Fledglings abound

     Every morning now I take my binoculars with me for the walk to breakfast.  Fledgling birds are hopping about everywhere.  The wooden fence that separates the employee area from the campground is a favorite perching location.  I have a list of 15 species of juveniles seen here in the past 10 days.  Western Tanagers have been successful,  Robins have their spotted breasts, White crowned Sparrow babies flit in the Fir branches, Juncos, Kinglets, a Red-naped Sapsucker young one in an Aspen tree, and a Brewer's Blackbird little one in the parking lot looking lost. It could fly but did not know where to find breakfast.
      The grey and yellow fluffy Tanager juvenile likes the trees near the parking lot.  Twice I have seen mama Tanager feed it Honeysuckle berries.  Dad Tanager, once a brilliant yellow, is molting into a dull yellow with a less bright red head.  They have been singing/ calling all summer.
     Despite the efforts of the Maintenance team, both Barn and Tree Swallows have been successful in raising young.  The swallows had to select odd locations behind the buildings out of sight of park visitors for nesting.  I opened the back door of the store last night and was met with a flurry of chittering and swooping from the Barn Swallow family.
     The Hairy Woodpecker fledgling knew to hit the tree trunk with its bill, but was still following the adult around making little almost-woodpecker sounds.
     I was surprised the Pine Siskins already had their yellow wing edges and tail edges.

     Photos of Common Merganser family I found on String Lake while paddling my kayak.





The same family sitting on a large rock.

I have seen an American Wigeon female with ducklings, Coots with little ones, and the Barrow's Goldeneye photos were included in a previous posting.

Flat Creek runs through the Elk Refuge north of Jackson.  I have stopped at the viewpoint many times to see ducks and other birds.  A week ago the Trumpeter Swans had their family out for all the visitors to see.

Rainbow of Flowers

      While some flowers are at their peak in July, others have faded into mid-summer.  The bright yellow bunches of Arrowleaf Balsamroot have gone to seed and their leaves are drying.  Scarlet Gilia is less abundant  in the lower valley than it was, and Penstemon has also dropped its petals in favor of maturing seeds.  Mountain Hollyhocks bloom in pink on a tall stalk.  Its always a surprise to see them.

    Across the rainbow:

   
Red Paintbrush with Lewis's Monkeyflower near Jenny Lake.









Orange Paintbrush as well:

A bright yellow Dalmation Toadflax growing along the road.

Blue Penstemon has been beautiful.   I hiked Cascade Canyon 2 weeks ago and heard many bird songs.  This is the season for raising nestlings, adults are busy foraging.











Deer will eat the Lupine.  I have seen the older bucks growing magnificent antlers still in velvet,

Celebration of Birds

     Back in May I was happy to see (and photograph) one male Barrow's Goldeneye.  Last month I saw a raft of them in Yellowstone Lake.  Schwabacher's Landing finally opened in early July and I was able to take a morning walk along the back channels of the Snake River.  Barrow's Goldeneye females were leading groups of young ducklings swimming across the channel.
    One afternoon in late June, I was walking along the south end of Jenny Lake listening to birds singing.  Warbling Vireos were adding to the chorus.  I found this female sitting on her nest in an Aspen tree.

   






 Two weeks ago I was wandering in the forest north of Phelps Lake looking for Woodpeckers.  I found this Chickadee nest cavity when a parent Chickadee zipped past my head and into the hole.

     Eastern Kingbirds prefer more open country.  I was outside the Park when I found this good looking bird swooping after insects.

 

   A litter of Coyote pups was born under one of the old buildings in the Mormon Row area. They happened to be out in the sunshine the morning I came by.  Cliff Swallows were nesting on an adjacent building and Vesper Sparrows sang from the sagebrush across the street.

end of June

I can't believe June is nearly over.  It does not seem like 2 months has passed.  The past 2 weeks have been gray, cloudy, and windy with occasional thunderstorms.  No kayaking, no bike rides to report.  When its not raining I have been wandering out into the forest looking at the new flowers popping up. They like the rain.

Tetons in the clouds, the view is never the same.

One evening a friend and I went out to Pilgrim Creek pond looking for a Moose.  Instead we found a field of Lupine and Arrowleaf blooming and glowing in the late evening sun.  This Yellow-bellied Marmot was sitting on a downed Cottonwood tree.

 Last weekend the weather pattern cleared for a few days.  This photo was taken from Jenny Lake looking across Cottonwood Creek.  Saturday of that weekend I was able to take a one day class on Snow and Mountain Safety given by Exum Guides.  We learned to use ice axes and crampons on a fairly steep snowfield.  The melting spring snow was soft and easy to dig into. This is not always the case, the instructor told us.

Yesterday a friend and I drove to a Native American Pow-wow event presented by the Shoshoni tribe.  On the way back we passed a pond with a few Avocets and a large group of Wilson's Phalaropes.  It seems too early for these Phalaropes to have finished nesting and be on their way south again.

Yellowstone day trip

 Driving along Yellowstone Lake I saw a large group of  . . . . . . .  "Wait a minute they are not big enough to be geese."   I turned around and went back.  A large flock of Barrow's Goldeneye  !!!!!










There are geothermal vents in the sand of the lake's shoreline.

This large Bison decided to present itself to the visitors at Mud Volcano.

Glacier Lillies  !!!   I was coming down Dunraven Pass and saw yellow flowers on the hillside.  These flowers are so pretty.

Park beauties mid-June

Flowers are in full bloom, Swallows are building mud nests, and trees are completely leafed out. An early summer storm has descended on the area.  Yellowstone Park may have several inches of snow.
     This is a Cliff Swallow on a wire near an old building.  The old wooden porch was home to a cluster of Cliff Swallow nests.





This is a flower called Elephant head.  Each blossom resembles a tiny elephant trunk.







 

 
My room-mate has a 4WD car. One day we ventured out on a gravel road to the east.  This is Spread Creek looking west back toward the mountains.

A week of a slowly moving cold front has brought cloudy skies and rain to the mountains. 

Grouse !!

 I walked this morning on the trail behind the big Visitor's Center at Moose.  The usual Yellow-rumped Warblers, and Golden-crowned Kinglets were singing.  I took a side trail into the forest looking for another avian singer, instead I heard the low booming sound of a Ruffed Grouse drumming nearby.

 A most cooperative Ruffed Grouse displayed for me several times while standing on his log.

 Lupine have started to bloom along the roadsides.

Spring is bursting out all over.  Grand Teton with afternoon clouds, and Aspen along Cottonwood Creek have new spring green leaves.