First hike of 2019

I hiked up Death Canyon.  Despite the ominous sounding name, its a beautiful hike with many birds and flowers starting to bloom.  Last year I did not drive to the official trailhead because the dirt road is rough and I did not want to take Silver truck on that road.  This time Subaru was awesome and did very well on that road.  Aspens are fully leafed out, early flowers like Balsamroot and Shooting Star are past their prime.  Photo to the right is a Leopard Lilly.  I don't find these very often.  
      Warbling Vireos, Green-tailed Towhees, Black-headed Grosbeaks, and Dusky Flycatchers were singing from the trees.  A Ruffed Grouse was drumming from a well-hidden location off the trail.  Chipping Sparrows and Juncos sang their similar songs, while Mountain Chickadees whistled from the taller shrubs.  They sound hoarse compared to the Black-cappeds.

I was lucky to find a cooperative Green-tailed Towhee who sat for many photos like this one.









Melt water from the high peaks is thundering 
down canyon, white and turbulent. Of course the mountains were beautiful.

 This is the trail, as I begin the climb to the top of the canyon.  Meltwater has expanded out of the creekbed and is flowing down the trail.  (photo to the left)








Below photo is where I stopped.  This snowfield covered the trail and I am not walking on that steep angle snow without crampons !!

This morning

Weather has been eratic.  The 2 weeks of gloomy clouds and rain finally moved out.  It was exciting to see the mountains again.  I had 2 good weekends of birding.  It seemed like Migration was dropping all these wonderful birds on the landscape.  More on that later, so many photos on the memory card need to be organized first.

      

 from the boat ramp this morning.

 Subaru is snowed again.

I had the good fortune of learning of a Mama Moose and baby in the southern part of the Park.  I drove down after work that day and joined many visitors admiring the newcomer.








Harlequin Duck was exciting to see in Yellowstone on Wednesday.