from an overlook where we could see one of the wolf dens and a rendezvous site. The pups are now pushing 70 lbs and have long since left the den. The adult wolves leave the young “teenage wolves” back at the rendezvous sites while they go out and hunt. In larger packs, one of the aunts or uncles will often remain with the teens while the pack goes out on the hunt. The pack we are looking for only has three adults and they have recently been leaving the pups alone while they hunt. The biggest threat to young wolves is other wolves, and several years ago the Slough Creek Pack had abandoned their pups inside this very den when the much larger Druid Pack cornered them inside the den and killed them. Although we were in a good spot with a recent kill in the valley, we saw no wolves after an hour but did manage to attract another 50 eager viewers. Scopes are just the right bait to attract eager wildlife watchers. The crowd was friendly and shared information but we decided to try our hand at glassing for goats along the exposed benches and cliffs of Barronette Peak. Not only did we manage to find mountain goats but were also treated to views of bighorn sheep, which blend in nearly perfectly with the landscape. It was a long and memorable day and the group was excited as we pushed on towards the town of Cooke City.
Friday, September 17:
We began the day by heading into the Lamar for an optional early-morning drive. We glassed the expanses at several locations as we headed towards Slough Creek, where we were more likely to find wolves. It was a chilly start, but the day warmed up as the sun rose in the sky…another fabulous day. Our weather was stellar for nearly the duration of our trip. After a slow start, the group was eventually treated to long looks at some of the grey wolf pups at the rendezvous site while a black bear worked the valley below and then headed up towards the wolf pups. We managed to get distant scope looks at the grey alpha female wolf and her two black pack members as they headed back from an apparently unsuccessful hunt to check in on the pups. We watched for an hour as they made their way across the huge expanses, and were reminded of just how large this area is.
We headed back into town for brunch before heading up towards the Beartooth Highway. Just when you think the scenery can’t get any better… it does. The Beartooth is beautiful, foreboding, vast, and wild country. We worked our way up towards the top after making several stops to try and locate Yellow Bellied Marmots. The Lakes hold a variety of species of trout and Artic Grayling. The trees are Krumholtz trees and are one of four species; lodgepole, subalpine fir, limber, or white bark pine. They are drastically stunted and “flagged” in the direction that the wind consistently blows…west to east. Close to the top is a large glacial cirque where the wind rips up the face. Several Red-tailed Hawks were kiting along these winds, catching rodents and then eating them on the wing. It was an amazing and memorable site. Here we located what may be the bird of the trip for many of our group… a kiting Ferruginous Hawk. It was a light adult and fittingly gave great views both on the way up and on the way down. At the top we had sporadic views of pipits just as an adult Golden Eagle came ripping through on the incredible winds. Even in 50 mile per hour winds this bird is steady and swift.
Saturday, September 18:
The group was up early. We had to cover a lot of ground in order to get back to Jackson Hole in time for dinner. We worked our way back, retracing our route through the Lamar Valley and stopping for bison jams along the way. One magnificent bull had sage brush wrapped around his right horn, no doubt the result of a testosterone infused tussle with an imaginary foe. The fire had picked up significantly, adding smoke to the morning mist. On days like this you can see where the artist Robert Bateman drew his inspiration for his famous painting the “Chief”, that resides in the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
We managed to see many of the large mammals and some of the landscape that this unique area known as the Lamar Valley has to offer. You could spend a good portion of a lifetime exploring and learning about this landscape and it would still offer surprises for the attentive naturalist. Our visibility and air quality were diminishing as smoke was drifting in from surrounding fires and we were fortunate that the fires did not start a day earlier. We moved on, looking for clearer skies up and over the top of Mount Washburn. Our destination: The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Artist Point. It’s a spectacular view of the 308 foot high lower falls that were so famously painted by Thomas Moran. We located one of many raptor nests that had been consistently used over countless generations, precariously perched on one of the eroding bluffs. It reminded us just how immense this one portion of the world's first national park is. The aspens have turned a brilliant yellow and gold at these higher altitudes during our absence. Lunch was planned for Flag Ranch and we headed back through the Hayden Valley, stopping along the banks of the Yellowstone River to try and locate an American Dipper that has eluded us during our trip. After lunch we arrived back inside Grand Teton National Park, scoped the Oxbow Bend and found Double Crested Cormorants before taking the inside loop of the park to the Mount Moran Turnout with a final, and up-close, view of the ever impressive Teton Range.
Our tour wound up with a look at Jenny Lake, one of several glacial lakes inside the park. We ended our tour with a celebratory dinner at Nani’s House of Pasta, one of the finest Italian restaurants in Jackson. It was a great way to wrap up a tour with some pictures of our adventure and lots of laughs among friends.
Sunday, September 19: Our GYE Adventure ended with cameras loaded with memories as we boarded flights home.
--- Sean Grace and Patrick Scheuer