Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

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young cage
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Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by young cage »

Somehow in my wanderings I had never visited Yellowstone Park. It is a place I had always wanted to go to, it had just not worked out. So we planned a trip there with my son and his family. It was really a family journey but I was pretty sure that if I took my cameras I would have some opportunities to photograph the wildlife. So my wife and I flew up to Denver this spring, where we would rent a van and drive to Yellowstone. We stayed in a beautiful cabin on a river just outside of West Yellowstone.
Before we left, however, Matt and I had a chance to go visit the prairie out east of Denver. We have been visiting some of these spots for over 30 years. Somehow the agricultural development missed some areas, no doubt where it was just too sandy to irrigate economically. This left remnants of historic short grass prairie. There can be lots of wildlife in some of these spots and some herps can be seen as well. We were joined by Julio Lemos Espinal who has been at the University of Colorado while researching his next book. If you are not familiar with Julio’s books you owe yourself a treat and check them out. They are excellent herp books covering various states of Mexico, written in both Spanish and English.
It looked to be a good day with moderate temperatures and some recent moisture. Somehow I ended up on this day trip with only my point and shoot camera, which took these photos.
We found a few Ornate Box Turtles like this one

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We came across this very unhappy Bull Snake

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A very cute Plains Hog-nosed Snake

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We saw a few Whiptail Lizards and Lesser Earless Lizards like this one

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And we found a few of the real jewels of the area, Milk Snakes. They are really variable in how they look, some very pale and/or dirty looking. But every once in a while a vibrant and colorful one pops up! The ones we found were kind of in between, pretty but….

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At one point we were joined by Tim Warfel and Daniel Dye. Daniel was about to fly back home after a nice trip to the Four Corners Area. Nice to see these good guys and they got to see a few of these very nice prairie animals.

Here are some shots of the guys at work!

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Two days later we were off for Yellowstone. There were six of us in the van and it actually worked very well. We had a nice entertainment system with a DVD player. A couple of movies helped shorten the trip. The route took us thru some beautiful parts of the country. As we passed thru Wyoming we saw lots of Antelope like these

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As we got higher we began to encounter lots of snowpack. And it got pretty cold. We were actually snowed on a couple of times (this is in June!). We knew that there was much more snow than normal and that several important roads in Yellowstone were still closed. Here is some scenery as we passed thru the Jackson Hole area, the Grand Tetons, Wind River Range, and the Absoroka Range.

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We rolled into Yellowstone and decided we had to stop and check out Old Faithful!

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And these Hot Pools. Hot pools maybe, but the air sure looks cold doesn’t it!

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We eventually got situated in the cabin, got the heater working, and plotted our days to come. Each day basically involved visiting some part of the park that would be scenically beautiful and have opportunities to see wildlife. Both of those goals were easy to satisfy.

I have never seen so many mammals! As you drove across the park herds of Bison and Elk would frequently delay traffic. You could not get much closer than we were to these animals. And they are both very large! Of all the Elk we saw this male was the only one with a rack, the others apparently having shed them already.

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It warmed up day by day and the snow flurries stopped. We very much enjoyed the scenery like these Hot Sulpher Pools, Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone Lake with lots of ice still on it, and the Devils Tongue

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We saw lots of small wildlife as well. Here is a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel

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Least Chipmunks, incredibly quick darting around the forest and campgrounds

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And Uinta Ground Squirrels looking and acting like Prairie Dogs. They were common in open areas

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Here is a Coyote on the hunt for one of those very ground squirrels!

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Every evening this Muskrat would swim by our cabin

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We were seeing lots of birds. Here are two nesting Osprey. Their nest was on a vertical spire at least 600 ft high.

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Here is a Red-tailed Hawk that had just pounced on a Ground Squirrel.

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Bald Eagles were at one spot regularly but were a long way away

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Beautiful Yellow-headed Blackbirds were quite used to humans

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We saw Brown-headed Cowbirds

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And Great Blue Herons

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Matt found this Boreal Toad

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One of our days we drove up to a northern Valley where wolves and Grizzlies were being seen regularly. The technique that seemed to work best for seeing these wonderful animals, neither of which I had seen in the wild before, was to drive to a place where lots of cars were pulled over. Park the car and go look at what they were watching.

It seems that there are some serious wolf and grizzly observers around the park. They generally know where the wolves and grizzlies have been hanging out and where the fresh kills are that they have been feeding on.

So, look for them (and the others that have stopped) and the animals are usually around.

That’s is how we saw our first Grizzlies. A mother and her two young were across the valley feeding on a kill. Some folks there had observed the mother Grizzly kill a young Elk, the Elk mother frantically try to save her baby, and then the three of the bears feed on the new kill.

I had wondered how difficult it might be to tell Grizzlies from Black Bear but at least for this group it was instant recognition. Even the young bears, about a year old, were huge! Mama, sitting on her kill, looked as big as a SUV. We got great looks thru several scopes that were set up. People were very generous with sharing their view. I took pictures but my 100-400 lens just did not have enough magnification to bring the photos in place. Never the less here are the photos I got.

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As I am watching this group of people I am seeing more long lenses than I have ever seen before at one spot outside of a professional sports event. 500mm and 600mm lenses were seemingly everywhere. I saw my wife looking at me looking at those lenses as she knew already that I would be wanting to get one. She is often way ahead of me on things like that. And of course she was right, I really did want one, needed one for those types of photos! I felt simply inadequate, and had a serious case of lens envy!

Next we found another crowd watching a wolf, moving across the field on the other side of the valley. Same sort of event, fascinating to watch but a long way away. These were my first Grizzlies and my first Wolf!

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On our way out of the north valley area we saw this beautiful group of Black Bears, Mamma and her babies

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We left the Yellowstone area and drove south down to Jackson. So far on our trip another animal had eluded us. I have looked for Moose in Colorado and Maine, but with no luck. We might have seen one on our way into Yellowstone, folks said one had wandered into a clump of trees But it was unapproachable and all you could see from our vantage point was a two legs.
We went by the same area and a Moose (perhaps the same one) was out and had a young one with her. I was surprised at how big the Moose was. We watched her and took lots of photos. These animals can be quite dangerous especially with young ones about. I moved to another vantage point. After a while she started walking over towards me. I am still a good distance away, but she is moving along at a good clip, her baby trotting right along. I didn’t move except to shoot more photos and she did not appear threatening to me in any way. She eventually trotted by me about 20 yards away.

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We ended up seeing a total of 5 adults and 2 calves. They are wonderful and odd looking animals, very large and kind of clunky. But much quicker and no doubt stronger than you would think. The second calf looked like it was no more than 30 minutes old, still covered with birth mucous and very wobbly legged.

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We had a great time in Jackson, a gorgeous little town with lots of photograpic opportunities. I was having so much fun with my family but I did sneak a bit of time to visit a meadow where two years before some fabulous Fox pictures had been taken. Ashley Hockenberry had shared some information with me about the spot and I found it with no problem. Unfortunately it appears the fox had moved on, in fact the exact spot had been bladed for “park improvement”. I had only 45 minutes to wander around and see what I could find. No fox, but the beautiful meadow with river running thru it was loaded with birds. One of my favorites birds is the Western Tanager. I had seen a few around Tucson this spring but only got some lousy shots. But it turns out this meadow was full of them. Thanks Ashley!

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I also saw this very pretty Barn Swallow

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Now for the herpers, I did spot this Wandering Garter Snake, an old friend from Colorado. Not a very pretty species, at least in the Rocky Mountain west.. But it sure was enjoying this sunny spot, as I saw it going in and coming out at the exact same place.

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Well that winds this up. One more post to go, and it will be lots of herps on our trip to the Carolina’s, Georgia, and Florida this spring.

Thanks to my family for putting up with me and my time with the camera. Thanks to you herpers for tolerating a few non herp pictures in.
By the way, I did get my new lens, one of Canon’s finest. Its 500mm and sharp as a tack, and a real handful! I can handhold it for only about 30 seconds. So of course I had to upgrade my tripod and mount to a serious setup. Thanks to Rick, Ashley and Jerry for your input.

Young

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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Great pictures. Can't wait for the Southeast. :beer:
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Schell
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Schell »

Excellent Stuff Young! I haven't been to Yellowstone in years, perhaps soon. Congrats on the 500mm, that's my dream glass! Perhaps pair it up with the new 1.4 TC to get that extra reach. A 700mm f/5.6 sounds pretty good to me.
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herpseeker1978
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by herpseeker1978 »

your earless lizard is a Uta stansburiana. Great shots! I love Yellowstone! I used to live right near there and love it so much! Great shots on the bears and pronghorn! Elk and bison are awesome!

Josh
r.edwards
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by r.edwards »

good stuff, quality animals that were not herps!

r.edwards
young cage
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by young cage »

Thanks Schell, Josh, Josh and Robert. I do love the lens, it is a beaut but it is heavy. I have not tried to take it on a plane yet, have to see how that works. Josh from Albuquerque, I am always open to id help. Sometimes I do misidentify or get sloppy and make a quick assumption. In this case, however, I do think the lizard is a Holbrookia maculata. The lizard was on the plains east of the divide and we have found many of the Lesser Earless Lizards there thru the years. Uta's are, in Colorado at least, on the west of the divide and not found on the eastern plains. At least to my knowledge.
Yellowstone is a wonderful place, I think anyone with an interest in wildlife and natural history would love a trip there at some point. I am surprised that it took me so many years to get there. I think part of that is the low number of herps.
Young
Paul White
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Paul White »

we went to Yellowstone about every 2-3 years while I was a kid in Colorado; I've never seen that much snow that late in the year!

Good God I want to go back there for a visit, it's a magnificent place.
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reptilist
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by reptilist »

Thank for posting this!
I really enjoyed seeing your pictures...
And thanks again for using a big font for those of us in the "old guys" club.
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ahockenberry
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by ahockenberry »

Young
Hey buddy - you had a wonderful trip - great work !
You got to see everything - Moose, Grizzlies, Coyotes and herps
Awesome photography!
Thanks for sharing
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moloch
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by moloch »

Looks like you had a wonderful time, Young! You found so many mammals and the shots are superb. I also love the bird shots. The Western Tanager shots are superb. Wow, a 500mm lens. That will slow you down on the trail.

Regards,
David
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Fundad
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Fundad »

Outstanding trip and photos.. :thumb:

Thanks for sharing..

I love this photo..
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Fundad
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Fieldnotes
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Fieldnotes »

Simply Incredible!
gmerker
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by gmerker »

Hey Young,

Beautiful post...looks like you all had a fun time....I really enjoyed especially the bison shots.....the one with the animal being reflected in the water is particularly beautiful! Sorry I missed you in Arizona this year....hope to see you very soon....Gerold
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Daniel Parker
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Daniel Parker »

Wow! I always say I am going to get that special lens and do a "bearing" trip (is that what they would call it?) out west and way, way up north. Your post has inspired me a little more.
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Chad M. Lane
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Chad M. Lane »

Thanks for posting! I love the Hognose! A Fantastic report of a very interesting are that I haven't been too in much to long.




Thanks,
Chad
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Mike Pingleton »

When am I gonna learn to NEVER TAKE THE EARLY PLANE HOME? Sorry I missed those herps (and meeting up with you guys).

great mammal shots - I gotta go with that coyote shot as my favorite!

-Mike
Grass709
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Grass709 »

The habitat/ scenery shots are breathtaking, makes me wish I could take another trip there :( Pretty milks too.
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Daniel D Dye
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by Daniel D Dye »

Once again Young, awesome photos!! Looks like you and the new 500mm are getting along just fine. I really enjoyed seeing you guys on the prairie. The only negative comment I have is, I got the worst case of chiggers from that place. :lol:

Yvonne and I are thinking about a trip out your way in 2012, if you could put up with us for a few days?

Daniel
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crocdoc
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Re: Yellowstone And the Colorado Prairie

Post by crocdoc »

Beautiful shots!

After reading this and seeing the shot of the elk/wapiti, I had to go back to the top to see what time of year you were there.
young cage wrote:Of all the Elk we saw this male was the only one with a rack, the others apparently having shed them already.
I don't know about Yellowstone, but in the Canadian Rockies the wapiti shed their antlers by around April, so to see one with a rack that size, in velvet, early enough that the others were still antler-less is unusual. He's certainly got a head start for the season!
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