Dominic's Grizzly Glory

On I think our second day in Yellowstone, we began in earnest our search for Grizzly Bears and wolves. Apparently, in Yellowstone it doesn't take very long to find either of these animals. For just as the sun was coming up, Dominic's eagle eyes had already spotted a pair of interesting-looking animals up on a ridge. When there's only one or two, that's a good sign they could be bears. We pulled over and binned the situation. One momma Grizzly Bear, with her young one in tow, digging up some roots. We walked toward them comfortable distance and used our scopes to observe this interesting foraging session of mother and offspring.

The Wolf Battle

Ok, we didn’t actually see the wolf battle but we heard there was one. The wolf people (see previous posting on The Wolves of Yellowstone – 2011), were there and ready to give us the full status report. Apparently Molly pack had come in and were creepin' on Lamar pack’s bitches...

(OK I know what you're thinking, "GOTCHA!" but hold up - that is actually the technical term for a female dog, ok!)

...so they had a gang fight. Molly pack was not “supposed” to be there according to the wolf-watchers: it "belonged" in Pelican Lake, they said. 16 wolves strong, they came in and kicked out the Lamar Pack, numbering only 11 wolves. This young gray wolf belonged to the Lamar pack, and it came in from behind us in order to investigate the Molly pack which we were observing chase some Bison (very far away). The wolf watchers were in for some heavy drama!

We left the park through the northern entrance, getting bighorn sheep on our already impressive list of mammals. Then we found paradise. An awesome diner where Dom ate a double third-pounder with fried mushrooms, onions and extra bacon. Next door, in a regular-looking petrol station, we stumbled across some of the best beer I’ve ever found, and the trip was evolving into a beer-tasting tour of the west. If you’re in the area of Wyoming or Montana, drink the following beers: Snake River Pako’s IPA Lewis and Clark Backcountry Scottish Ale Lewis and Clark Yellowstone Golden Ale (on my last trip, I particularly enjoyed Grand Teton Brewing Company’s Howling Wolf white as well as their Bitch Creek Ale.

The Dance of the Chicken

Our final destination was the domain of the Prairie Chicken. We camped in a vast grassland, and in the peacefulness, we heard the faint booming of the prairie chickens, our sole objective. To observe their breeding leks is a dream of the naturalist. Before we could locate the source of these strange sounds, the sun went down and they went silent.

The next morning, I woke Dom with great news. The booming had commenced, but in the opposite direction this time. We figured they were beyond that hill. But as we reached the top of the hill, they were nowhere to be seen. Valley after valley, we marched but still no chickens to be seen. The booming continued. We must have walked 3 km before we saw them, up on a hillock, running around like freaks with their yellow neck-sacks, stomping their feet and chasing each other around. Just to understand how epic this was: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw773cr_jXk&feature=related Number of beers consumed: 33 Number of hotties seen in then USA: 4 The trip was nearly at an end. After a half assed search for some smith’s longspurs, we crashed at Neils residence at Calvin college. Number of beers consumed: 36 Number of hotties seen during the trip: 50 (only because we stopped at Neil's college) Bird List 1. Red-throated Loon* 2. Pacific Loon* 3. Common Loon 4. Eared Grebe 5. Pied-billed Grebe 6. Black-footed Albatross* 7. Pink-footed Shearwater* 8. Sooty Shearwater* 9. Short-tailed Shearwater* 10. Fork-tailed Storm-petrel* 11. Brown Pelican* 12. White Pelican 13. Double-crested Cormorant 14. Brandt’s Cormorant* 15. Pelagic Cormorant 16. Great Egret 17. Great Blue Heron 18. Green Heron 19. Mute Swan 20. Canada Goose 21. Brant 22. Greater White-fronted Goose* 23. Emperor Goose 24. Snow Goose 25. Mallard 26. Northern Pintail 27. Gadwall 28. American Wigeon 29. Eurasian Wigeon 30. Northern Shoveler 31. Cinnamon Teal 32. Blue-winged Teal 33. Green-winged Teal 34. Wood Duck 35. Canvasback 36. Ring-necked Duck 37. Lesser Scaup 38. Ruddy Duck 39. Harlequin Duck 40. Long-tailed Duck* 41. White-winged Scoter 42. Surf Scoter 43. Common Goldeneye 44. Barrow’s Goldeneye 45. Bufflehead 46. Hooded Merganser 47. Common Merganser 48. Red-breasted Merganser 49. Turkey Vulture 50. Bald Eagle 51. Golden Eagle 52. Sharp-shinned Hawk 53. Cooper’s Hawk 54. Northern Goshawk 55. Northern Harrier 56. Osprey 57. Broad-winged Hawk 58. Swainson’s Hawk 59. Ferruginous Hawk 60. Red-tailed Hawk 61. Rough-legged Hawk 62. American Kestrel 63. Merlin 64. Peregrine Falcon* 65. Prairie Falcon 66. California Quail 67. Dusky/Sooty Grouse hybrid 68. Sharp-tailed Grouse 69. Greater Prairie-chicken 70. Ruffed Grouse 71. Greater Sage –grouse 72. Wild Turkey 73. Ring-necked Pheasant 74. Sandhill Crane (greater and lesser) 75. American Coot 76. Killdeer 77. Black-bellied Plover 78. Black Oystercatcher 79. Greater Yellowlegs 80. Lesser Yellowlegs 81. Solitary Sandpiper 82. Spotted Sandpiper 83. Willet 84. Long-billed Curlew 85. Whimbrel 86. Upland Sandpiper 87. Marbled Godwit 88. Wandering Tattler* 89. Surfbird* 90. Black Turnstone 91. Semipalmated Sandpiper 92. Least Sandpiper 93. Pectoral Sandpiper 94. Dunlin 95. Rock Sandpiper* 96. Wilson’s Phalarope 97. Red-necked Phalarope* 98. Red Phalarope* 99. Long-billed Dowitcher 100. Wilson’s Snipe 101. Pomarine Jaeger* 102. Sabine’s Gull* 103. Bonaparte’s Gull* 104. Franklin’s Gull 105. Mew Gull 106. Ring-billed Gull 107. California Gull 108. Thayer’s Gull* 109. Glaucous-winged Gull and hybrids 110. Herring Gull 111. Caspian Tern 112. Forster’s Tern 113. Pigeon Guillemot 114. Common Murre 115. Marbled Murrelet 116. Cassin’s Auklet* 117. Parakeet Auklet* 118. Rhinoceros Auklet 119. Mourning Dove 120. Eurasian Collared Dove 121. Rock Pigeon 122. Band-tailed Pigeon 123. Long-eared Owl 124. Short-eared Owl 125. Great Horned Owl 126. Northern Saw-whet Owl (heard only) 127. Burrowing Owl 128. Common Poorwill (heard only) 129. White-throated Swift 130. Anna’s Hummingbird 131. Rufous Hummingbird 132. Calliope Hummingbird 133. Belted Kingfisher 134. Lewis’s Woodpecker 135. Red-bellied Woodpecker 136. Downy Woodpecker 137. Hairy Woodpecker 138. Williamson’s Sapsucker 139. Red-breasted Sapsucker 140. Red-naped Sapsucker 141. Northern Flicker 142. Pileated Woodpecker 143. White-headed Woodpecker 144. Say’s Phoebe 145. Eastern Kingbird 146. Western Kingbird 147. Loggerhead Shrike 148. Cassin’s Vireo (heard only) 149. Steller’s Jay 150. Blue Jay 151. Clark’s Nutcracker 152. Black-billed Magpie 153. American Crow 154. Northwestern Crow 155. Common Raven 156. Horned Lark 157. Violet-green Swallow 158. Bank Swallow 159. Barn Swallow 160. Cliff Swallow 161. Tree Swallow 162. Black-capped Chickadee 163. Mountain Chickadee 164. Chestnut-backed Chickadee 165. Red-breasted Nuthatch 166. Pacific Wren 167. Winter Wren 168. Sedge Wren (heard only) 169. Marsh Wren 170. Rock Wren 171. House Wren 172. American Dipper 173. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 174. Golden-crowned Kinglet 175. Ruby-crowned Kinglet 176. Townsend’s Solitaire 177. Mountain Bluebird 178. Western Bluebird 179. Eastern Bluebird 180. American Robin 181. Wood Thrush 182. Swainson’s Thrush 183. Hermit Thrush 184. Gray Catbird 185. Sage Thrasher 186. Brown Thrasher 187. Starling 188. American Pipit 189. Yellow Warbler 190. Yellow-rumped Warbler 191. Palm Warbler 192. Black-and-white Warbler 193. Northern Parula 194. Orange-crowned Warbler 195. Ovenbird 196. Common Yellowthroat 197. Northern Cardinal 198. Spotted Towhee 199. Eastern Towhee 200. Field Sparrow 201. Brewer’s Sparrow 202. Chipping Sparrow 203. Grasshopper Sparrow 204. Savannah Sparrow 205. Vesper Sparrow 206. White-crowned Sparrow 207. Dark-eyed Junch (Oregon, pink-sided, white-winged) 208. Swamp Sparrow 209. Lincoln’s Sparrow 210. Song Sparrow 211. McCown’s Longspur 212. Chestnut-collared Longspur 213. Western Meadowlark 214. Bobolink 215. Brown-headed Cowbird 216. Yellow-headed Blackbird 217. Red-winged Blackbird 218. Brewer’s Blackbird 219. Common Grackle 220. Baltimore Oriole 221. Purple Finch 222. Cassin’s Finch 223. House Finch 224. American Goldfinch 225. Pine Siskin 226. Red Crossbill 227. House Sparrow

The Serpents' Congress

Entering the Badlands Number of times lost so far = 4. Number of lifers for Dom = about 25 Number of beers consumed = 24 Number of hotties seen in the USA= 4 An afternoon of burrowing owls and sharp-tailed grouse, and a fine evening on a hilltop at the Sage Creek campground enjoying a backcountry ale with my finest friend. In the morning, we ventured down roads seldom traveled (and for good reason) It was in the grasses that we discovered these two bullsnakes fully intertwined. They didn’t tolerate us pervertedly watching them for long, however, and quickly retreated down different holes before I could grab one.

Trouser snake.

As you can tell by now, the level of rage has increased drastically!

Spur Wars

Entering Wyoming, we passed the battle of little bighorn monument, but to our chagrin it had just closed. However, we were about to embark on a legendary battle of our own. The cashier at the super Walmart (cute girl #4 of the trip) asked what we had on for this particular afternoon of our adventure. “We’re heading into the blizzard to look for a bird 4 inches long that lives in grass.” I told her. Re-stocked with supplies, including a magazine of donuts and pastries, an entire roast chicken and some ales to wash it down, we hammered into the storm. Birder Fuel

And the gales lashed at us. Side road after unsuccessfull side road, we were mocked by the horned ones, larks that frolicked in the squalls, twittering into oblivion. Snow hurled itself sideways at Nissan, but we stayed our course. This plan was not working, and we almost got stuck in some mud. We left the car and wandered the fields on foot, barely able to squint into the fury. All we brought back with us were cakes of mud that further burdened the Nissan in weight. We needed to continue on to the Thunder Bassin Grassland, where perhaps the battle would go our way. Then, something happened that would, by chance, turn the tide. Dom was feeling tired, so he pulled over. We got out of the car to have a look around in an over-grazed cow pasture (below). Upon first glance, a pretty ordinary field speckled with frozen patties. However...

Simultaneously, looking at completely different birds, we both said “longspur!” and laid siege upon the field. These shy and fleeting little wizards were formidable, making unnecessarily long flights when we approached too close. Then, I gingerly crept up to two females, who were too intent on eating worms than flying away from me. I scoped them. Slight chestnut lesser coverts...female McCown’s Longspurs! Then, Dom flanked them and spotted their master, the male. He feasted zealously on worms with disregard to our audienceship. Exploring the area further, we saw 4 Chestnut-collared Longspurs as well. Dom’s scope blew over, but I contributed my share of worth to our quest by catching it. We enjoyed every sweet second we could endure before freezing our willies off in the raging blizzard, then ran our asses back to the car and feasted on warm roasted chicken.