Wolves at Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

There is a haunting, wild, beauty about the face of a wolf. 

Leopold - High Country Pack

The more I learn of wolves’ complex social structure the more I am in awe of these magnificent predators, beautiful and fearsome at the same time, amazing hunters able to bring down elk, moose, or bison. To see them in the wild inspires awe. To hear them howl is to experience an indescribably wild sound.

A special treat on our last visit to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone was watching the alpha pair of their High Country Pack, McKinley and Adara, play and roughhouse. Adara, the light colored wolf in the next five shots, is the alpha female of her pack and is displaying characteristic submissive behavior to her mate, the alpha male.

McKinley & Adara - alpha pair of High Country Pack

McKinley (standing) & Adara

McKinley & Adara

McKinley & Adara

McKinley & Adara

The four wolves of the High Country Pack are McKinley and Leopold, brothers born in 2006, and Adara and Takoda, sister and brother born in 2009.

Adara & Takoda

Leopold (left) & Takoda

Adara & Takoda

The wolves are especially active around the time they are fed, and periodically in winter they get a carcass.

McKinley feeding

Adara with remains of a carcass

The Gray Wolf (canis lupus) can range in color from white to tan or grizzled gray, to black.  The Gray Wolf was once common throughout North America, but was hunted almost to extinction up to the 1930s. Then wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. Their recovery in the northern Rockies is one of the great successes of the Endangered Species Act, yet they are also the subject of deep and vehement controversy.  

I will not comment here on the intense political controversy over wolves but will simply say that to me, wolves symbolize power and strength, wilderness and wildness. 

Leopold & Takoda

I am drawn to the beautiful Lamar Valley of Yellowstone to observe wild wolves, and there is nothing more awesome than watching these amazing animals in the wild. At the same time, the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center is one of my favorite places and a perfect place to observe wolves, as well as grizzlies.

Monarch Butterflies at Pismo Beach State Park

One of the wonderful things about winter in southern California is the amazing monarch butterfly migration that brings these beautiful insects from Canada to southern California for the winter.

Photo by Randy

The monarch is the only insect that makes a two-way migration in the same way that many birds do. The butterflies look delicate and fragile, but they travel an astonishing 2,500 to 3,000 miles from their summer range in Canada to southern California or Mexico for the winter. They use three major flyways - along the western coast of North America, down the center of the continent to Texas, and down the east coast. 

Monarchs west of the Rocky Mountains overwinter in southern California and Baja California. Monarchs in the eastern part of the continent fly all the way to the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico to overwinter, roosting in oyamel fir forests and clustering together for warmth. Mexico established a Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the Sierra Madre in 1986, expanding it in 2000 to include a total of 217 square miles. 

Monarchs live only two to five weeks during the mating season, laying eggs on milkweed plants which in turn provide a food source for the larvae. Several generations of butterflies live and die over the summer, but the last generation of the season does not reproduce and therefore lives longer. These are the butterflies that migrate, and this generation can live eight to nine months. 

Along the California coast and down into Baja California, there are over 300 overwintering sites, among which the best known and most spectacular are in Pacific Grove and Pismo Beach. The largest population of overwintering insects is at Monarch Grove, at Pismo Beach State Park, where these monarchs were photographed. 

From November through February, the insects can usually be easily observed in these locations where they roost in eucalyptus, Monterey pine, and Monterey cypress trees, returning to the same trees year after year. The sight of these beautiful insects clustering in the branches, sometimes by the thousands, is awesome, their delicate beauty magical. There can be as many as ten thousand butterflies on a single tree. 

Photo by Randy

The best conditions to observe the butterflies are on the warmer days, when the monarchs are more active. We were fortunate to visit Monarch Grove at Pismo State Beach the day after Thanksgiving, on a sunny day when the afternoon temperature was about 70 degrees. Most of the butterflies were roosting, some of them in huge clusters, but many were also flitting and fluttering about.

In February and March, the butterflies that overwintered begin to breed as they travel north, laying eggs on milkweeds along their way. However, the butterflies do not live long after breeding. The generation that migrated south the previous fall dies soon after reproducing, shortly after the spring migration begins. Their offspring continue the migration, with each generation traveling farther north, and it takes three to four generations to reach their summer range. 

The monarchs’ migration patterns are a subject of both fascination and scientific research. It is one of the particularly astonishing mysteries of nature, that the individual butterflies that summer in Canada or winter in California are several generations removed from each other, and no individual butterfly migrates both ways. 

Elk Rut in Yellowstone

This year was the first time we observed the elk rut in Yellowstone - an amazing wildlife phenomenon. During the mating season, which begins in September and lasts into October, males bugle their superiority over a herd of females, and bulls can clash fiercely as they vie for the dominant position in a herd. 

For years we had looked forward to hearing the sounds of the bugling elk and observing the animals during the rut. By Labor Day, people had begun to hear bugling elk at a distance in the fir forest on the ridge of the continental divide behind our cabin near Yellowstone. But no one had yet seen a mature bull. The males retreat to higher elevations and the cover of forest during the summer and are seldom seen until they come to lower elevations, seeking the females, or cows, during the rut, or mating season.

On Labor Day weekend, we spotted this “spike elk” (no branching of the antlers) near Mammoth in Yellowstone National Park. He appeared a beautiful, healthy, strong, proud animal. But likely he would not mate this year, as he would probably not win out in a fight with a mature bull. The rangers at Mammoth told us they had heard bugling in the distance but had not yet seen “the big guys.”

Spike Elk near Mammoth - Yellowstone National Park

The bugling of the males is a unique and unforgettable sound. Randy first heard this call aweek later in the Madison River valley east of West Yellowstone in the national park. Bulls normally bugle from a standing position, but this one was bugling while lying in the grass. 

Elk in Grass Bugling - Madison Valley, Yellowstone - photo by Randy

Several females, or cows, were lying in the grass or standing on the bank, on the opposite side of the river. They were calling to him and he seemed to be bugling in reply.

Photo by Randy

Photo by Randy

In mid September, we spotted this magnificent 6x7 bull lying in the tall golden grass of autumn, again along the Madison west of Madison Junction, with four females nearby. Such a beauty.

6x7 Elk, Madison River Valley, Yellowstone National Park

As no other bulls seemed to be in the general vicinity, this small group of animals appeared pretty relaxed. The bull eventually got to his feet, leisurely walking over to each of the females in turn.

Photo by Randy

Elk Pair - Bull and Cow - Madison River Valley, Yellowstone

With one of them, he smelled her private parts, then let out a plaintive bugle. We don’t know what he was saying but it surely seemed like a sexual plea. The male is ready to mate, but the female is only ready one day out of twenty, based on her estrus cycle.

Elk, also called by the Native American name “wapiti,” are a large and impressive animal and a common sight in Yellowstone National Park, although females are seen much more frequently than males, and the bulls are not commonly seen in summer. These animals, especially the males during the rut, can be very dangerous. They have been known to charge people and even vehicles, and they can cause a lot of damage to a car! Rangers recommend staying at least 75 yards from an elk.

Once found across North America, elk are now found mostly in places like Yellowstone or the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming. A large bull elk may weigh between 700 and 1,100 pounds and stand up to 5 feet at the shoulder with antlers that can reach as much as four feet above above his head. 

Photo by Randy

Calves are born in early summer. The bull loses his antlers in March, and grows new ones annually by the time of the breeding season in September and October.  In winter, herds of elk migrate to lower elevations where feeding is easier. In the Greater Yellowstone area, many elk migrate out of the park in winter, to these lower elevations. One of their routes goes through the valley overlooked by our cabin and over Raynolds Pass at the Montana border, into the lower Madison Valley around Ennis.

Photo by Randy

Dubois Grouse Days

The sky was midnight black as we stepped carefully over barbed wire that we could barely see in the dark, and squeezed through a fence a few paces beyond. Randy and I entered our bird observation blind through the zippered door of the nylon tent-like structure. There were zippers everywhere, for poking our cameras out in any direction. The temperature was about 35 degrees as we sat down on two plastic chairs to get our camera equipment organized by flashlight in the darkness.

Even before we could see the birds, we could hear the soft plopping of the grouse inflating the air sacs on their chest. As the first hint of dawn crept into the sky, and then began to illuminate the area around us, we realized there were many grouse strutting, displaying, running and fighting. 

Note white ruff around the neck and distinctive white markings on the tail feathers

At first we could only make out the movement of the birds from the patches of white feathers on the males’ chest that we could see in the dim light. Gradually as the light increased, we began to see more and more birds, and I believe more birds also continued to gather on the breeding ground, until there were around a hundred birds, mostly males in various stages of display.

We were watching the mating dance, or display, of the Greater Sage Grouse, on ranch land about nine miles out of Dubois, Idaho, as part of the annual Dubois Grouse Days festival. For years, ever since seeing a photograph of this flamboyant display, I had wanted to see this bird in its mating dance. It was exhilerating to see so many of them, and fascinating to watch.

This three-and-a-half minute video captures the birds strutting, displaying, fighting, and copulating.

Once widespread across most of western North America, the population of this large grouse may be only half of its historic levels due to destruction of its native shrub-steppe habitat through agriculture, urban development, and over grazing. It is a large bird, up to 30 inches long and standing two feet tall, weighing from two to eight pounds. 

The dominant male with several females

The Greater Sage Grouse is mainly found at elevations of 4,000 to 9,000 feet in the broad sagebrush plains of the central Rocky Mountain states, Nevada, and northeastern California, with a small population in central Washington. Adults depend primarily on different species of sagebrush for their food as well as for cover. The bird has been considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act, and various government and private agencies are working to conserve remaining habitat in order to reduce the continued decline of this species.

The male retracts his head as he fully inflates the air sacs

In the spring, the Greater Sage Grouse males gather on historic breeding grounds known as “leks” to strut and try to attract females. They fan their beautiful pointed tails; strut in one direction and then another as if to show off both their fancy tails and the dramatic white ruff of feathers around their neck and chest; they inflate yellow air sacs underneath the white feathers that cover their chest, and seem to almost pump the air sacs several times in a row with a plopping sound each time. If you get a good look, you can also see that they erect special head plumes at the height of this display. The females are mostly attracted to the main or dominant male(s) on a particular lek, and a female will signal by a distinctive holding open of her wings when she is ready for mating.  

Here the head is visible just before the air sacs are fully inflated

The male is in the process of inflating the air sacs

A fraction of a second later, the air sacs are fully inflated

We watched the birds for about two-and-a-half hours, fascinated by their behavior, on this lek outside Dubois, which actually was in a corral. We felt gratitude to the rancher for allowing the birds their natural mating ritual, and giving permission for the use of his land by visitors for the Dubois Grouse Days.

Observation blind in field near Dubois, Idaho

The next day, we had arranged to use a blind at the Crooked Creek Preserve of The Nature Conservancy, about 25 miles west of Dubois. This is a lovely unspoiled 82,000-acre preserve, mostly sagebrush steppe, with gently rolling hills rising to snow-capped peaks in mid-April. Another two-and-a-half hours in a similar blind, starting well before dawn, was a wonderful experience. 

Look carefully for the white chests of the displaying
sage grouse in the sage meadows below snow-covered
foothills at Crooked Creek Nature Preserve

For anyone interested in watching or photographing the Greater Sage Grouse display, we would highly recommend the two-day Dubois Grouse Days either for their guided tours to the leks, or to arrange for the use of a blind.

Santiago (James) and Bartolome (Bartholomew), Galapagos Islands - Day 7 And a panga ride in Black Turtle Cove - Day 8

Puerto Egas on Santiago Island

Another very photogenic spot for our last full day in Galapagos, on the island where Darwin spent half of the time he spent on land in these islands.

Puerto Egas on Santiago

For a detailed account of Darwin's experiences here, read the book by Thalia Grant and Greg Estes, Darwin in Galapagos: Footsteps to a New World (Princeton University Press 2009). Grant and Estes have been called the world experts on Darwin in Galapagos. We couldn't believe our good fortune in having Greg as our guide on this trip!

Greg Estes

After a wet landing on sand we walked on volcanic ash and pahoehoe lava, observing the wildlife in the intertidal area, part of which Greg called a "Fur Seal grotto."

Galapagos Fur Seal

Galapagos Fur Seal

Galapagos Fur Seal with pup

Again we saw many Marine Iguanas and Sally Lightfoot Crabs on the lava rocks.

Marine Iguana on Santiago

An American Oystercatcher pair walked along the beach with their chick.

American Oystercatcher with chick

Galapagos Sea Lion

This Sea Lion posed in a beautiful setting surrounded by Sally Lightfoot Crabs.

Our best views of Pacific Green Sea Turtles, which we saw several times on our snorkels, was today.

Pacific Green Sea Turtle

After our visit to Santiago Island we navigated Buccaneer Cove on our way to Bartolome Island, a small islet just of the east coast of Santiago.

Lava cliffs at Buccaneer Cove

Bartolome Island

The views from Bartolome are probably the best known scenes of Galapagos - and most visited by tourists - because of the proximity of this island to resorts, as well as the spectacular views from the top of the island 360 feet above sea level, accessed by a boardwalk and 380 wooden stairs.

View from Bartolome towards "Pinnacle" (photo by Chris Pulling)

Stairs to summit on Bartolome

Sunset view from summit of Bartolome

Black Turtle Cove on Santa Cruz - Day 8

This trip was packed with activities, even on the morning before we prepared to go to the Baltra Airport for our return flight to Quito. Back off the coast of Santa Cruz, near Baltra, on the morning of Day 8 of our Galapagos cruise, we enjoyed a morning panga ride at dawn in Black Turtle Cove. With our image of Galapagos as so dry and arid - which the islands are - it was always surprising to see the lush green mangroves along some of the coasts. Here we saw Pacific Green Turtles, Great Blue Heron, and several sharks including a group of five lurking together as if they were sleeping below the surface of the water.