Here's just a quick update to my last post.  The badger den in Little America is now "closed".  It's still ok to park there and watch from the road, but the den cannot be approached.  Also, the beaver lodge at the confluence of Soda Butte Creek and the Lamar River is now a no stopping zone.  Beavers can still be seen and photographed at Fishing Bridge though.

I had some time off over Memorial Day weekend and headed out into the park for some rest and photography.  I found roads congested with traffic, worse than anything I can remember for this time of year.  There was a bit of action going on everywhere though, and large crowds gathered to witness it all.

Here are some of the sightings:

Moose- there was a bull moose hanging around petrified tree, near Tower Junction.  When I was there, it wasn't really close enough to get good shots, and the fallen trees everywhere made a scenic hard to pull off.  I watched the moose for a short time and moved on.

Black bears-  black bears were in their usual locations, anywhere between Mammoth and Tower.  Several were out and about, but due to the crowds at each bear jam, I only looked as I drove on by.

Grizzlies- The East Entrance Road has not been the bear hot spot that it was in past years.  Dunraven Pass, however, has been ok.  A grizzly was digging on the ridge above the road at Dunraven Pass over the weekend, but again, due to the large crowds and the distance of the bear, I didn't take any photos, only watching for a short time.  Another nice looking grizzly has been down at West Thumb.

Beavers- There's been some cool beaver sightings lately, with beavers visible in Lamar and at Fishing Bridge.

Wolves- Wolves are in their typical haunts in the northern range, though I have heard that the Canyon Pack is back down in the Canyon area, having abandoned their den site near Mammoth Hot Springs.

Badgers- The badger den in Little America drew large crowds over the weekend.  I avoided this spot like the plague.

Fox- This is where I spent most of my time photographing.  There's a fox den I was informed of, so, never one to refuse a chance to photograph fox kits, I spent some time there and plan to again soon.  The above shot is of one of the kits as it peered around a tree.

Bison- Bison calves are everywhere now.  I even saw one in Hayden Valley.  But Lamar and Little America are covered with the "little red dogs".

Elk- Calves are starting to appear.  I haven't seen any yet but have talked to a couple of different people who have seen them; mostly in the northern range.

That's all for tonight!

Lots of crazy stuff has been happening in Yellowstone over the past week. 

Making the national news, two park employees were terminated after they were arrested for urinating into Old Faithful Geyser.  I guess that makes the old Metamucil commercials tame in comparison...

A 60 hour power outage delayed the opening of the Lake Hotel by 24 hours.  Guests were diverted to the Old Faithful Inn (where they treated to the new "yellow" eruptions j/k) while Lake employees were evacuated down to Grant Village since they were without heat and night time lows reached down into the teens.

Lake Hotel did open on Saturday, May 16th, and my photo exhibit is up and on display in the lobby, near the gift shop.

Bear sightings have been good in the northern range of Yellowstone.  Grizzlies are being seen anywhere from Mammoth to Lamar while black bears are in their typical places, around Tower and towards Mammoth.  A grizzly has been hanging around West Thumb too and a few, though not as many as in past seasons, have been seen on the East Entrance road.

Wolves are still being seen in the north part of the park too, with a recent kill at Nymph Lake.  The black wolf that has been hanging around Fountain Flats has been targeted for euthanization since it's been chasing cars and cyclists.

Baby bison are out and about in the usual places; anywhere north and near the Madison and Fountain Flats areas.  I haven't heard of any elk calves yet, but it's getting close for them too.

No photos for now, but I hope to have some new ones soon!

More roads opened in Yellowstone today.  The road from the south entrance to Old Faithful and to the Lake area opened for the summer season today.  I didn't get a chance to head that way, but did go out last evening looking for wildlife.  I saw several grizzlies including this well known male griz along the East Entrance Road.  He was grazing close to road and this image was made from my vehicle.  Several other cars were stopped, but with the bear close to the road, no one was stupid enough to get out of their car. Shortly after this image was made, the wind came up and the snow fell so hard that it was difficult to see more than 20 yards away.

The snow pack is slowly melting off, but there's still a lot of snow in the interior of Yellowstone.  Spring is slowly coming and nicer weather is at least in the forecast for next week.

Today, May 1st, the road opened from the East Entrance to Fishing Bridge and north to Canyon.  Did spot a grizzly on a short drive after work this evening.  Had also seen a large one at Mammoth near the upper Terraces yesterday afternoon.  There's still a lot of snow in the interior of the park and snow continues to fall almost daily, though it usually melts off in the afternoon.  Typical spring weather for Yellowstone!

Here's a few photos from this week: