"A Sand County Almanac"

"THERE ARE SOME WHO CAN LIVE WITHOUT WILD THINGS AND SOME WHO CANNOT."
"FOR US IN THE MINORITY THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE GEESE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN TELEVISION.".....Aldo Leopold



"LOOK DEEP INTO NATURE, AND THEN YOU WILL UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING BETTER".....Albert Einstein


“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves”.....John Muir


Saturday, June 16, 2018

Yellowstone-Part Two


When not looking for specific animals in the park, we spend a lot of time looking for random opportunities to photograph wildlife. 
This coyote is a good example.  When we first spotted him he was walking along the side of the road and appeared to have an injury to the top of his head...

We almost immediately saw a female pronghorn looking intently at the coyote...

On previous occasions we have watched pronghorns defend their fawns from coyotes, and we speculate that in this case the coyote took a few blows to the head from the hooves of the mother pronghorn and failed to secure the fawn.

 On another day we observed a badger closely following a coyote...

There was no apparent reason for the badger to follow the coyote until the coyote pursued a ground squirrel...

The badger quickly darted into the sage to steal the coyote's catch...

The badger then quickly dug a burrow...



While the frustrated coyote could only look on as it's meal disappeared...

Coyotes are stealthy and often successful hunters...





We watched as a coyote pounced on a ground squirrel near the Yellowstone picnic area...

After making a catch, it frantically tried to swallow it's meal as quickly as possible...





While the coyote struggled to get the ground squirrel down, a raven flew in and grabbed some discarded entrails...

I enjoy watching coyotes on our trips as they go about their activities, which usually means hunting...


 
At Calcite Springs a peregrine falcon was guarding her young...



Near the Madison River was an osprey nest...



A short distance away a ruffed grouse appeared...

In the Madison there are many rocks that have trees growing on them.  I am always amazed that the trees find enough nutrients to grow on the seemingly barren rock.  The lyrics from the 1863 hymn come to mind "On Christ the solid rock I stand "...

We were fortunate to see a mother pronghorn with a tiny fawn...



No matter the species, there are few things more touching than a mother and her offspring...

Our son, Kyle, is spending some time with us and contributed the photos of the badger and coyote sequence.
Thanks for visiting, be well, and come back soon. 
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