Roads End Naturalist

Exploring the natural world as we wander at the end of the road

  • Fast Water, Slo-mo Birds

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain.

    ~Douglas Coupland

    Earlier this week I drove down to Yellowstone Lake to have our canoe inspected (a requirement here in Yellowstone before any water craft can be launched in park waters to guard against introduction of invasives). It is a long drive and there were the usual delays of road construction and bison jams. I had hoped to do some more filming of the bison rut but that was not to be since the road work had almost all the pullouts closed in Hayden Valley. On my return trip I stopped at Lehardy Rapids to check for any birds that might be using the area. I didn’t expect to see any of the harlequin ducks I posted about earlier this summer but wanted to check anyway.

    I was surprised to see a dozen or more harlequins in the usual spots on rocks in the fast-flowing waters of this well-known spot on the Yellowstone River. The colorful males leave the inland waters after breeding season in early summer and fly to their wintering habitats of coastal waters. This group was made up of adult females and juvenile birds of the year which closely resemble females. Young males acquire their beautiful plumage in about two years after hatching. About half of the ducks were swimming and diving in the rapids so I started filming in both real time and slow motion to see which gives a better feel for the energy of the water and the birds riding the waves. See what you think. Videos best viewed full screen.

    –Two harlequin ducks riding the rapids in real time

    –Two harlequin ducks diving for food filmed in slow motion

    Look closely at the slow motion video and you can see the birds underwater as a light brown shape.

    I filmed a lot of birds in both real time and slow motion as they swam against the fast moving water. At one point I noticed the duck looking skyward repeatedly so I glanced up and saw what I expected – a large raptor circling high overhead. Even when swimming in such a strong current you still need to keep an eye out for potential threats. The raptor flew off and the duck resumed feeding.

    –This duck was keeping an eye on the raptor soaring high overhead

    Several people walked by me while I was observing the ducks. One young man was with a group of students from Pennsylvania. He said he was the only birder in the group. He asked if I had seen any American dippers as he really wanted a photo of one. I had seen two people with binoculars just downstream watching something along the shoreline. Though I couldn’t see the bird I suspected they were seeing a dipper. I shared that with the young man and he was off. I could tell from his reaction when he got down there that he did get his bird. I decided to walk down that way and was rewarded with what I assume was a juvenile dipper feeding very close to the bank in shallow riffles. While I watched, it was very successful in capturing numerous caddisfly larvae off the rock surfaces.

    –This little guy had a knack for finding caddisfly larvae

    The two people that I had seen watching the dipper are from Massachusetts and were birders. They had wanted to see dippers and were very excited at finding the juvenile bird so close to shore. They soon spotted an adult out in the rapids. I moved back upstream to film the adult that was foraging in deeper and much faster water. Note the dipping movement for which these birds are named. Theories for this behavior include that it is visual communication to other birds in their noisy environment, that changing head position may help them spot underwater prey easier, and that the dipping mimics the tumbling waters and may help confuse predators. I have seen them dip much more vigorously and that may be in response to other dippers nearby (a territorial display) or to my presence as a perceived potential threat.

    –An American dipper adult foraging in the rapids

    This next sequence in slow motion shows that dipper looking underwater and finally grabbing a large prey item. Dippers have large feet and long claws to help them hold onto the rocks in the current. They also will dive into deeper waters and “swim” underwater using the wings and feet as they look for aquatic insects.

    –A dipper catches a large aquatic insect (looks like a stonefly larva)

    A group of four common mergansers flew into the scene so I switched my focus to these large fish-eating ducks.

    –A common merganser bobbing in the rapids

    They seemed to prefer a spot in the river just downstream from a large rock shelf in the river.

    –A common merganser foraging in slow motion

    I was following two mergansers in a large wave in the river when something unexpected happened that proved to be one of the highlights of my slow motion filming that day. Watch as a much smaller harlequin duck lets the bigger merganser know that it is not welcome in the harlequin’s dining room.

    –This harleqiun duck is letting the merganser know who is boss in this stretch of rapids

    It was a great couple of hours spent watching these birds in the rushing waters of LeHardy Rapids. Both real time and slow motion video gives a feel for what these birds are capable of in navigating the rapids. But the slow motion makes it seem more like a choreographed play where feathered bodies and waves interact in a beautiful ballet.

  • The Wallow

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    People are drawn to bison without quite knowing why. Seeing them stirs something old. Something nearly lost. There is wonder in it. And hope.

    ~Chris Geremia, in Yellowstone Bison, Return of the Last Wild Herd, 2026

    The bison rut is reaching its peak here in the park and it seems there is just not enough time to take it all in. A couple of days ago Melissa and I went out with one goal – observe bison as they engage in their annual courtship behavior known as the rut. The bison rut typically begins in mid to late July and runs into early September with the peak being a couple of weeks in early August. Cows and calves have formed large herds and the bulls are following and courting females. Many bulls have picked a cow (for now) and are following her every movement, guarding her against other bulls, and directing where she can and cannot go. Melissa thinks they are bullies:)

    Bull bison tending a cow

    The rut is both a visual and auditory spectacle unlike any other and the deep bellows of the bulls are resonating across the landscape in places like Lamar and Hayden Valleys and Little America. A key feature of the rut that is easily seen in these grasslands is the wallowing of the bulls. Wallowing is where a bison picks a spot (usually an existing bison-sized depression in the soil created by years of bison wallowing) and flops down on its side and kicks and partially rolls onto its back. They really can’t roll all the way over because of their huge shoulder humps. Wallowing is done throughout the year when the land is not snow-covered as a way to reduce biting insects, regulate body temperature, and leave behind their scent. Cows also wallow. During the rut, wallowing takes on some extra significance for the bulls – it signals their dominance and strength. While we observed the herd, a bull would often bellow on the approach of another bull and then paw at the ground, flop down hard, and wallow, kicking up dust as he did. In fact, looking across the landscape this time of year you see countless dust clouds from bison wallowing.

    –A live speed video clip of a bull bison wallowing. Note the numerous deep bellows he makes to let other bulls know he is a dominant male.

    The rut is about strength and endurance. Slow motion video seems to help accentuate the power of a bull’s motions. Unfortunately, it does not include audio in this format on my camera. Here are a couple of clips showing that strength.

    –A bull rolls in the dust marking himself and the ground with urine to leave his scent behind

    –A complete wallow ending with a shake of his massive head that sends out a cloud of dust.

    I bet if the other bulls could see their rivals in slow motion, it might be a deterrent to engaging in actual combat. Right now, it seems like it is mainly a show of strength and posturing to help minimize battles. When a bull approached another tending a cow, the latter bull often bellows, wallows, and then steps out in the direction of the approaching intruder. That is usually enough to cause the approaching bull to change direction or for the tending bull to decide it is not in his best interest to continue courting that particular female. We hope to get in a couple more days of bison watching before the rut concludes in early September. And there are many more adventures ahead, so stay tuned.

  • Pika Perfect

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    I find an incredible amount of joy when I spend time with the American pika.

    ~Deirdre Denali

    Last week we took some visiting friends up to the Beartooths for the scenery and a break from the heat. While there we looked for pikas in some talus slopes along the roadside. We were rewarded with several of the little cuties roaming the rocks and collecting vegetation for their winter food supply – their haystacks. Melissa saw one pika go under a large boulder and later took a look and confirmed a nice haystack in progress. So, when she went hiking this past weekend with friends (I declined because of a persistent sore heel), I headed back to the Beartooths for some pika time. The site where we saw them before is near our favorite pika spot but just below the road instead of a short hike above. Given my foot ailment I opted for the lesser walk and picked a flat rock to sit on just yards be;ow the Beartooth Highway. Unfortunately, it was a biker rally weekend in Red Lodge so I literally heard hundreds of motorcycles go by above me in my 6 hours of pika watching. But it was worth it and the pikas didn’t seem to mind the noise.

    My pika scene. Note the dark rock outcrop on the far side of the grass on the left.. I’ll come back to it later. It is on the edge of the drop-off of several hundred feet between my site and the snow-covered slopes across the way.

    After I settled in uphill from the known haystack location, it took about 20 minutes before I saw my first pika movement. As usual, that first one was a brief blur of fur between the rocks out of the corner of my eye. I then stared in that location and it appeared again and moved up on a rock to look around. It was quite a distance from me so I didn’t raise the camera. That’s the usual way it goes with pika. But this was going to be the longest I ever sat in a pika habitat so I expected better sightings as time went on. And, indeed, that was what happened. I soon saw a pika running toward the haystack under the rock about 10 feet from where I sat.

    A grand pose by my furry little friend

    It was awesome watching this little guy (or gal?) running through the rocks toward me. It would appear and then disappear as it traversed the 100 feet between where I first saw it and the haystack rock. It seemed I had been accepted as just another blob on the landscape. So, for the next few hours I watched these amazing and industrious little rabbit relatives (yes, they are in the same Order as rabbits and hares, the Lagomorphs, but are a separate family. Ochotonidae). Here are just a few of the images I captured while enjoying their company…

    Pika coming right toward me
    Pika often leap from one rock to another as they scurry about collecting vegetation
    The haystack near where I sat. I got this pic as I left the area. Notice to the right of the vegetation is a pile of droppings.

    Pikas do not hibernate so they spend the summer month collecting vegetation and storing it in piles under overhanging rocks. These haystacks provide their food during the long cold winter. Researchers estimate a single pika may collect between 30 to 60 pounds of vegetation for its winter store. A pika weighs about 6 ounces. If it were the size of a human, they would be collecting about 5000 pounds of vegetation! I think I saw about 3 adults collecting vegetation. They don’t share their winter stockpile and I found the location of one other haystack near me. The kept a steady pace of collecting and transporting with occasional breaks for just eating grasses. Observers say a pika may make up to 14,000 short trips a summer stockpiling ts winter food supply.

    A pika chewing some grass like some people eat spaghetti
    This pika liked to sit on this particular rock and survey the scene. It squeaked an alarm when a raven flew over but basically ignored me sitting about 15 feet away.
    A pika coming in with a mouthful for its haystack
    This is the main plant the pika were bringing to their haystack – alpine avens

    Studies have shown that pika preferentially collect leaves of alpine avens, a common alpine wildflower, and bring it to the haystacks. It is high in tannin which helps prevent decomposition which could hasten the decay of other species in their larder.

    At one point I looked up and coming up over that dark gray pile of rocks I mentioned earlier was a band of mountain goats. They looked as surprised to see me as I was to see them.

    The first of thirteen Rocky Mountain goats that came up over the steep ravine into the area where I was watching the pika.

    The goats walked calmly in a group and disappeared over another steep drop-off. I have often seen them in this area so I figured they might go up to a grassy knoll above the road but I never saw them there. I took a break for lunch and decided to go look for the goats by driving up to Beartooth Pass (over 10,000 feet in elevation). Sure enough, just beyond the pass I saw a couple of cars pulled over and I slowed and could see the goats below the road. I parked and watched them for about 30 minutes as they grazed in the flower-rich alpine meadows.

    Most of the goat herd grazing near the edge of the cliff
    What an amazing place for an animal to make a living
    There were several baby goats, called kids, with the herd
    Though they are an introduced species in this part of the Rockies, those kids sure are cute

    Mountain goats were introduced to the region in the 1940’s and 50’s for hunting. They appeared in Yellowstone in the 1990’s. There are around 200-300 in the park today and many more in the Beartooth Plateau. There is concern that they may have negative impacts on the delicate alpine habitats and may out-compete the native bighorn sheep for resources. I recently read that because of these issues, officials in Grand Teton National Park have been working for a few years to remove all mountain goats from that park. Makes me wonder if Yellowstone is considering that as well.

    Back at the pika habitat, it didn’t take long for activity to pick up. Then I saw the first of two baby pikas, called piklets (just love that). And I have to say, even though I don’t use this word that often, they were adorable. Born hairless and blind in late spring, they grow rapidly and within a few weeks are exploring their rocky home. These little guys were very timid but curious. If i moved they would disappear but soon came right back out to look and nibble on the nearby vegetation.

    This little guy was my constant companion after my lunch break and calmly sat about 5 feet from me
    This piklet was a bit more of an explorer and wandered several feet away from what I assume was the “nursery rock”

    As often happens, when you sit in one spot for any length of time, all sorts of critters seem to accept your presence and make an appearance. But, I’m not sure the two local marmots were all that accepting as this one sounded its shriek alarm whistle anytime I budged. The pikas heeded the alarm at first but then started to ignore it as they apparently did not see me as a threat

    A marmot sending out its shrill alarm whistle

    Another high altitude visitor stopped by – a beautiful black rosy finch. This species is a high altitude specialist, spending most of its time in alpine environments..

    I was amazed at how the plumage pattern on this bird matches the lichen colors on the boulder.

    Toward the end of my stay I saw one pika cutting flowers. That was one of the images I really wanted.

    A perfect ending to a wonderful day of observing pika

    I look forward to returning to pikaville for some more photographs and observations of one of the cutest mammals in North America.

  • Amphibian Exploration

    Posted by

    Melissa Dowland

    In the middle of June, I got to lead the Museum’s Educators of Excellence Institute in Yellowstone. One of the highlights of our trip was exploring a pond that had formed behind sand bars at the edge of Yellowstone Lake. Greg had heard chorus frogs calling and wanted to explore. Right off the bat, I saw movement as a large frog jumped into the water. It was a Columbia spotted frog! Shortly after that, I spotted a small boreal chorus frog and picked it up to show everyone. As we waded further along the marshy edge, one of the teachers, Mikayla, hollered that she’d spotted a salamander! It was a blotched tiger salamander, the only species of salamander found in Yellowstone. As we continued to explore, we found three more salamanders, another Columbia spotted frog, and a bunch more chorus frogs.

    Blotched tiger salamander

    North Carolina has more salamander species than any other state, with a total number that hovers around 60 (but changes frequently as scientists argue over lumping similar species together or splitting them out into separate species). In addition to the salamanders, there are many species of frogs and toads. The humid climate and variety of habitats found across the state lead to this level of diversity.

    In Yellowstone, there are only 5 species of amphibians: 2 types of frogs (the two we found in the pond), 2 types of toads (the boreal toad, which our group saw later in the trip, and the western spadefoot toad), and 1 species of salamander. So to find three of the five species in one pond was amazing!

    I wrote about our favorite North Carolina salamander, the spotted salamander, in one of the stories for Volume 1 of my book series, Walks with a Naturalist (which are now available through a platform besides Amazon… more info here!).

    Here’s that story…

    Salamander Night Out

    It was a rainy December night.  It wasn’t too cold, even though it was winter in North Carolina.  It was just the kind of night Mike and I hope for!  We knew it would be a special night.  We put on our rain jackets and rain pants and rubber boots, and we went outside.  We slowly explored with flashlights.  

    Mike saw something shine in his light.  It was a spotted salamander!  We rushed over to see.  It was dark-colored with bright yellow and orange spots.  It had big, bulgy eyes.  And it was crawling as fast as it could.  We followed it.  It headed straight for our pond!  It climbed into the water.  We shined our flashlights into the pond.  Under the water were lots of other spotted salamanders!  Some crawled on the bottom.  Some swam up to the surface for a breath of air.  Some nudged each other.  

    Two nights later, Mike and I went out and looked into the pond with our flashlights again.  A spotted salamander was holding onto a stick with her four legs.  She was laying eggs!  Attached to the stick was a blob of clear jelly.  In the blob were many clear circles with dark centers, her eggs.

    Spotted salamander laying eggs. Photo by Mike Dunn.

    We watched the eggs over the next few weeks.  The eggs swelled to a bigger size.  The dark centers of the eggs developed into tiny salamanders with heads and tails.  One day, there were lots of tiny salamanders swimming in the pond.  The eggs had hatched! 

    Spotted salamander egg mass.

    The young salamanders got bigger.  We noticed they had feathery gills on the sides of their heads.  They used their gills to breathe.  They had four tiny legs.  They ate mosquito larvae and other small insects living in the pond.  They kept growing. 

    Spotted salamander larva. Photo by Mike Dunn.

    Then one day, they were gone!  They had grown into salamander teenagers, called metamorphs.  The metamorphs returned to burrows in the woods.  They would eat bugs and worms and slugs.  They would grow up.  In a few years, on another rainy winter night, they would return to our pond to lay eggs of their own!

    Metamorph: A salamander that has recently transformed. For a spotted salamander, a metamorph has absorbed its feathery gills and is ready to leave the pond, but it doesn’t have all the features of an adult yet.

    Last week, Mike and I returned to the pond on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. This time, we didn’t hear or see any boreal chorus frogs. There were still a number of Columbia spotted frogs around. And though we looked and looked, we didn’t see any adult tiger salamanders. However, I was excited to spot some small salamander larvae. You can distinguish them from tadpoles because they have large, feathery gills on either side of their head. They were about two or three inches long and quickly scurried away when they spotted us so, unfortunately, we didn’t get any pictures.

    Mike and I don’t know a ton about the life cycle of the blotched tiger salamanders in Yellowstone yet. Without a pond in our yard, it’s a little bit harder to keep track of what’s going on with them! Mike found a master’s thesis (Steven Hill, 1995, Montana State University) about their behavior in Yellowstone indicating that they typically move to ponds to breed in April or May, then return to their terrestrial burrows in July and August. Most of their movement happens within 24 hours of rain. We’d had a few rainy days and nights between when I saw them with the Institute teacher group and when Mike and I revisited the pond last week. We suspected that the adults had migrated away from the pond on those rainy nights.

    We didn’t notice any eggs in the pond, but tiger salamanders lay eggs singly or in small groups, so they would be harder to find than the spotted salamander eggs pictured in my story. I suspect the larvae we saw may have hatched last year and remained in the pond through the winter, because they seemed a bit too large to have hatched this spring. At high elevations like in Yellowstone, the aquatic larvae may stay in the pond up to two or even three years before they transform into adults. And in some cases, they may reach sexual maturity but remain in an aquatic form with gills for their entire life (called neoteny or paedomorphism).

    Mike and I are excited to revisit the pond to see if we can observe a bit more of the life cycle of Yellowstone’s one type of salamander. We’ll let you know what else we learn!

  • Raising Raptors Update

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    A bird is safe in its nest — but that is not what its wings are made for.

    ~Amit Ray

    We checked on the raptor nests a couple of times this week and there have been some interesting developments. We drove up to see the great horned owl nest on Thursday and when I looked at the nest cavity I didn’t see the adult or the two owlets. I was disappointed and worried at first but after glassing around the area I saw the two owlets sitting in a dead tree about 50 feet from the nest tree. Then I spied the well-camouflaged adult perched below them.

    Great horned owl family in their new tree (click photos to enlarge)

    I think she may be glad they have departed what seemed to be cramped nesting quarters as she can now just sit on a branch without being jostled by the squirmy youngsters.

    Mom chilling out in the new digs

    Great horned owl babies often leave the nest before they can fly, a process known as “branching”. They may jump or even fall out of the nest and then will try to climb off the ground on leaning trees (to be safer from most terrestrial predators). Since both owlets are in the same tree I am guessing they jumped and used their developing wings to clumsily fly over to that tree where they probably had a less than graceful landing. This behavior usually occurs at about 6 to 7 weeks after hatching. They will stay in this area for a few more weeks as the adults continue to bring their food. I may try to get up there one more time to see if I can find them to check in. Happy to see them make it this far.

    Once again we set up the scopes and filmed a bit of the owl family. One owlet was behind a tangle of branches so Melissa just filmed the larger one. Here is a clip of that little dude (videos best viewed full screen).

    –The larger of the two owlets doing some stretches

    On the way out to the owls we stopped at the red-tailed hawk nest but it was so windy we couldn’t get any decent video. Here is a shot showing two of the three nestlings. They have really grown.

    Baby red-tails are really growing and look almost ready to fly

    The osprey nest was occupied by the female adult but the young were hunkered down so we didn’t get any images. Our last stop was the peregrine nest. The three remaining young were visible and the adult was sitting in a favorite perch on our side of the canyon. We enjoyed sharing the scope views with a family who had hoped to see some birds on their visit. I saw the adult fly off the perch so we started looking to see what it might try to catch but we lost track of it in the deep canyon. Suddenly it flew into the nest and the young scrambled over each other to get the food. We were trying to see what it had brought when it picked up the prey and turned – a fish! Here is a somewhat long clip of the feeding frenzy. See if you agree with us that this fish looks a bit stiff so maybe she found a dead fish along the river? So, on our few visits where we have witnessed the adult bring in prey, the premier avian predator that is supposed to eat primarily birds has brought in two birds, a rodent, and a fish. I guess you bring in anyting you can find when the kids are hungry.

    –The peregrine adult picking at a fish to feed the hungry chicks

    After the adult leaves the chicks continued to peck at the fish and squabble a bit over it. One chick did some wing testing but that always made me nervous since one false step means a very long fall down to the river below.

    –Still lots of action from the chicks after the adult leaves

    We checked again a couple of days later and all three are still there though they were mainly hiding back in the crevice holes to escape the heat. That morning we also checked the red-tailed hawk nest and could see only one chick for sure. As we climbed the slope across the road from the nest for an off-trail hike with friends, I looked up and saw an adult red-tail flying with a juvenile. I’m pretty sure one of those young has left the nest and was getting lessons on how to use a thermal. Though I didn’t have a camera with me it is something I will have a memory of for a long time.

    And here is one last raptor sighting we had recently. Though it isn’t a nest photo, this bald eagle was posing nicely on the tip of a tall conifer near a pullout in Round Prairie so I thought I would share.

    A beautiful bald eagle in the top of a tree in Round Prairie

    Though we remained in our car, I think the eagle decided to move on and when it did it provided us with a unique photo op.

    The eagle’s head seen through its wing feathers as it lifts off

  • Of Bears and Ants

    Posted by

    Melissa Dowland

    “Well, let me tell you, ants are the dominant insects. They make up as much as a quarter of the biomass of all insects in the world… And the rest of life is substantially dependent upon them.”
    ~E.O. Wilson

    Here’s another one of the stories from my book series, Walks with a Naturalist. This one, Hot Ants, is from Volume 1. Stay tuned at the end for some fun follow-up from recent explorations in the park, and how bears relate to this whole thing!

    Hot Ants

    When Mike and I visit Yellowstone, we always carry an infrared thermometer.  It’s like the ones that doctors sometimes use.  You point it at something and pull the trigger, and it measures the temperature.  In Yellowstone, an infrared thermometer is perfect for taking the temperature of hot springs because you aren’t allowed to touch them.  They could burn you, and some contain chemicals that aren’t good for you!  

    One time, we were hiking in Yellowstone with our infrared thermometer, and Mike noticed a huge ant mound.  It was about the size of a squishmallow.  The top of the mound was covered with short needles from fir trees.  The needles were old and brownish-orange, not fresh and green like the ones on the trees.  

    There were ants crawling on the mound and on the ground nearby.  The ants had red heads and black abdomens.  They were bigger than the sugar ants that come into our kitchen.  They were smaller than the huge carpenter ants we see in rotting logs.  

    Mike pointed the infrared thermometer at the ground.  It was 85 degrees.  Then he pointed it at the ant mound.  It was 95 degrees!  The ants had built their mound in a sunny spot.  The heat from the sun warmed their mound.  Later that night, the fir needles on the top of the mound would keep it warm, like the blankets on your bed keep you warm at night.  Ants need to be warm to grow and survive.  

    Mike and I enjoyed watching the ants.  Some ants took care of the mound.  They made sure the needle blanket covered the whole mound.  Other ants went out to collect honeydew from aphids.  Aphids are insects that feed on the sap of plants.  Their waste is honeydew, a sweet liquid that the ants like to eat.  We also noticed that some ants would find dead insects and carry them back to the nest for food. 

    Thatch ants with aphids. Photo credit: Greg Skupien

    After doing some research, we discovered these ants are called western thatch ants.  The word “thatch” means a roof made from plants.  That’s just what the ants did – they built a mound with a roof made from plants!  

    See if you can find ant colonies near your home.  What are your ants doing?   What type of home do they live in?

    Last week, I had the privilege to lead the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Yellowstone Institute with twelve amazing teachers from all over North Carolina, plus two awesome coworkers from the Museum. On our last morning, we took a final visit to Lamar Valley to look for wildlife. One of the first wildlife encounters of the day was a male black bear on the side of the road. We watched from the safety of the vehicles as it stopped and dug in a bunch of spots.

    Black bear digging

    I love how you can see the dirt flying at the start of this video! Video credit: Robin Owens-Pittman, one of the teachers in our group, shot through the van window.

    After the bear crossed the road and moved away from where we were parked, we hopped out of the vans to figure out what it was after. We found a number of spots where we could tell it had been digging by the streaks of fresh soil on top of the vegetation and usually at least a small hole, too.

    Spot where the bear was digging

    Each place the bear had dug, ants were scurrying everywhere. Many of them were carrying larvae or pupae, much like you’ve probably seen them do if you’ve ever turned over a rock or a log and disturbed an ant nest. We could only assume the bear was digging up ant nests and eating the ants!

    A close crop of the hole in the previous picture. You can see a few ants with white pupae or larva along the top side of the hole.

    You might also notice the pieces of dead vegetation surrounding this hole. The bear was targeting the mounds of thatch ants, like the ones in my story, for its breakfast!

    About a week later, Mike and I were out in the park and spotted a cinnamon-colored black bear in the same area where the workshop group at seen the black bear digging. This bear seemed more intent on turning over rocks than throwing dirt around.

    “I wonder what’s under this rock?”
    You can see the pile of dried vegetation that is the thatch ant mound under and in front of the bear’s paw.

    Once again, after the bear moved on, we got out to take a look at what it was up to. We found a number of flipped rocks, and again, most were swarming with thatch ants!

    Flipped rock with some ant-thatching around the edge

    Though I knew bears ate ants, it was really neat to see that behavior in action! A little googling brought up a number of scientific studies on ant-foraging by bears. I found this gem of a quote in a study in a 2004 issue of Western North American Naturalist: “A 41-kg, 2.5-year-old male bear shot in mid-July as a nuisance bear had consumed 2.1 kg (wet weight) of Formica, approximately 7840 workers and 54,700 brood [larvae and pupae]. The value of this meal was about 695 calories, which would have provided about 37% of this bear’s daily maintenance requirement.” That’s a lot of ants! The authors of the paper suspect that bears are preferentially searching for and consuming ant larvae and pupae because they are more digestible than adults and have no way to defend themselves.

    Taking that a step further, a 2014 study suggested that bear predation on ant nests caused a trophic cascade. You’ve probably heard about the tropic cascade tied to gray wolves: more wolves means less elk which means healthier aspens and willows (among other things). Recent publications are showing it’s nowhere near as simple as that… but wolves most certainly play a role.

    In the bear-ant case, here’s how it plays out. Thatch ants protect sap-sucking insects and collect their honeydew, as I described in my story. Without bear predation, the sap-sucking insects (in the case of the 2014 study, leafhopper nymphs) thrive under the protection of the ants. More sap-sucking insects means more damage to their host plants. But in areas with increased bear predation on ants, there weren’t as many ants remaining to guard the leafhopper nymphs, allowing predators of the nymphs to swoop in and eat them up, leading to few leafhopper nymphs. With fewer leafhopper nymphs, there was less stress on the plants, and the plants grew measurably better. It’s always amazing to rediscover just how interconnected the natural world is!

  • Harlequin

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    The male in breeding plumage is one of the more visually chaotic birds in North America.

    ~Aaron Bailey, Owner, Teton Excursions

    On most of museum educator workshops in years past, we would stop at LeHardy Rapids to look for a particular species, the harlequin ducks. This stretch of fast-flowing waters is considered by some to be the boundary between Yellowstone Lake and where it becomes the Yellowstone River. The rapids are spectacular in spring and the colorful ducks that spend several weeks here are equally impressive.

    A gang of harlequin ducks hanging out on the rocks at LeHardy Rapids

    Most years, we see only the boldly patterned males hanging out on a few rocks in the rapids. This year, Melissa and I saw a female who is mainly grayish brown with a noticeable white spot on the side of the head. The common name, harlequin, comes from colorful characters in theatrical productions of Italian comedy in the 16th to 18th centuries that were popular in much of Europe. The character’s costume was quite garish with bold colors and patterns and in the late 1700’s these ducks were given the name because of the male’s colors. Even the scientific name, Histrionicus histrionicus, is from Latin meaning “theatrical”.

    Illustration from Wikicommons of one of the comic characters for which these ducks are named

    It was amazing to watch these birds navigate the rapids. They are well-adapted to live in these harsh conditions: they have powerful legs and webbed feet for propulsion against the current; they use their wings, held slightly open, to help steer in the waves; and they have densely packed feathers that trap air providing both insulation and buoyancy after diving to feed on aquatic insects and small fish. Even that flashy color is believed to help camouflage them in the waves. Studies of museum specimens have provided data suggesting these ducks suffer more broken bones than any other species, not surprising given their habitat of rushing waters and boulders.

    A male and female swimming against the rapids

    –A pair of harlequin ducks riding the waves

    These birds thrive in fast-flowing waters like LeHardy Rapids
    A harlequin male torpedoes upstream over a rapid
    Their dense feather layers hold air and make the birds quite buoyant so they tend to pop back to the surface like a cork even in the roughest waters
    A male flaps his wings after spending minutes in the waves

    They tend to be at LeHardy Rapids for several weeks with females then departing to nest on smaller tributaries that are not quite as fast-flowing. They migrate to coastal waters for the winter were they feed on a variety of tidal marine invertebrates. Due to their remote habitat preferences, little is known about overall population trends although their wintering population in the northeastern United States has been declining.

    LeHardy Rapids provides birdwatchers with an excellent chance to see these beautiful birds every spring and we always look forward to spending time with these elegant “clowns of the waves”.

    The harlequins posing in their clown suits (the males that is) on their favorite perch in the rapids

  • Walks with a Naturalist – Volume 3 is out!

    Posted by

    Melissa Dowland

    My third book is out! I introduced the first two and wrote about how this whole project came about back in May. The third volume includes thirty more nature stories with photos and illustrations on topics ranging from the white ash tree that was in my yard growing up to finding ant lions in your backyard to snorkeling with colorful fish in mountain streams to seeing wild canids in Yellowstone. Check it out here:

    Available on Amazon now, click the image to take you to the site.

    Here’s a sneak peak at one of the stories from Volume 3…

    Dipper Dinner

    One of my favorite birds to watch in Yellowstone is the American dipper. Dippers are small gray birds about the size of a robin. That might not sound exciting. But dippers are special birds. They are the only songbirds that are aquatic! That means they only live in and around the water.

    It seems that whenever I spend time near a rushing stream in Yellowstone, I see an American dipper. The dipper is almost always sitting on a small rock at the edge of the stream. It bobs its body up and down nonstop, like it is dancing to the music of the water. That’s why it’s called a dipper! Dippers particularly like riffles, where the water is shallow and rocky and fast-flowing.

    As I watch the dipper, it jumps off the rock and into the water. The dipper can swim! Sometimes, its head and neck bob above the surface as it uses its big feet to walk across the slippery river rocks. Sometimes it goes completely underwater and uses its wings to swim!

    American dipper looking for insects underwater

    After about ten seconds in the water, the dipper jumps back up onto its rock. I can see a small insect in its beak. It shakes the insect a few times. Then it gulps the insect down. It happens so fast! I watch the dipper through my binoculars as it catches more insects. I want to figure out what kind of food it is eating.

    American dipper with an insect in its beak

    When the dipper first hops out of the water onto the rock, I can see something brown in its beak. But after it shakes its prey, I see some green color on it. I suspect that the dipper is catching caddisfly larvae. Caddisfly larvae have dark head capsules, six legs, and a long, segmented abdomen. On some species of caddisfly larvae, the abdomen is green, like the dipper’s prey.

    Caddisfly larva

    Caddisfly larvae live in streams and ponds. They hide out in shelters they build from leaves or sticks or rocks. Their shelters help them stay hidden and protect them from predators. But not from the American dipper! The dipper easily spots a caddisfly larva, grabs it in its beak, carries it to a rock, shakes off its brown case, and gulps down the tasty green insect inside.

    American dippers like to eat all sorts of other things they can find in streams. Once, Mike and I even watched a dipper catch and eat a small fish! Even in the middle of winter, dippers find prey in places along a stream where the water is flowing too fast to freeze. Brr! It’s a good thing the dipper has lots more feathers than most other birds the same size.

    What are the favorite foods of birds that live near you? Do you have birds that like to eat insects? Can you figure out what kinds of insects they are eating?

    Aquatic: An aquatic animal is one that lives in the water.

    To take this story a little bit further, here’s some video I shot through our spotting scope of an American dipper catching a caddisfly (I think) back in February. This moment is actually what inspired the story for my book!

    American dipper catching a caddisfly

    Pretty much all of the stories are based on real events like this one, though I did elaborate in a few cases (like when I claimed to be interested in cicadas as a teenager… that didn’t really happen until much later in life!).

    If you pick up a copy of Walks with a Naturalist, I’d love to hear what you think!

  • Raising Raptors Redux

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    I rejoice that there are owls…They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all have.

    ~Henry David Thoreau

    On Monday I was planning a hike to get away from the crowds along the roadways in the northern range. As I was driving, I decided to go down the Blacktail Drive, a one-way 6-mile dirt road through some beautiful landscapes. I was immediately disappointed when I saw another car ahead only a half-mile in. Turned out to be two stopped cars so I slowly eased up, looking left and right to see what they might be watching. The first car moved off as I approached, then the second, and I never saw anything, a frustratingly common occurrence in the park. What did they see? Well, the first car was stopped in a wide spot a little farther along so I rolled down my window and asked. With a huge smile, the man said “a black wolf, and we got some great pictures”. It had crossed the dirt road in front of them and then stopped and finally walked into the trees and over the hill as I drove up. I was bummed to say the least! I later spoke to the occupants of the second car and they confirmed it had been a wolf. This is Yellowstone – you never know what you might see anywhere anytime.

    At the end of the drive you come down to the main road near the Petrified Tree road. I could see a large crowd gathered across the meadow so I assumed it was another black bear, although the thought of a possible moose made me pull over and get out to go see. I walked up to the edge of the knoll and there was a large cinnamon brown bear grazing in the clearing. I stood and watched the people, knowing that many were thinking they were seeing their first grizzly, an understandable mistake if you aren’t familiar with these brown-colored black bears that are so common in Yellowstone. As I walked back to the car, “nature called” so I went beyond the lot into the trees. When I came back there was a man in a truck parked next to me who enthusiastically told me about the bear just over the rise. He wanted to know if I saw anything back in the trees. Well, not wanting to admit it, I said I was looking for a western tanager. He exclaimed, “oh, you’re into birds?”. He then shared he had an amazing encounter with some birds as he drove into the park – “I had to pee, you know how that is”…I nodded. He continued “I got out of the truck and went into the woods and heard a hoot”. He looked around and saw a great horned owl nest with two chicks. I asked him where and he began giving some vague directions that led me to a possible location where I knew owls had nested in the vicinity in years past. I thanked him and headed straight to that area. I pulled over and got out looking for likely trees (hollow trees, broken snags, or trees with old nests or mistletoe clumps) and, incredibly, I saw an owl atop a broken tree trunk. I walked way around and above the tree hoping to have a better angle for viewing, but I could only see the adult sitting on the edge of the snag. By the way, all these photos are taken with my 200-800 mm telephoto and are cropped. I was trying to not disturb the birds. At times, I obviously was spotted by them. But other people walk around this popular area so I think the birds are accustomed to seeing people nearby. But I doubt many people see the birds as they blend in very well.

    The adult owl on the edge of the nest (click photos to enlarge)

    I continued to move uphill and the owl then spotted me so I stopped.

    She looks at me as the sun breaks out

    I kept wondering how that guy saw two owlets, but figured the little ones had been standing when he was there. I looked up behind me and it was a steep slope with a jumble of huge jagged boulders. Not very inviting. I did think that in my younger days I might have tried it, but I thought better of it now. I then decided to go to another vantage point on the opposite side of the tree and see what the nest looked like. That was the secret as I saw an owlet staring at me.

    One owlet looks at me when I made a wide circle around the tree to the opposite side
    After watching for many minutes, the other owlet raised up.

    I went back to the car and brought out the spotting scope and hooked up my phone on the adapter. Now I was much farther away and was partially hidden in some trees so any passing people would hopefully not see me observing the birds (I just didn’t want this to become a spectacle as the nest was approachable unlike the previous raptor nests I filmed).

    Here are just a few of the clips I made while watching these beautiful owls…

    –One chick (the largest I think) was moving around a lot more than the other one. Here it is moving its head around perhaps trying to focus on something.

    –Both owlets get into the act in this clip. At one point the adult looks at them as if to say “would you guys settle down”. It didn’t work.

    I have a lot of footage of the owls sitting in the nest, the wind blowing their feathers as they take a siesta or keep an eye on what’s going on below. But here is a different perspective showing the incredible talons that make great horned owls such lethal hunters.

    After a light rain, I reluctantly headed back home. This is how I left them. They seemed pretty relaxed. Wishing the owlets a successful first flight in a few weeks.

  • Raising Raptors

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

    The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak and stared with his foot on the prey.

    ~Alfred Lord Tennyson

    While Melissa is out with her teacher workshop, I have been busy observing wildlife in the park. Not the usual megafauna of wolves and bears, but some of what most people claim to be “less glamorous” species from trout to dragonflies. Most birds also tend to fall into that category but I decided to spend yesterday trying to observe feeding behavior at three raptor nests visible from the park roads. We have watched these nests before and seen the nestlings, but I wanted to try to film the adults feeding their young. It turned out to be a 7-hour marathon requiring patience and lots of discussion with park visitors.

    All three nests are across a river from pullouts along a road and are on steep or inaccessible terrain making them safe from human disturbance. Here is what the nest sites look like from the roads. These images are taken with a telephoto lens so you can see why most people never see them as they drive by (although the osprey nest is fairly visible if you are paying attention).

    A red-tailed hawk nest in a cavity in a cliff face. The nest is just left of center in this photo (click photos to enlarge)
    A peregrine falcon nest in a crevice in the canyon wall
    This osprey nest has been here for many years

    I started with the red-tailed hawk nest which is probably the least known of the three. I sat in a folding chair next to my car with my phone attached to a spotting scope (with a Phone Skope adapter) for about 90 minutes watching the nest (a full 30 minutes before the adult bird showed up). During that time, fewer than 10 vehicles stopped and only 4 where someone got out to ask what I was looking at. And when I showed two of those the hawk babies through the scope, they said “cool, have you seen any bears”? Birds get no respect:)

    I had hoped to get the adult bird flying into the nest with prey but in all three nests I missed that as the birds came in so quickly and it takes a few seconds for the camera to turn on and focus once you hit the buttons. The hawk brought in a rodent of some sort, perhaps a Uinta ground squirrel based n the color of the fur. For the next 56 minutes, the adult hawk tore into the prey item feeding bits of it to the hungry nestlings. Enlarge the videos to full screen for best viewing.

    –Note how the smallest chick often sneaks bites from between the adults’ legs

    Unlike songbirds, raptor chicks hatch in the order the eggs are laid causing size disparities in the young with the first to hatch generally being the largest. The older chicks often get fed the most because of their larger size and aggressiveness.

    After almost 30 minutes of feeding, the two largest chicks were full. The adult starting pecking at the carcass and then attempted to swallow the remains, which required some effort to get down.

    –The adult hawk finally leaves the nest after gulping down the remains of the meal

    I next moved on the peregrine falcon nest site. Falcons have nested in this section of the canyon for many years and word spread early this year about the location of this year’s nest. It is in a small crack in the vertical canyon wall across the river from a couple of pullouts. The overcast day provided better light as the shadows can be very dark on sunny days. As I was getting the scope set up, the adult falcon flew in with a prey item which I assumed was another bird. On previous visits we had seen a northern flicker and perhaps a dipper brought in to feed the chicks. It wasn’t until I reviewed the footage on the computer that I discovered the prey was a rodent! I can’t quite tell what it is so if you have thoughts, let me know. I was amazed, but studies show that although most of a peregrine’s prey is bird life, they do occasionally eat insects, small mammals, and even reptiles.

    –The adult falcon bringing in a rodent to feed its young

    This nest originally contained 4 chicks. Research indicates that peregrine’s usually lay 3 to 4 eggs but have a survival of an average of 2 young per nest. You can see the size differences here. We watched a feeding a few days prior to this and the noticeably smaller fourth chick received very little food as it was positioned behind its much larger siblings during the feeding. We later learned that chick died and was fed to its siblings. This is not an unusual fate for the smallest young in a raptor nest, especially if it is a year with sparse prey availability.

    –The adult falcon leaves the nest after the feeding. Note how large the feet of the young falcons are in relation to body size at this stage. Perhaps that helps them stay put on their tiny landing on the sheer cliff face.

    This feeding was much quicker than that at the red-tailed hawk nest and it seemed the adult bird ate more of the prey. I believe the noticeable paired bulges on the necks of the young birds is from the food in their crop. As the food moves into their stomachs, those bulges disappear.

    My last stop was at the osprey nest. This is a popular visitor stop as the pullout is quite large and many people stop to observe the nest. I had a lot more interaction with visitors at this location. I posted earlier this spring about watching the pair refurbish the nest by breaking off limbs from trees along the river and flying them back to the nest. I waited here for well over an hour before the male brought back a trout for the young (studies show that the male usually does all of the fishing during nesting). The female quickly started tearing off pieces and feeding the chicks. It seemed that she was more equitable in her feeding then the other two raptor species I had watched earlier.

    –The male has just brought a trout to the nest and then flies off to an adjacent branch as the female feeds the young.

    You’ll see one of the chicks squirt its poop over the edge of the nest at the start of the clip. After the feeding, the female flew for a couple of minutes, no doubt for some well-deserved alone time. The male stayed on the branch next to the nest. When she returned she did a little house-keeping and moved a stick to a new spot. A nearby lightning bolt encouraged me to wrap up an incredible day of observing raptors raising their young. The spotting scope and phone combination provides some incredible insights into the lives of these amazing birds.

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