Sunday, February 10, 2019

Yellowstone in Winter

Established in 1872 as the first National Park in the world. Yellowstone National Park is one of the most unique and beautiful locations in North America.

We've just returned from a winter trip to Yellowstone. With a focus on the wildlife that are found in the park. Here are some images from our trip...

Coyote - He was hunting in the river flats and took off running right towards our position


Bison - These are the iconic wildlife of the park. Every individual (at least those off the road) has snow clinging to them from wading through the snow to find food, and using their heads to 'bulldoze' the snow to find grass below.

This is a minus 22 degree morning near the Firehole River and the thermals of the Old Faithful area. Trees and bison were covered in frost.


Close Up ! From the safety of the vehicle ;-)


This pair of young bulls was watching our group as the sun rose over the ridge


Long Tailed Weasel - He is a quick and cautious little fellow. His winter phase coat is a perfect camouflage for the snowy landscape


Bighorn Sheep - Another of the iconic species of Yellowstone

This fellow is one of the biggest rams that our guides had ever seen in the Yellowstone region. Note the long curl of his horns. You can count the ridges of their horns like rings of a tree. He is 9 or 10 years old. And note the big piece missing from his left horn. He has seen a few battles.


We found this fellow down in the valley with his harem. We could creep to the edge of the hill to capture him up close.



The other icon that we did not get images of were wolves. The numbers of wolves in the park are down, and there has not been enough snow to force them down to the valleys to hunt.

Overall a great trip to a great national treasure. Highly recommend it for landscape or wildlife enthusiasts !

Dale


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