Merganser Afternoon - Yellowstone Reflections

One afternoon in Yellowstone National Park I wanted to hike, but I was on my own and the Park Service strongly recommends that people hike in groups of three or more for safety in grizzly bear country. So I settled for a solitary stroll on the boardwalk at LeHardy Rapids on the Yellowstone River.

The boardwalk was too short to soothe my wanderlust, but it provided an excellent view of the rapids, so I settled onto the grizzly-free deck to watch the river noisily leap over and surge around rocks. Even here, in this little byway where the Yellowstone River regains its tumbling nature after leaving Yellowstone Lake, the park offered a rich opportunity to view wildlife. Out of a curtain of splashing bubbles, a bright orange bill appeared above a lowrider feathered back.

One Wolf in a Bison Herd - Yellowstone Reflections

A lone wolf surveys a bison herd at Yellowstone National Park

The fourth and last wolf we saw in our summer week at Yellowstone National Park was wandering in a bison herd. We first saw the wolf cross the East Entrance Road from the shoreline of Mary Bay on Yellowstone Lake and then immediately trot into a herd of bison on the other side of the road. The bulls, cows and young bison did not stampede when the wolf walked among them. They kept grazing and resting, belching and rolling in the dirt. The wolf slowly trotted through the herd of about 40 bison, occasionally stopping or changing direction, and constantly looking around.

The Lone Black Wolf - Yellowstone Reflections

A lone black wolf crosses the Lamar Valley

It starts as a black spot. No, actually, it starts as a bunch of cars on the side of the road in Yellowstone National Park and people looking through binoculars and scopes over the open Lamar Valley. So we stop, of course. And look. And shyly ask. With scraps of information shared in hushed tones and magnified glances, the black spot gradually turns into a wolf with four legs slowly moving across the wide river plain. A black wolf following its sharp nose, stopping, looking around, then moving on.

Reconnoitering Wolf - Yellowstone Reflections

Wolf reconnoitering a pond in Yellowstone National Park.

On our second day in Yellowstone, we saw our second wolf. After stopping at Lake Butte Overlook to check out a story about the islands of Yellowstone Lake, we continued on our merry, chatty way when suddenly a wolf appeared on the side of the road.

It was loping along at a good pace, crossed the road, and as I popped out of the car, it headed down a ravine.

Collared Coyote - Yellowstone Reflections

Coyote in Yellowstone National Park - collared and ear tagged

A few days later, we were cruising the Northeast Entrance Road along Soda Butte Creek around dusk hoping for a view of the Lamar Canyon wolf pack and their pups when instead a collared coyote popped up. It had a radio collar and a bright pink tag on its right ear.

First Wolf - Yellowstone Reflections

A gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park showing the wolf's broad face and white hairs around the mouth.

We arrived in Yellowstone National Park on the first of September in a thunderstorm and put our tents up in blowing rain. The first day was a good day for collecting information at the Visitor Centers and reacquainting ourselves with the lay of the land. By 7 pm, the Lion Hunter and I were leisurely driving the Grand Loop Road east of Madison discussing careers in biology when we saw signs of wildlife - a traffic jam.

The Lion Hunter said, "Wolf. Get out!" and without thinking, I obeyed. I grabbed my binoculars and camera and walked along the top of the river bank. I didn't see anything but studied where the crowd of people were looking between the pine branches. Then I saw movement on the other side of the river and suddenly I was looking at my first wolf ever. Its fur was streaked with white but somehow it looked young to me.

Yellowstone Reflections

Yellowstone National Park - sky, land, water. life.

I've decided to try something different in the next few days - share wildlife photos from Yellowstone National Park. The Dipper Ranch blog is primarily about natural history in the Santa Cruz Mountains located on the central coast of California, especially sightings and seasonal changes on the Dipper Ranch, my home. Over time, I've added my reflections on living and working as a park biologist in these natural areas.

This summer, I took a trip to Yellowstone National Park where I was saw an extraordinary amount of wildlife - amazingly, we saw wolves four times. Under the guidance of a wildlife biologist friend, I learned about animal interactions in the Yellowstone environment. I've read about Yellowstone ecology and wolf reintroduction since then, but I've got a lot more to learn.