Trail Log 1995-1997 - Lamar at Colorado State University

To Tower Junction, then to Tower, looking for black bears. Found none.
We looked at an osprey on a nest in a spectacular setting, high on a pinnacle. The road runs above
it all and you can look down into the nest. Two eggs, when she got up once.
Harlequin duck on island in Yellowstone River. These are considered rare, and I do not recall
seeing one before.
80% of the park is forested, and 80% of that is lodgepole pine.
Lunch. Left at 2.15 for hike in the Tower vicinity. Uphill and cross country scramble. Mountain
bluebird. Lots of Dodecatheon. Some Clematis, Mertensia, Forget-me-nots.
Good claw marks on aspen. Two sandhill cranes.
Flushed a great grey owl, rare. This is the southern limit of its range. Saw it in flight twice. No
horns. The largest owl by size. In a way this is more of a find than grizzly bears or wolves.
Back on the road, there was a black bear and cub of the year along the roadside. We watched her
an hour; the cub was quite active, scrambling up trees now and again, walking on logs, generally
curious.
Pulled in the Yellowstone Picnic area, near the river, for rest stop. Bighorns on the hill in the
distance.
A little later, bighorns on the skyline, a splendid aesthetic experience.
Back to the ranch and quick supper.
Sow grizzly and two cubs seen in the distance from the parking lot, across Lamar Valley.
Drove up toward Soda Butte, half a mile, spotted three wolves in the distance, seen chasing an elk.
Others said they saw four; I only saw three, two greys one black, presumably the Druid Pack seen
before. Others claimed to see a bear in the distance; I did not.
We drove down Lamar Valley. Saw a cinnamon colored, subadult grizzly climbing the sagebrush
hillside. The hump was not all that obvious.
Grizzlies have a more rounded face, appear larger at the front end. Black bears have a thinner face,
longer ears, and appear to be higher in the rear end.
Rain and dark.
May 29, Thursday. Somewhat rainy. Up at 4.15 and out. Grizzly and cub across the valley. Drove
up Lamar Valley, and saw a grizzly on the hill. You could see the hump on it, and it had a collar
on. Vesper sparrow.
Then drove down the valley. One wolf climbed over the ridge, presumably but I saw it only at a
distance. We then spent some time trying to catch sight of it again from another location. En route,
there were two coyotes crossing the road, one carrying a skull, one carrying a larger bone, like a
femur.