wolf en beer update yellowstone

We started this wet morning watching Big Grey at the bison carcass. He was pretty wet and Rick, Doug and I went back and forth as to whether it was Middle Grey or Big Grey, but finally decided after he headed back to the den site and the way he crossed the road that it had to be Big Grey. 

Big Grey was on the carcass feeding for about 35 minutes and then decided to head back to the den. Three coyotes nipped at his butt and basically harassed him for quite some distance before they gave up and walked back to the carcass to feed themselves. 

No wolves were seen anywhere in the park yesterday, so it was a good day to show up.

The bear activity was a bit slow too, but we did finally see a sow with two cubs south of the Bison Ranch and watched as they dug a huge trench feeding on roots and tubers.

The Osprey pair that had built a nest on top of the crane have built their new nest down below Canyon West, just above the Lamar River which gives us great views inside the nest.

I haven't seen any owls this year. I did not check the nest at Mammoth though. Maybe someone else who knows where it's at can check and let us know.

The Moose have moved west out of Round Prairie. The cow and calf were at Confluence this morning and there was a large bull just to the west of Petrified Tree, and another cow around the corner at Floating Island Lake.

One of the park wolf researchers radioed in that he had a black wolf at the carcass located at Elk Creek this morning but I think he was the only one who spotted it. Most probably an uncollared Junction Butte wolf. It was a very brief sighting. As far as I know, Big Grey was the only wolf seen today.

The eagle nest in the Lamar is active once again and I think there are two babies who have just recently hatched. One adult stays with the babies and the other is seen up and down the Lamar looking for food.

I did not see Quad mom today, but the low cloud cover and rain made it difficult to do any real spotting around Mammoth.

I have a bunch of classes to attend for the next week. Wilderness EMT, Emergency Preparedness, then a Park Service Naturalist Guide Class at Mammoth on Wednesday which I am looking forward to. 

Dr. Doug Smith will be giving a presentation for about 1 hour on the wolves. Kerry Gunther is scheduled to talk for another hour about bears. The whole afternoon will cover geothermal and safety, a bison update, a fisheries update and a presentation on the birds of Yellowstone. I hope I can stay awake after lunch LOL!

I did receive some paperwork from the park service that said I was granted my licenses, but no mention about the waiver I requested for the backcountry bear tours. I guess that is still under review. I'll check with Ranger Gunther on Wed. morning after his update on bears and bear safety at the meeting if I don't hear before that.

Several Facebook fans stopped to say hi while we were at various stops. You are always very welcomed to do so. It's nice to put faces to names, and I always enjoy meeting everyone even though I may not have a lot of time to chat.