Roads End Naturalist

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

  • Big Red

    The grizzly is a symbol of what is right with the world.

    ~Charles Jonkel

    A few weeks ago, a large bull elk walked out to the edge of a marshy area in the park and got stuck in the mud. For two days it struggled, unable to free itself. Being fairly close to a road, many visitors saw this huge animal attempt to escape its muddy prison. In what was a somewhat uncharacteristic move for park staff, they put the animal down (I heard they shot it and killed it to put it out of its misery). Normally, park staff only intervene if an animal injury is human-caused. In this case, being close to a road and so visible to visitors, the decision was made to intervene after giving the bull two days to try to free himself. As is always the case here in Yellowstone, one animal’s death provide sustenance for a host of other species. Surprisingly, it apparently took 4 days before a grizzly showed up at the carcass (I am going on what I was told by some bystanders at the site). I had a lot going on when I first heard about this carcass but then saw several photos on social media of the large bear laying on its prize. Several days went by and I finally had a chance to drive the couple of hours to that part of the park to check it out. The bear had been feeding on it for 6 days already so I thought it could be a waste of time as most of the carcass might already be gone, but I went anyway.

    The marshy pond where the elk carcass and grizzly drama played out (click photos to enlarge)

    When I arrived I could see a decent crowd gathered so that gave me hope that maybe something was still going on. I luckily found a parking space and got out and glassed the shoreline and saw a big dark brown blob next to some elk antlers a little over 150 yards away. I took a couple of quick photos and realized this was pretty far out so I would be better off using the spotting scope.

    This is a heavily cropped image of the grizzly using my 500mm telephoto

    The scene was pretty dramatic – a huge boar grizzly (some in the crowd estimated it to be about 600 pounds) laying next to a nice set of elk antlers. The grizzly had covered most of the carcass with mud and grass and was laying on top of it (this is typical grizzly behavior at a carcass). The scope and phone adapter provided a much clearer view of the action. My apologies as I apparently forgot to tune down the audio on some of these video clips so you may just want to keep the audio off as it is just people talking and road noise.

    –The big grizzly lays down on the elk carcass – note the bear’s huge claws!

    Talking with a few folks around me that had been watching this play our for several days I learned this grizzly is known by the name “Big Red”, although no one explained why this very dark-colored bear had that moniker. Big Red would lounge around, then periodically stir and start feeding, all the while keeping any encroaching ravens at bay.

    –Big Red feeding on the cached elk carcass

    At one point, the grizzly stood up and walked about 50 feet away from the carcass and stood along the edge of the pond. I soon heard someone in the crowd say “There’s a wolf at the carcass”. I turned my scope back and saw a coyote (this is a common identification mistake I hear from visitors – mistaking a coyote for a wolf). The coyote must have been waiting in the bushes behind the bear and it wasted no time in coming in and pulling off some chunks of meat while keeping a wary eye on the brutish bruin just a stone’s throw away.

    —A coyote sneaks in and steals a few precious morsels from the carcass. The grizzly soon spots the thief and rushes over to protect his meal.

    Folks in the crowd told me that Big Red had chased away other coyote interlopers as well as a couple of other bears during the week. And Big Red apparently never left the carcass in all that time, even sleeping on top of it when not feeding.

    Big Red taking a nap on the elk carcass. Few creatures would dare approach with this giant laying on the carcass.

    I spent about 4 hours that first evening watching this scene and chatting with a couple of photographers. Much of the time, Big Red was just laying down so I was able to look around at other comings and goings – ravens, magpies, and an amazing little caterpillar that appeared on the roadway guardrail where I was standing.

    The spotted tussock moth caterpillar is actually a type of tiger moth larva. It feeds on a variety of deciduous shrub and tree leaves and reminds me a bit of a flamboyant woolly bear with a spiked hairdo.

    The next morning I left before dawn to drive the two hours to see if the bear was still there. Along the way, I spotted a beautiful golden-colored grizzly in Hayden Valley digging for food so I naturally had to stop and watch for several minutes.

    –This bear was digging for food (insects and roots most likely) but occasionally looked as if it was trying to catch something, a small rodent perhaps?

    I finally arrived at Big Red’s site and found him still guarding the carcass. I had only a short time before needing to be back home so I mainly watched and took just one video of him looking around for intruders, his breath billowing in the cold morning air.

    –Big Red looks around trying to keep a coyote away from his stash of food.

    After saying farewell to one person I had chatted with for two days of watching Big Red, I headed home. But there was to be one last wildlife surprise along the way…

    Driving through the lower part of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone I was surprised to see two (only one is shown here) bighorn sheep ewes perched atop the stone barrier along the road. I slowed down and snapped one phone pic as I drove past. It is not often you see them so close.

    Melissa and her sister had been out of town while I was on my excursions to watch Big Red, so after hearing my stories they decided to make a sight detour to the site the next morning as they headed to Grand Teton National Park for a night of camping. Unfortunately, I guess Big Red had decided he had had enough and was not there when they arrived. Interestingly, this week (about 3 weeks after I visited the carcass) reports are that another grizzly is now digging up the remains and feeding on what scant amount of meat may be left. Nothing goes to waste here for sure.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Song Dog Pups

    To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.

    ~Mary Davis

    One afternoon back in early September I decided to take a short hike in a spot we have walked may times over the years. I like this walk in the late day sun as I often see various birds in the shrubs along the creek. As I crossed through a gap in the willows on a well-worn path used by bison for perhaps decades, a movement caught my eye on a far hillside. Coyotes! Perhaps three individuals made their way quickly down slope through the sagebrush and stopped at a mound of dirt. I dropped to my knees and soon realized I was looking at a den site and the pups had run down to it when they saw me. I could see two pups sitting at the den entrance. They looked my way for a minute or so and then, to my surprise, two of them went back up to the top of the hill.

    Two of the coyote pups soon returned to the top of the ridge and watched me for a couple of minutes before laying back down and looking in the other direction. These photos were taken with my 500mm telephoto and heavily cropped. (click photos to enlarge)

    This little guy sat up, stretched, and gave me a quick look before going back to sleep.

    When I got up to leave, the pups all went down to the den and watched. That was the first time I knew there were four.

    On my walk out, a pronghorn buck came over a small ridge along my path. I stopped and it continued walking beyond me and started to cross through the line of willows along the creek. It hesitated, came back out and tried another spot. It didn’t seem to like that one either (they both were muddy with deep prints from bison crossings). To my surprise, it came out and trotted straight toward me before realizing that I was still there. He veered off and walked at a brisk pace around and behind me and crossed the willows in the dry gap I had taken earlier.

    The pronghorn buck came straight my way for a second before veering off. Their coats and eyes are incredible.

    Melissa had been out of town on my first trip where I stumbled upon the den site. After she returned, she went with me twice and she brought her Swarovski spotting scope and Phone Skope adapter and captured some video with her iPhone. The pups were relaxed the whole time once we sat down.

    –Melissa got this great video clip of two of the pups in half-hearted play

    –Most of the time, there were two pups laying up on the ridge. The other two were either laying down in the sagebrush or in the den

    –You can see the difference between this video with my camera and 500mm (and cropped considerably) and the previous ones using the scope and phone. While filming, a group of magpies flew in and landed all around the pup on the hill. You see the pup flatten himself. I wasn’t sure if it was afraid or thinking of catching one of the birds. Finally, there seemed to be just too many of them and the pup left.

    I went back a few times by myself after Melissa started attending a week-long online nature journaling conference. I took her scope and phone adapter and got several minutes of video (I have since bought an adapter for my scope). As I approached the site I would stop at one point far away and scan the area with binoculars and at least one pup was always visible laying on top of the ridge. I didn’t want to disturb them if adults were present or if the pups seemed afraid (I never did see an adult at the site). I also tried to not attract any attention from other people in the pullouts as I certainly didn’t want a crowd going up to that area. After the second trip out to see the den, it seemed the pups just looked at me as another part of the landscape. They stopped going down to the den entrance and just remained on the ridge. They watched me until I sat down and then they resumed what they were doing, which was mainly laying down looking north, presumably waiting on their parents to return with food. I have a lot of video clips with Melissa’s scope of pups sleeping with an occasional ear wiggle or brief look around. I usually stayed about an hour and left at sunset (many of which were gorgeous). The pups would glance my way and then lay back down as I left.

    One of the beautiful sunsets as I walked back to the car

    On one of my early visits I saw a group of people on the bridge as I approached my parked car. I figured it could be either otters in the river or perhaps a black bear. One person saw me walking towards them and motioned for me to look to my right. I couldn’t see anything because of a slight hill between my vantage point and the river. She then said, “bear”. I asked if it was a black bear or a grizzly. The reply – grizzly! So, I moved off the path and headed to my left and quickly joined the group on the road and saw a beautiful grizzly wandering along the river eating berries as it went. The bear then climbed the hill and crossed over the path I had been walking just minutes before. The crowd moved towards their vehicles or the other side of the bridge and the bear eventually managed to cross the road and disappear behind a ridge along the river.

    This nice grizzly came up from the river and walked across the path I had just returned on

    Two evenings later was the last time I saw the pups. They were sleeping as usual with just a glance my way when I arrived and departed. I went back a few more times, including two trips in the morning, and glassed the area from afar and saw no activity. From what I have read, coyote pups may linger at the den into September but soon leave and follow the adults as they hunt or strike off to find their own territories . These pups looked a bit young to me to be out on their own, but we did see some young coyotes a couple of weeks later out hunting within a mile or two of the den, so who knows.

    One interesting thing I saw at the site was part of a pronghorn head – a furred piece of skull with one horn, an adult male horn. I saw one pup tugging at it and carrying it a short distance as sort of a plaything. I know wolf pups often have bones or antlers as play toys near their dens. Makes me wonder how that pronghorn met his demise because I think it would be rare for coyotes (or even wolves) to take down a healthy adult.

    Over the two weeks I was privileged to observe these pups, I saw them play, sleep, watch intently as some magpies walked around their den area, and look off in the distance, presumably keeping an eye out for an adult returning with a meal. Here’s hoping they are doing well wherever they are on this majestic landscape.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Backyard Bears

    The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them.

    ~Margaret Atwood

    We have had a few posts lately about some of our backyard wildlife, including some black bear moms and cubs. I must admit, seeing bears on our trail camera from next to the house is kind of cool. And, up until this past week, they were only seen a couple of times and were either trying to get a few remaining apples on our neighbor’s tree (which have now all been picked) or getting a drink out of our tiny water hole designed to attract birds. There had been no interest in the abundant crab apple crop on our two trees. When the Bear Awareness representative stopped by a couple of weeks ago at my request to discuss the electric fence, he advised cutting down those trees as they could be a prime bear attractant (you know you are in Montana when you have a Bear Awareness organization in town). In fact, he looked around at the many fruit trees the previous owner had planted and thought they should all go. Though the electric fence out back might keep out elk and deer, it might not be a strong deterrent for bears if they sensed food beyond it. Plus, he pointed out there were other access points for bears through the wooden fence or even climbing up the steep boulder wall out front. I admit we hesitated because the trees were both part of the screening between houses and we had watched birds feeding on the fruit on our trip last November before we officially moved across country. We discussed the possibility of replacing the crab apples with a native tree species like aspens, but just weren’t sure how difficult that might be and how long it might take to fill in that space.

    Well, events this past week helped us make a decision. For whatever reason (maybe the fruit is ripening?), the bears started eating the crab apples. And the first ones we saw were the sow and cub that had been relocated from town several weeks ago (she now has an ear tag to help identify her). I don’t know how far away she was taken but she was back in town after only a couple of weeks. She was in the large crab apple tree one morning when I came downstairs. After seeing me, she quickly moved away and left the yard by climbing down the steep boulder wall that frames our driveway. We did alert the neighbors so people would be aware and no one seemed to express major concern. Bears in town are a fact of life here. I will admit, it is thrilling to see a black bear just outside your window. And the fact that she had not done any damage or does not act in a threatening manner initially makes you think, well, they can just stay here and eat and we can enjoy watching them. But, a bear becoming accustomed to being near humans is probably not a good thing, for the humans or the bear.

    Black bear sow from one of our living room windows (note the white ear tag) (click photos to enlarge)
    Sow and cub walking down the road in front of our house

    The next morning, a large bear was at the top of the crab apple eating and a cub was high in a tree next to my neighbor’s house. When I tried to get a photo from inside the house with my phone, she saw the light and came down. A minute or two later, she walked by an opening in the vegetation between the two houses and it was then I realized it wasn’t the same bear – this one had two cubs! Sure enough, a few minutes later she came back and I could see she had no ear tag. This bear and her cubs have also been seen all over town in recent weeks. She resumed eating but after several minutes gathered her cubs and went off down the road. I kept thinking this kind of scene would cause a major road jam if it were in the park and here ir was happening right in our small yard.

    I checked the trail camera out by the water hole and was pleased to see it had captured some nice bear footage.

    –The sow leans in for a long drink at the water hole (she kept this up for over a minute)

    –Only one of her cubs came to get a drink

    One bear had cone into the frame of the camera from the direction of our wooden fence that spans the short distance from the corner of our house to where the electric fence starts. I decided to place a trail camera looking at that fence to see if and how bears were getting through. It has wide gaps between the boards so it should be easy to crawl through or climb over (it is effective against deer and elk, but probably not much else). That provided some nice footage.

    –A cub easily crawls between the fence boards

    –This was very interesting to watch. If she eats many more crab apples, she might not be able to do that.

    Based on the camera footage that night, there had been 5 different bears in our backyard. The next morning we discussed it with our neighbor, who, like us, doesn’t seem to mind the bears being here, but worries that it might lead to problems for them in the future if they get into any trouble in town. One amazing thing was the amount of scat in both of our yards, especially his, since access to the trees is easier from his side. I shoveled about 6 large scat piles from our walkways but he had close to 20 piles of bear scat in his side yard. And we learned they have been accessing someone’s apple tree in addition to our crab apple based on what we saw in their scat. It just shows that, as the Bear Awareness program strives to achieve, the entire community needs to help reduce bear attractants for it to be successful. And we are also reminded that what attracts black bears can also attract grizzlies and that potentially can become a much different issue in terms of both bear and human safety.

    Looking up at the tremendous amount of fruit still on the trees, we realized these bears would just keep coming back until they went off to hibernate. The more they were in town, the more chance of them getting into trouble in trash cans or with chickens or any number of other possibilities. The bears had broken many of the branches on the trees and that helped me make the decision to start cutting the branches and removing as much of the fruit as we could. So, for the next couple of hours we cut out branches and picked fruit. It was all properly disposed of in the town dump where bears cannot get to it. Cutting back that tree will make it much easier to access the fruit in future years to remove it before it becomes a bear attractant (if , indeed, we don’t replace the tree with a species that is not attractive to bears). Living with wildlife, especially bears, demands that we act responsibly for our safety and that of the animals.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Yard Elk

    Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.

    ~Gary Snyder

    If you saw our FB post about our yard elk, you know that a bull has shown up in the neighborhood as the rut begins. We watched him one day over a week ago in the street out front as he looked for the cows that tend to hang around here.

    This is the pic we posted several days ago of the elk as seen through a living room window (click photos to enlarge)

    Well, now he has appeared a bit closer to our home. A few days ago I had to have my truck windshield replaced. The mobile unit came and they were in the driveway for about an hour to do the work. I was out under the deck overhang watching and talking with them. When they drove off, I walked up the deck steps and as I turned the corner to step on the deck, there he was, maybe 20 feet from me. We were both startled, and he raised up and turned around (he was eating a shrub in our narrow walkway next to the side deck). He took a few steps and turned his head and just stared at me. Respectfully, I backed away and went inside the basement and up the stairs to grab my phone for a pic. He moved around to the back side of the yard and was again browsing on some of the shrubs. He had to move differently than I have seen the cows do when eating at the fence cages around many of our side yard plants. His antlers made it more difficult to just lower your head and eat leaves sticking out of the mesh. He had to angle his head so the antlers would not get caught in the fencing. After pulling some plants through the mesh, he came around from behind the fencing and stared up at the mountain ash branches. I was hoping he would stand up on his hind legs to get the branch as I have seen the cow elk do across the street, but he just ambled on up the hill toward the cliff.

    The bull elk wondering what that would taste like
    Things that can happen when a large bull elk wants to get at some plants in your yard. He knocked over this chair and left a calling card (dark scat in lower right corner of pic).

    I grabbed my camera and went out on the deck as he walked up the hill. He paused to give me another look.

    There was one cow up at the base of the cliff and he turned to go in her direction but then tuned around and walked along the path where I have the trail camera.

    –The bull elk strolls by the trail camera at the base of the cliff. I was hoping he would come back that way for a head-on shot, but he had other things on his mind I suppose

    While this is a nice bull, he looks like a teenager compared to the dominant bull now in the park in Mammoth. Known as #24, he is massive and has claimed quite a harem of cows. He recently battled another large bull and maintained his status as the dominant. I haven’t been able to get a pic of him yet as there is always a large crowd when he is out and rangers are keeping people a safe distance from him and the other elk. But this week, I did see what I am guessing is the bull elk he defeated. This large bull was resting along the road near Mammoth. Note the broken tips on a couple of his antler tines. Like #24, his antlers are much larger and thicker than the town bull that is hanging around our house.

    This may be the bull that was recently defeated in a challenge match of shoving and antler clashing with the dominant #24 bull in Mammoth

    And now another wildlife event is happening…as I was typing this, our neighbor texted that a black bear and 2 cubs had just been in our side yard where the bull elk photos were taken. By the time we got out there they had left and gone across the road and were running across a field possibly due to some dogs barking. Our neighbor texted us this pic taken through her window screen of the sow and one cub after they jumped up on our propane tank in an attempt to get in the back yard. They stayed for just a few seconds and then walked off around her house and crossed the road. It is never dull here for sure.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • The Last Hummingbird

    Hummingbird teaches us to transcend time, to recognize that what has happened in the past and what might happen in the future is not nearly as important as what we are experiencing now. It teaches us to hover in the moment, to appreciate its sweetness

    ~Constance Barrett Sohodski

    We were looking forward to seeing some different hummingbirds this summer at our feeders here in Montana. We loved watching the antics of the ruby-throated hummingbirds back in NC but they are a species that does not occur here in Yellowstone country. We learned that there are three species we should look for in the park – rufous, calliope, and broad-tailed. We saw a broad-tailed hummingbird on one of our road trips out West a few years ago and noted its loud sounds and fairly large size. The others would be new to us. So, thinking we wanted to get the early ones, I put up our feeder right after we moved in on May 7 and waited…and waited..and waited some more. Nothing showed up for the entire month of May and June and I was ruing the fact that we had almost no wildflowers on our new tiny lot to help bring in the hummingbirds..

    Then, in early July, I saw a darting shadow – a hummingbird! Over the next several days we would see one bird every now and then. After careful observation we decided it must be a rufous hummingbird, either a female or immature male. We started seeing another one several days later. In late July, an adult male showed up and staked his claim to the feeder. At that point we decided one feeder was not enough with this diminutive bully in town.

    An adult male rufous hummingbirds showing his stuff (click photos to enlarge)

    We put up two more feeders, one on each side of the house, to make it easier for birds to avoid the aggressive male. Well, it turns out they are all aggressive, so there were constant battles. They all seemed to prefer the initial feeder so that is where all the action seemed to take place. As days passed, more and more birds showed up. We started looking hard for the other species and finally, one day, got a clear look at a noticeably smaller hummingbird. After finally getting a photo of one, we are pretty sure it was a calliope.

    A calliope hummingbird at the feeder

    Eventually we confirmed two calliopes and we think all the rest may have been rufous hummingbirds. Interestingly, the calliope hummingbirds were often left alone at the feeder for a bit while the rufous were still squabbling with each other. Calliope hummingbirds are the smallest hummingbird in North America and the smallest bird in the United States. They weigh about the same as a ping pong ball. And given their small size, they are considered the smallest long distance migrant in the bird world with migration distances of about 5000 miles each year between their breeding grounds in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies to their wintering grounds in southern Mexico. I’m hoping that we see an adult male next year as they are stunning with rays of magenta feathers on the gorget (throat) that he can extend outwards in displays.

    Almost all of the hummingbirds at our feeders were rufous hummingbirds and most were either female or immature males. I saw two adult males over the course of the several weeks they were in the yard.

    My first few photographs were taken late in the afternoon which meant I had mainly silhouettes due to the position of the feeder. I started going out early in the morning and sitting along the deck rail to photograph them in better light. These pix were taken with my 100-500 zoom telephoto and the images are cropped. It is definitely a challenge to get a decent photo of these aerial acrobats. I tried to get my shutter speed at around 1/8000 sec whenever possible to try to stop the wing action but even then there were some blurs. I used the mechanical shutter at the start with frame rates of 12 photos per second but found that by switching to the electronic shutter (20 frames per second) I was able to get many more keepers (but a lot more images to go through and delete when necessary).

    A rufous hummingbird flying toward me
    I liked some of the images where part of the bird is hidden
    The many poses the camera can catch gave me a much greater appreciation for the dexterity. of these tiny dynamos. Identifying these fast flyers is difficult, especially for someone from the East when almost every hummingbird I ever saw on our yard was a single species, the ruby-throated hummingbird. SEEK (the nature identifying app) tells me this one is a broad-tailed hummingbird. Merlin (the bird ID app) is unsure and says either a rufous or a broad-tailed. If you have a good guess, let me know.

    One of the behaviors I wanted to photograph was their intense mid-air battles. Everything I read said that rufous hummingbirds are one of the most aggressive species we have. Indeed, whenever there were two or more near a feeder they seemed to want to squabble. And their aerial squabbles are lightning fast. Here are a few I was lucky enough to capture.

    They always fanned their tail and seemed to arch their bodies when confronting another bird
    Just like in combat aircraft duels it seems that coming from above is an advantage
    I don’t really know what was happening here. I suspect another bird is coming from outside the frame to the upper right and this upside down bird is bracing for impact

    In early August things started heating up at the feeders, though the first feeder I had put out was still the favorite. In a matter of days, the numbers of hummingbirds went from 5 or 6 to 15 to 20 at a time at that feeder. This is probably due to migratory birds showing up. Rufous hummingbirds have a migration path that extends up the west coast and into Canada by May. They nest farther north than any other hummingbird. By mid-summer they start migrating south but take a route more through the Rocky Mountain states, especially the high mountain meadows with abundant wildflowers. There are records of them nesting in Yellowstone but I think most of the birds we were seeing were probably fall migrants. It was truly amazing for over a week in August when I was filling our feeders twice a day to feed the hordes of hummingbirds. I ordered a larger feeder to accommodate the hungry birds as we were scheduled to be away for a couple of days. But, it did not arrive until after we returned and the feeders were dry. After that, though we still had numerous birds at the feeders, it was not the frenzy we had seen earlier. Here’s an example of how crazy it was for over a week in August.

    -Melissa took this phone video the first week of August when each evening we had swarms of hummingbirds at the feeder

    As we moved through August, the numbers of hummingbirds continued to drop and their visits to feeders came mainly early and late in the day. Not sure where they were during the middle of the day but I almost never saw one from about 9 a.m. until after 5 p.m.

    The last hummingbird I remember seeing was during the first week of September (it is always harder for me to record the last time I see something rather than the first of the season).

    Now that we have a better idea of what to expect I will be looking forward to the return of this avian acrobats. I am planting some more hummingbird attracting plants in the yard and will have 4 feeders up for next season. And I’ll definitely be watching for that male Calliope.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Season of the Bears

    When you are where wild bears live you learn to pay attention to the rhythm of the land and yourself. Bears not only make the habitat rich, they enrich us just by being.

    ~Linda Jo Hunter

    It is that time of year when the bears of Yellowstone are going into their hyperphagia phase which means they may eat and drink almost continuously for most of each day in preparation for hibernation. A bear may eat up to 22 hours per day, consuming upwards of 20,000 calories and gaining several pounds during that time. Because of this, they are on the move more searching for food and therefore may be more visible to visitors. That has certainly been the case for us these past couple of weeks. In our last post, I described the black bear sow and cub that came into several yards on our street. She also caused quite a stir a few days later when she looked into a window at the school in town causing a brief lock-down. The Bear Aware staff person came by the house this weekend to discuss our fencing and bear attracting fruit trees planted by the previous owner and he told me that, unfortunately, those two bears had been trapped and relocated due to their constant presence in town. I had worried about that and he did say that the state wildlife personnel hate taking a mother and cubs to a new location as it can be difficult for them to adjust. But they also can’t allow bears to start destroying property, etc. I’ll be taking down some trees and will remove the bird feeders for the Fall to try to help keep our local bears wild. They are definitely on the move looking for food wherever they can find it.

    -Sadly, this sow and cub have been relocated due to their constant presence in town the past several weeks (click photos to enlarge)

    All of that action happened while Melissa and her friends were on a backpacking trip for several days. The day she went to pick them up at the airport, I went out into the park and had a close encounter with a beautiful grizzly along the road in Lamar Valley. I was driving back toward home when I spotted a crowd watching a grizzly across the Lamar River. It was walking in the direction I was headed so once I got through the initial back-up of cars, I drove ahead and found a spot to safely pull off the road…and waited. The bear started to head away from the road but was clearly visible now and cars were starting to back up in both directions. A park ranger was on hand trying to keep traffic moving. There were no official pullouts nearby and I had grabbed one of the few places you could pull off the road. Several times the bear would start to walk away and then turn and walk back toward the road. Finally, it headed straight for where I was and walked along the shoreline a bit, looking at the crowd.

    -The large grizzly known as the “Confluence bear” walking along the shore across the river

    This bear as been called the Confluence bear because it is frequently seen along this section of river where Soda Butte Creek flows into the Lamar River (aka the Confluence). I was pleasantly surprised when it decided to cross the river just upriver from my parking spot. What a great view!

    -Grizzly slowly wading across the Lamar River
    -The grizzly picked up a little speed as it neared the gravel bar on my side of the river
    -The grizzly walked back and forth on the gravel bar looking up at the road crowded with cars and people

    The ranger was trying to clear a path for the bear by stopping some cars and having others drive through. But there were also a lot of people out of their cars alongside the road (which did not have much space before dropping off into the river). Another park staff person had a bullhorn telling people close to the gap to get back in their cars. I was far enough away at this point and was standing next to my car. I saw the bear finally cross between cars and head up the hill.

    -The grizzly wandered about up the hill, looking around, and then headed back down in the general direction of my car.

    A reminder that these photos are cropped images taken with my 500mm telephoto so it makes the bear look closer than it really was. The bear kept heading down toward me, stopping occasionally to voraciously eat in patches of chokecherry shrubs.

    -The grizzly chowing down on chokecherries

    After browsing on berries, the bear decided to head straight down the hill toward my parked car and a group of people stopped in the road and out of their cars. I opened my car door and started to get in when I heard a loud bang. The ranger had fired a so-called cracker shell which goes a short distance and makes a loud sound.

    -The Confluence bear just before the cracker shell went off
    -The grizzly turned and ran up the hill, pausing just a second to look back down at the road before disappearing over the hill.

    This bear is thought to be a male, not yet in his prime, but getting bigger every year. It certainly is a beautiful bear with luxurious fur. The bear jam started to break up after the bear went over the hill and I drove around the curve to a pullout figuring the bear might be visible as it went past the top of the hill. I waited and chatted with folks for 10 minutes or so. The same ranger drove by and asked if I had seen the bear again. I replied, “no bear”. and she continued on. I soon pulled out and headed down the road. At the next pullout I saw some folks looking up the slope and, sure enough, there was the bear far up the hill. I wasn’t sure how it had managed to get by us at that first spot but was glad it was just meandering and still eating berries. The bear turned and started heading back the way it had come and disappeared in a shallow swale. That was probably how we missed it, it traveled across the ridge line just hidden from view in the swale. I thought that this bear just might go back to where it had been so I drove back to my same parking spot off the road and waited. About a minute went by and there he was, walking below the ridge line and headed downward toward the same place where he had crossed the road earlier. I was the only person there but then a car coming towards me stopped in the road and people got out looking up at the bear. Soon, there was another bear jam, but this time with no ranger. The bear sat down above the spot where it had crossed before and looked at the people and cars below (and not that far below). The bear obviously wanted to cross the road.

    -The Confluence bear looking at the crowd of people and cars and trying to figure out how to get across

    I got out of my car and started trying to direct traffic to create a gap. Some people listened and moved but as I turned around to direct cars in the oncoming lane, more cars behind me repeatedly filled in the gap and people continued to get out of their cars blocking the road. After a few more attempts I frustratingly realized I didn’t have the right hat or a badge and just walked back to my car. As I passed one vehicle, a lady said “at least you tried”. I turned and the grizzly walked on around the curve still up on the hill. I guess it will figure it out or change directions. Luckily, it was getting late and that also helps break up wildlife jams along the roads.

    The day after our guests arrived, we decided to take them out into the park for an evening of wildlife watching. We got into a couple of bison jams and saw some pronghorn and raptors. After we turned and started heading home, we suddenly saw a couple of black bears right next to the road (within 10 feet) chowing down on what turned out to be chokecherries, just like the grizzly I watched a couple of days before. They were on Melissa’s side of the car and she got this great video clip of the action. Note – I edited the audio after the adult bear makes some sounds to get rid of our excited laughter and talking.

    =A mother black bear and two cubs, one black and one cinnamon-colored, chowing down on chokecherries right next to the road

    There was one black cub and one cinnamon-colored cub with this female. That is not too unusual given the fact that about half the black bears in Yellowstone are actually cinnamon-colored or brown (which often makes it difficult for people to distinguish between them and a grizzly). I was turned around trying to shoot pix out the opposite side of the car (you can here my shutter in the start of that video) but after Melissa filmed the bears, the brown cub walked up the hill a little ways and turned and looked at us. I gave Melissa my camera and she got this incredible pic of this little cutie.

    -The brown cub sat down on a rock outcrop and stared down at its mom and sibling still eating berries (photo by Melissa Dowland)

    That was a great way to end our day and so we headed home. The next morning we went out early hoping to see wolves. Indeed, the Junction pack gave us a show of 14 members of the pack though it was viewed through our spotting scopes. at a great distance. We then headed east and encountered another black bear sow with cubs (this time with two black cubs) in almost the same spot as the ones the evening before.

    -Another black bear with two black cubs (they were farther up the slope)

    We headed back in the direction of home and about 10 minutes later we saw some stopped cars and as we drove through we spotted a grizzly out in the flats along Soda Butte Creek. We went through the bear jam and pulled off, got out and walked a little ways back along the road. The bear was again the Confluence bear and was headed towards the road. This location was maybe a quarter mile from where I had watched it a few days earlier. Looking at his path, I saw where I thought it might cross and turned in that direction, again warning people the bear was going to try to cross. An RV was stopped in the opposite lane and people were starting to walk by it where I though the bear might cross (it was not visible at the time due to a small ridge and swale). I cautioned folks to stop and stay close to the RV. Indeed, in just a few seconds the bear came up on the road at that point and sprinted across.

    -The Confluence bear crossing the road again
    -The grizzly moving up the hill after crossing the road
    -The bear slowly walks up and over the hill

    Another amazing encounter with a bear. These roadside events are great for observing the bears and getting photographs. When in the backcountry, it is a different situation and you want to be alert and prepared for any encounter and be sure you have your bear spray handy.. We now live in the land of bears. For us back in NC, we usually traveled to Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge for this powerful feeling. Now, it surrounds us, it humbles us, it even causes us to change our behavior and to be more wary when out on the landscape. But it also helps us feel alive knowing that these magnificent wild beings are our neighbors.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Trail Camera Critters, Montana Style

    Here’s to a new home, new adventure, new memories.

    ~The Wilders

    Life is different in our new home. We left behind our wildflower gardens, water gardens, and 14 acres of mature hardwoods and moved to a place with a lot of non-native plantings from the previous owner (including a lot of fruit-producing trees and shrubs) on a tiny lot that backs up to a cliff. It is a much drier place as well. We had two days of rain last week, a first of that duration since we moved in May, and recorded 0.85 inches of rain. That is by far the greatest amount we have seen in one event.

    If you have followed this blog you know that I have several trail cameras that I set out in our woods in NC to record the happenings of our wild neighbors (wildlife neighbors, that is). I have posted many times on what the cameras saw – coyotes, deer, squirrel, bobcat, turkey, opossums, raccoons, and some birds including hawks and owls. After moving here, less than a mile outside Yellowstone National Park, I wondered what the cameras might see at the edge of town where we now live. I started out by setting 3 cameras around the walkways near the house and one up at the base of the cliff above the house.

    The two current trail cameras are set at the far end of this gravel walkway next to the house and up the hill at the base of the cliff. Previous cameras were set next to the house in other locations and at one other spot at the base of the cliff.

    The motivation for setting the cameras close to the house was the sudden cutting of many of our tomato plants a couple of weeks after we planted them in the fenced beds you see in the photo above. The previous owner had installed the pictured rabbit fencing along one side of the house and then had welded wire cages over a lot of plants both inside and out of the rabbit fencing to keep small animals and deer and elk from eating his plants. He also installed an electric fence along the back edge of the yard (where the hill starts to get steep going up to the cliff) as a large mammal deterrent. It all seemed to work well until the tomato plants were cut down. A trail camera video revealed the culprit to be a critter I was unfamiliar with – a bushy-tailed wood rat (aka pack rat). They are kind of cute but have the abilities and smarts of a raccoon combined with a tree squirrel. It is very difficult to keep them out of something once they get an interest in it.

    NOTE: all videos are best viewed full screen with sound up.

    –A bushy-tailed wood rat running around up at the base of the cliff. I have many video clips of them around the house running by one of the cameras.

    Over the summer, the cameras captured many of the usual suspects over and over – mountain cottontails, various birds in the garden or at the very small water hole we created, our local cow elk browsing on the shrubs on the side of the house without the electric fence, mice, and lots of wood rats. The cameras at the base of the cliff have produced some good footage but are a pain since the wind that blows almost constantly here (especially during the day) causes the vegetation to move which triggers the cameras. I have to check them (now only one) every few days and even then, I often have a few hundred video clips to scroll through.

    There have been some interesting and surprising stories recorded on the cameras thus far. Here are a few of the highlights from our first few months in our new place…

    =Some elk walking along the base of the cliff above our house. They also frequently walk along the road in front of the house and browse on shrubs on the side not protected by the electric fence.

    -This beautiful red fox is a frequent visitor to our water hole and also regularly cruises by the camera up at the cliff.

    -A pair of coyotes walk by the cliff camera. They have been very vocal all summer and probably had a den in a rocky cliff across the road that passes by our house.

    -Here’s a slow motion clip of a coyote carrying something. I can’t tell what that is, can you? There is an old pronghorn carcass up under a ledge at the base of the cliff so perhaps it is something from that but I can’t be sure (and that is another mystery – how did that pronghorn carcass get to that location?)

    We get clips of raccoons several times a week, usually at the water hole where, being raccoons, they just can’t seem to help themselves as they explore in the water with their paws. Of course, they also often get a drink while there. But recently, we’ve caught two surprising incidents involving raccoons on that trail camera.

    -Raccoons are opportunistic predators but this video really surprised me – a raccoon carrying what looks like a freshly killed adult mountain cottontail. Did the raccoon kill it? Did something else and the raccoon found it? Could it have been hit on the road?

    There are at least two raccoons that visit our place, one with a normal-looking tail like the one in the previous video, and this one, with a skinny tail. They visit so often that once I see it is a raccoon, I often quickly zoom through the video clip just to make sure nothing unusual happened. Last week, I caught the skinny-tailed raccoon on a couple of contiguous clips and noticed a small detail – the raccoon seemed to flinch a few times. I went back and looked again and was surprised at what I saw. See if you can tell what happened in the next two clips.

    -Notice how the raccoon is seemingly reacting to something. Can you see it?

    -I looked closer and saw the cause of the raccoon’s concern. And I wonder if the raccoon got hit based on the apparent rubbing of its face toward the end.

    I zoomed in on another clip made right after the raccoon walked away (unfortunately, this makes the video a little more out of focus). But take a close look…

    -Here you can see the prairie rattlesnake watching the raccoon walk away (look closely and you can see the rattlesnake rattling its tail).

    I encountered this small rattlesnake about a month ago at the water hole. I walked over to look at the water level and the snake moved its head a bit from its hiding place in the rocks. It quickly retreated into the rocks and I had not seen it again until these video clips. Ironically, this video was recorded about three days before some big wildlife events here in the neighborhood. A black bear sow and cub were reported walking around town about two weeks ago. The sow climbed a fence on our street and was hazed by the residents and took off up the hill with her cub. That same day, a neighbor called and asked if we could come over and remove a prairie rattlesnake in their yard (in a much earlier conversation we had volunteered to do that if they ever saw one). That was also a small rattlesnake which we safely relocated to nearby uninhabited land that provided suitable habitat. Was this the same one as in our yard? Not sure.

    The wildlife encounters continued this past week. Melissa is off backpacking with some friends from NC so I am here by myself. One afternoon, I looked out the upstairs bathroom window and saw something dark sitting on the boulders in my neighbor’s back yard – a bear! I went out and found the sow and cub under their apple tree so I banged on the metal lid I had grabbed with a can of bear spray. The startled bears ran up a tree and stared at me. I backed away until they climbed down and then continued to haze them and they ran off, crawling underneath the electric fence that spans both of our back yards. Thirty minutes later they were back. Once again, I went out and hazed them until they ran off up the hill. I called our local Bear Awareness coordinator (yup, that’s a thing out here) and have set up an appointment for a site visit this weekend to review the electric fence and look at what trees might need to be removed (we have 3 apple trees on our property planted by the previous owner but they have not yet produced fruit). Bears are in their hyperphagia mode right now and are eating as much as possible before winter comes and they retreat into hibernation. Black bears are one thing to have, but the same attractants could also bring in a grizzly, and then you have an entirely different situation. So, the bird feeders have come down and I picked the fruit from our plum tree and the remaining few apples on the neighbor’s tree (with their permission). There is still a huge crab apple tree to deal with and that will probably need to get cut soon.

    When I checked the trail cameras, I found evidence of the bears on that day at both cameras.

    -The sow and cub bear caught on the cliff camera that afternoon

    -Here are the bears getting a drink at the water hole in between the two times I hazed them. Wandering the neighborhood is hot work apparently.

    As I mentioned, this is but a small sample of what the cameras have captured since our arrival in May.. Once again, the trail cameras have proven invaluable in learning about what we have in terms of wild neighbors in our new surroundings. I haven’t seen the bears again for two days. Here’s hoping the bears head out of town and don’t get into any trouble. And I will be looking for the return of the skinny-tailed raccoon and wondering if it is okay after a possible rattlesnake bite.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Learning New Leps

    Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.

    ~Henry David Thoreau

    I was pretty good at identifying the common species of butterflies (in the Order Lepidoptera (which means scaly wings) back in NC although the skippers continued to baffle me at times. But now I must learn almost an entirely new set of the flying flowers. We don’t yet have a lot of Montana native wildflowers on our little lot but early on we were seeing a few species of butterflies flapping by the house. And that is exactly what they did – flapped by the house, most without even a brief stop for a photo or closer look. One of the first ones I noticed was a familiar-looking butterfly – a large yellow and black swallowtail, but which one? A tattered individual finally landed on a leaf in our yard one cool morning and a I snapped a couple of pics of a worn two-tailed swallowtail.

    The aptly named two-tailed swallowtail reminds me of our yard in NC which would swarm with Eastern tiger swallowtails every few years. The host plants of this species include ash and chokecherry. (click photos to enlarge)

    One day a very boldly-marked medium sized butterfly made an appearance in the yard. I grabbed my camera and snapped two photos before it flitted away.

    A gorgeous Weidemeyer’s admiral taking a break in the yard

    Weidemeyer’s admirals are related to the red-spotted purple butterflies we had back in NC. The caterpillars of both species resemble bird droppings.

    We have an irrigation system for our few flower beds and when the soil is damp, it seems to attract some butterflies that may be looking for mineral salts. This beauty showed up one morning and I was lucky enough to get a good photo before it flew off.

    A stunning checkerspot butterfly (I think it is either an Edith’s or Anicia’s checkerspot) dabbling in the moist soil of a flower bed in our yard.

    My identification routine is to use two apps – SEEK and Leps, to try to identify. I then check my only field guide for this region – Butterflies of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. After that, I submit the observation to iNaturalist and see if I can get any confirmation of my initial ID. Well, it seems as though these Western species may be a bit tougher than I’m used to and the apps often disagree or just aren’t sure. One reason is the large number of very similar-looking butterflies, especially the checkerspots and frittilaries. Here are some examples.

    An Edith’s checkerspot on a trail near Mammoth
    A relict frittilary. Most of the frittilaries use violets as their host plants. This species apparently overwinters as a caterpillar.
    It seems some of the frittilaries are best identified by their underwings. iNaturalist tells me this one is a Mormon frittilary
    These butterflies were very abundant along a nearby Forest Service dirt road this week nectaring on the abundant rabbitbrush in bloom. I identified this one as a Zerene frittilary, but there are a couple of others it could be

    I hope you see what I mean by all these look-alikes (at least to my untrained eye). I may be totally wrong but I am relying on iNaturalist primarily until a reviewer disagrees. If any of you know about these species and have a correction, please let me know in the comments.

    Another brownish and patterned small butterfly – a field crescent I believe

    I think this one is a Northern crescent

    I have seen fewer skippers than I am use to back in NC. Those are the small, often cryptically colored little butterflies that zip around making it even tougher to ID them. They are distinguished from oter groups of butterflies by most having small hooked tips at the end of their antennae. I think I have seen three species of skipper here thus far and many of them have been the introduced Essex skipper which was very abundant earlier in the summer.

    A dainty American branded skipper on rabbitbrush this past week
    A mating pair of Essex skippers
    I saw another mated pair of butterflies, this time one of the frittilaries, but they were flying by (somewhat clumsily as you might imagine based on their positions) and finally dropped to the ground allowing this one photo.

    Of course, with all that mating going on, there was also some egg laying. I saw this next species a few times doing the typical fluttery flight that females do when they are looking for a host plant. I followed this one around for several minutes as it landed and crawled on the ground. It occasionally assumed the egg laying position of a tucked abdomen. But I was confused as I didn’t see a living plant nearby (this was on a dry ridge at high elevation with sparse ground cover and scattered clumps of grasses). After much searching, I finally found an egg on a dried plant stem. It started me wondering if the egg is the overwintering stage. Back home, I looked up this species, the Rocky Mountain Parnassian, and found that my field guide stated that females lay a single egg “randomly” (another reference said she lays the eggs haphazardly). Further reading showed they lay on just about anything – rocks, leaf litter, twigs, and other plant species near their host plants. Their host plant is stonecrop, a low growing plant growing in dry open habitats. The eggs typically overwinter and the larvae hatch shortly after being exposed to warm temperatures in the spring. The caterpillars then crawl and locate a host plant.

    A female lays an egg on a dry plant stem
    Here is a Rocky Mountain Parnassian caterpillar feeding on stonecrop (Sedum lanceolatum) in early June. The sedum dies back in winter and resprouts from its base the following spring.

    There are a number of small-ish challenging butterflies that I have tried to photograph . The ones that have eluded me the most are a few (not sure if I am seeing multiple species or not) small white ones. I guess I will need to catch a few next summer to truly ID them. There is a local citizen science butterfly count each July organized by a nearby neighbor who is an excellent naturalist, author, and sculptor. I missed it this year since we were in the Tetons with family but I will definitely get it on my schedule next year to learn from some local experts.

    A small blue butterfly was one of the first I tried to identify. I believe it is a Boisduval’s blue whose larvae feed on lupine.
    One of the clouded sulphurs, perhaps a pink-edged sulphur.
    This species blended into the bare soil extremely well, making it hard to track once it landed. This pic was taken in the Beartooth Mountains at an elevation of over 9000 feet. Caterpillars of this species with the unusual name, Chryxus Arctic, require two years to develop. Because of this, in many regions, you only see the adult butterflies every two years.
    I recognized this as some sort of satyr by its lilting flight and the drab coloration marked by distinctive eye spots on the hind wings. This is a small wood nymph, and several were out nectaring on the rabbitbrush this week.
    The thicket hairstreak spends most of its time high in the treetops and comes to the ground to nectar on flowers or dabble in moist soil (as this one was doing). The larval host plant is dwarf mistletoe which occurs on various species of conifers.
    The irregular wing outline identified this as one of the so-called anglewings, a favorite group of mine back in NC. This is a green comma and like its cousins in the East, it has a silvery white punctuation mark (a comma) on the underside of its wings.

    While hiking in the Beartooths back in July, I spied this next beautiful butterfly flitting about at the base of a talus slope. It kept flying away from me so I gave the camera to Melissa who was closer to where it was nectaring. She got this great shot of one of the most beautiful species we have seen in Montana, a Milbert’s tortoiseshell.

    Its genus name, Aglais, is from from the Greek name, Aglaia, which means “splendor,” “brilliance,” or “beautiful”. They overwinter as adults so may be seen on any warm days throughout the year. Milbert’s tortoiseshells are thought to undergo seasonal elevational migrations, spending summers at higher elevations. Females lay clusters of eggs (up to several hundred) on the underside of the host plant (mainly stinging nettles). (photo by Melissa Dowland)

    I continue to stalk insects and spiders on every walk we do, grabbing a few pics and posting to iNaturalist. Hopefully, by next summer I’ll have a greater knowledge and appreciation for the many invertebrates we have as neighbors in our new surroundings. I encourage you to get out and learn about your wild neighbors, especially the small ones. They are the backbone of the natural world we live in and the more you learn, the more you will want to preserve them and their habitats.

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • Shore Patrol

    The presence of a single bird can change everything for one who appreciates them.

    ~Julie Zickefoose

    In her last post about our canoe camping trip to Shoshone Lake, Melissa mentioned how we enjoyed watching the common mergansers swim by our campsite. They were our companions over much of the 5 days on the water, both in the 3-mile stretch of the Lewis Channel and at our various campsites on the lake. But before sharing some merganser magic, I should say we did see some other species along the way. Our first birds were three white pelicans that drifted in over Lewis Lake as we paddled and then settled not far away as we made it to the northern shore.

    Three white pelicans swimming in Lewis Lake (click photos to enlarge)

    On entering the Lewis Channel we came across a calm stretch with lily pads and a conifer full of small birds – mountain chickadees, Audubon’s warblers, and a couple of Wilson’s warblers. After trying for several minutes, I finally managed a pic of a Wilson’s in its brief appearance in the sun.

    This Wilson’s warbler finaly came out into the open for a quick photo

    A little further up the channel, a pair of elegant trumpeter swans graced the still waters in a marshy bay.

    A pair of trumpeter swans eye us as we paddle past in Lewis Channel

    We soon had our first encounter with a merganser – a single bird placidly gliding near the shore of the channel, its bold feather pattern artistically reflected in the calm clear water.

    An immature common merganser drifts by in the calm waters of Lewis Channel

    Then a group of merganser young led by a female swam by in formation. Somewhat surprisingly, common mergansers usually nest in hollow trees and only occasionally in crevices on rocky ledges. The young hatch in early summer. You may see females with large numbers of young trailing behind (records of up to 40+) . This is called brood amalgamation and is well documented in this species. Some suggest that aggressive females “kidnap” young from inexperienced mothers or that it may just be a case of confused young following the wrong female.

    A female merganser leads her group of young downstream as we paddle past

    We saw many of the mergansers resting on shore as we paddled. They are built more for water than land with their legs placed well back on their bodies, but they seem to enjoy soaking up the sun on a sandy beach as much as the rest of us. This group eyed us as we paddled by and then decided to move on.

    A group of common mergansers resting on a sand bar

    As we got alongside, the female must have signaled it was time to go and they all stood up, stretched, and waddled into the water.

    As we pass, the group performs some marganser yoga and moves to the water

    The name merganser is from Latin and roughly translates to “diving goose”, an appropriate moniker for the largest of our three related diving ducks (the others being the hooded merganser and the red-breasted merganser). Other common names include sheldrake, sawbills, fish ducks, and goosanders. They mainly eat fish though we observed them picking off a few aquatic insects on the water surface. I love their hunting style of snorkeling along, eyes underwater, searching for prey. They often hunt in groups making it easier to herd and trap fish.

    A merganser with head down, snorkeling and searching for pry in the clear waters

    They were a frequent visitor as we sat on the shore at our various campsites, swimming by and searching for fish with their heads down in the water. We saw them most often early and late in the day. In breeding plumage, males are a striking combination of a dark green head and mostly bright white body with a red bill. This time of year they have molted and resemble females.

    This merganser was a bit offshore in about 5 feet of water when it dove and came up with a squirming meal

    Common mergansers are well adapted to catching fish – they have a long pointed bill with serrations along the edges and a hooked tip, both features that are ideal for holding onto a slippery prey. They are considered the carnivores of the duck world and are fast swimmers underwater. We often saw them scurrying across the water, heads under, as they tried for fish in some of their favorite fishing spots. They often hunted at the same locations as they swam back and forth, usually where a small stream entered the lake or some logs stretched into the water from the shore. These are undoubtedly places where small fish gather for food and/or shelter.

    A close look at the fish-snatching bill of a merganser

    Each day we looked forward to the mergansers swimming by our campsite. They frequently swam directly toward us as they hunted. and seemed to accept us as long as we sat still. Time spent with the mergansers of Shoshone gave me a new appreciation for this species and of their world of cold clear mountain waters.

    A group of mergansers swimming by at sunset

    Posted by

    Mike Dunn

  • How To Love This World

    Last weekend we took a long awaited canoe-camping trip to Shoshone Lake in the southern part of Yellowstone. It’s touted as the largest backcountry lake in the lower 48 states. It can only be reached by foot or non-motorized boat. We chose that route: a paddle across Lewis Lake then up the three mile long Lewis Channel. The final 3/4 mile or more of the channel is shallow and rocky, and we had to drag the canoe through that section, especially with the low water levels of late summer. Nonetheless, the entire paddle was beautiful, and the serenity of spending four nights far from cars, computers, and civilization gave us a chance to quietly reflect.

    Mary Oliver writes in her poem Spring, “There is only one question: how to love this world.” She writes of a black bear sow, just emerged from her den, hungry. Perhaps it is a young female; otherwise she would likely have cubs with her. I can perfectly imagine her dark frame, like the bears we’ve watched in eastern North Carolina or here in Yellowstone. She is silent, the signs of her presence are “flicking the gravel,” claw marks on trees, the ripples her “tongue / like red fire” leave on the cold water. In her “wordlessness” is “her perfect love” for this world.

    sunset over lake
    The fading sunlight glints on wind-stirred water, a beautiful first evening.

    As we paddle across Lewis Lake just after daybreak, the winds begin to give rise to the day’s waves. The water is crystal clear, and the underwater world seems accessible in a way it’s not most of the time. I am mesmerized by the ribbons of light moving across the lake bottom — light from the rising sun shattered by the waves, reflecting on the sand and rock. The patterns dance as I expect the northern lights do, never repeating, but without any sharp angles. Sinuous and loose. Golden light on the sandy bottom is shaded green by the water above. The shadow of our boat and the rhythm of our strokes both obscure and shape the light.

    black and white image of swan feather on water with reflection of fir trees
    Droplets of water edge each barb of the swan’s feather.

    In the Lewis Channel the air sits still. A single white feather slides across the glassy surface. Below, a black sandy bottom dotted with broken twigs. As we glide closer, a third view appears — the reflection of spruce and fir trees, dark angles cutting the glare of reflected sky. White feather, black sand, white sky, black trees. Around the corner, the trumpeter swan pair waits, still and elegant as we silently pass.

    storm over lake with hint of light glowing above the trees
    The rolling storm spreads over our campsite in the southwest corner of the lake.

    Dark clouds from the southwest stretch across the lake. They curl toward the northern shore, sweeping the sky. Below, a glimmer of golden late day light casts a glow across the green trees, black sand, bleached wood of downed trees. Lightening flickers in the distance. In the center, a white glow, as if the storm has a heart of ice.

    family of mergansers on water
    A family of mergansers swims toward our canoe in the Lewis Channel.

    In the late afternoon light a merganser passes by, again and again. Its vivid orange legs, perfectly matched to its bill, push it confidently through the water in spite of our presence on the beach. Head down, bill in water, snorkeling for prey. Head up, catching breath. Light glints on the water droplets in its crazy headdress, a spike of rusty feathers. A dive, a wing flap, rising off the surface to show a brilliant white belly, a flash of white on moving wings. A deep cluck in its throat; just the one note, repeated.

    In the saturated banks of a spring-fed stream, just beyond the lake’s sandy beach, marsh grass-of-parnassus grows, relative to a favorite wildflower found in the mountains of North Carolina, but with delicate feathery edges its eastern cousin lacks. Nearby, an entirely unexpected discovery — sundews grow thick amidst vivid green moss and the boggy stream’s surface is covered in the thin tendril-like leaves and dark pockets of bladderwort. Carnivorous plants in Yellowstone!

    There’s nothing quite like a dip in cold water after many days in the wilderness. The temperature is a shock, even mildly painful if its frigid enough, causing a sharp inhale of breath as my I submerge my head and shoulders. But almost the moment I emerge, sun on cold skin, there’s a sensation of comfortable, tingling warmth. It’s a freshness quite unlike anything else, and I am more at home in my own skin than at any other time.

    grassy meadow flanked by spruce and fir trees, lake in the background
    A lush march rims the western end of the lake

    Midges floating above the still water look like diamond dust… but slightly more purposeful in their movement. Or like cottonwood seeds swirling in the breeze. The glassy lake surface is dotted with even more, like the first dusting of snow on frozen ground. Their tiny bodies are no larger than the tip of my pen, with just a hint of softness near the head: their feathery antennae. My mom wouldn’t tolerate their abundance well, and it is somewhat unsettling when one or two get a little to close to being inhaled. But their numbers are like a tiny miracle, a natural spectacle on a minute scale.

    starry sky over opposite lake shore with trees in the foreground
    As darkness falls, the sky comes alive with the light of thousands of stars.

    How do I love this world? I love this world most in places of solitude, quiet, beauty. When I am deep in it. When life is simplified to what fits in my boat or on my back. When I have time to sit in my hammock on a hillside, the sound of waves lapping a rocky beach, the sigh of the wind stirring lodgepole pine and subalpine fir needles, a view to distant hills above dark water when I lift my eyes from the page. And perhaps, somewhere nearby but out of sight, a silent black bear prepares herself for her winter slumber.

    Posted by

    Melissa Dowland

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