BlueRavenBirders

Saturday April 21, Yellowstone

This was opening day for the West entrance into the park and the first day the road to Old Faithful was clear. The park still has people, but not nearly the numbers that we see later in the summer.

I rented a 12 passenger van for this day trip into Yellowstone. There are so many people that I want to bring with me on adventures that I thought I’d try making it happen.  There were 9 of us who ventured forth early in the morning. Bill did most of the driving though I was happy to take over on the way home.

The Van

We always stop at three spots on our way through Island Park. The first is at a pond where there are usually swans. The second is at an Osprey nesting platform. And the third is a roadway along the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River. Today, the soon to be parents were beginning construction on their nest Osprey

It was chilly but sunny and there was still snow on the ground. This isn’t unexpected for April in Yellowstone. We all wore layers and while some of the roads are open very few of the facilities are.

Nature’s abstract sculpture with Trumpeter swan

Cinnamon teal

The bison are very thin at this point in the year. Luckily they survived the winter and the grass was greening up all over the park.

We had six sightings of coyotes on this trip. Our first one was along the Madison river.  

Blonde coyote, she had a cluster of ravens following her around.

Of course there were lovely, shiny ravens

Some of us

Rainbow of hot mineral pool and steam

Snakes in a warm spot with sun and steam

This opening weekend is my favorite time to visit Old Faithful. Fewer people, easier parking and with the chill air, the geyser becomes truly stupendous.

Old Faithful at the beginning of his activity.  

Raven ready for his closeup
Coyote looking for food.  We counted this coyote twice since we saw it on the way to Old Faithful and on the way back. 

We saw
1. Trumpeter swans
2. Red breasted merganswers
3. Osprey (lots of them)
4. Mallards
5. Cinnamon teals
6. Sandhill cranes
7. Mountain bluebirds
8. Common ravens
9. Bald eagle
10. Common mergansers

Bison and coyotes!

We had a great time, laughing, talking, and enjoying the wilderness.  I’ve never seen so many coyotes nor so many osprey ~8 or more.

— Jenny