Grey Day…YELLOWSTONE, USA (11 Oct.)

The colour of this day in Yellowstone was undoubtedly grey, but that is not to say it was dull; far from it. Having spent considerable time unsuccessfully probing sites from Canyon to Bridge Bay for Great Grey Owl the day before, this then became our raison d’etre for this day. While we were unreservedly grateful for having seen one a few days before, and the views had been unquestionably good, they were cut short when the owl took off earlier than we’d hoped, leaving us yearning deeply for more. We set off in chilly conditions back to the forest meadows near Canyon. Having found no sign of the “Grey Ghost” at the first meadow, we walked deeper into the woods, hoping to find it perched inside instead, and a known hangout for the species. This method failed too, and so Nick Athanas and I worked our way along the road to the next set of meadows. This constituted two meadows dissected by the road that runs through the park. I took one side of the road, while Nick took the other. I had barely worked my way down into “my” meadow, when I heard Nick’s raised voice summoning me from the other side. I hurried across the road and was quickly by Nick’s side, staring at an impressive grey shape perched on a precarious snag, which appeared barely capable of bearing the weight of this large beast. 

Great Grey Owls are reputed to be fearless, something that was not evident from our previous sighting, but became apparent over the next two hours when we watched it showing absolutely no signs of anxiety from the comings and goings of various people reacting to a small crowd gathered in a roadside meadow, and then reacting more lucidly to the owl itself. As we viewed this magnificent owl within clear view of passers by, it did not take long for a small crowd to gather in its wake, which enjoyed watching it while snow fell gently around it, making it a sight to behold. However, once the owl moved into the woods behind, the throng soon disbanded, and after finding it sitting imperially within the forest, we had it all to ourselves for as long as we wanted it. This was the view I had craved, and I was thoroughly satiated. Forgive my fixation with this bird, but it stands head and shoulder above anything else I have seen this year, and ranks up there within my all-time top ten birds, so I am going to milk it, while I can!

 

The weather on this day was topsy-turvy, snow accompanying parts, while other parts were bathed in sunshine, with cerulean skies! In the middle of the day, within the higher reaches of the park, a sudden and particularly heavy snowfall, left some American Bison carrying a soft white burden on their hides, making for a magical scene. 

At lunchtime we left the snow largely behind, but still experienced bone-chilling temperatures. Not what we desired for an open air picnic lunch in a campsite! We had not even managed to make our first sandwiches, when one of the local camp raiders – Grey Jays – swooped in and gobbled up some of our unintended crumbs. I had heard tales of this species being commonly referred to as “Camp Robbers”, due to their larcenous nature, but this was my first direct experience of it, which made for a great, impromptu, photo shoot!

Yellowstone…USA (8 Oct)

…The word Yellowstone is widely revered amongst nature photographers. It has been called many things, among them the Serengeti of North America. Nowhere else on the continent can offer so many large mammals in a short time. Bison speckled with snow, the steely glare from a wolf pack, and the enormous headdress of a stag Elk in rutting season are commonplace images associated with America’s oldest park. And that, was the reason for our visit. Having not seen Black or Brown Bears, Wolf, Bison, or Bighorn Sheep, I had plentiful mammalian reasons for being there. On top of that was my primary target for the trip, the so-called “Grey Ghost”, or “Phantom of the North”; North America’s largest owl, the Great Grey. The Gandalf of Owl species…

We flew into Bozeman, in the state of Montana, but soon after drove into neighboring Wyoming, and Yellowstone National Park, which spans three different US states (Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho). Our arrival in Bozeman was spectacular in itself, as we looked down on the jagged contours of the Rockies as we descended by plane, and were further impressed by the wall of mountains dominating the horizon, as we walked out of the airport. A few hours later, we entered the park itself through the Roosevelt Arch, (near Gardiner), the final stones of which were laid down by the US president of the same name in 1903.

Just past the infamous arch, we began to see some of the abundant wildlife that Yellowstone is justifiably famous for: Pronghorns and Mule Sheep grazed nonchalantly nearby. Moving swiftly, and deeper into the park, we came upon a Yellowstone tradition - a gridlock of vehicles proclaiming the sighting of something special. We raced out of the car and were soon glassing a Black Bear snuffling through the pine-sullied understory. This was my first, and I somewhat arrogantly, thought this was the opening of the proverbial floodgates for the species for me. However, this ended up being the solitary sighting of our time there. A glance at a straw-coloured mountain meadow revealed some massive brown “stains” within it, which proved themselves to be our first gigantic Bison of the trip, an impressive and imposing beast that was to go on to feature daily.

Our day ended with a very fortuitous reunion with a very skilled nature photographer from Indiana (Jim Chagares), whom we had got to know through our many visits to Magee Marsh in Ohio. This was especially lucky, as Jim was already honed in on some key species of the park, after some four weeks on site, (and many years covering it before that). In particular, he floored me with jaw-dropping photos of a recently observed Great Grey Owl, which had my pulse racing and my complete attention! The photo came with a caveat though; the individual so dramatically portrayed within his photos had come to a sad end only days before, when it was hit by a passing car. We had heard this tragic news before we had arrived, and so were somewhat prepared for this unfortunate headline. Jim had better news though, as he’d managed to home in on another ghost just that very evening, in a different spot, and quickly suggested hunting together for it the next day…