The mid summer months can be a hard time to find and photograph wildlife.  When something cool is visible, there's often so many cars stopped that trying to get images can still be very difficult.  I often hear people say they haven't seen anything except bison, or maybe a few mule deer, and perhaps a few elk at Mammoth.  It's actually easy in July and August not to see anything and seeing something out of the ordinary takes some work.

One thing I always do is to follow up on tips.  However, wildlife rarely stay in the same spot for long.  Seeing a bear at Canyon today doesn't guarantee that it will be there tomorrow.  In fact,  unless there's a carcass, it will probably be long gone.  But when there is something to hold a particular animal in an area, such as a roadside carcass, then it may be worth investigating.  Of course, I use a carcass only as an example.  One should never approach a carcass, especially when it's evident that something has been feeding on it.  And I recommend avoiding searching for carcasses in the backcountry.  I had heard that the otters were back at Trout Lake this year, so I made three different trips.  As a result, I was able to get some nice otter shots that, if I hadn't have followed up, I would never have taken.

Another piece of photography advice I learned fairly quickly in Yellowstone is to always have a camera with me.  Even when it is July or August, you never know if you will come across something.  I learned this lesson by not having a camera with me several times when I could have had some nice shots.  I often joked that if I didn't bring my camera, then I'd see something cool.  Now I always carry it, even if I'm going to town.  This grizzly bear image was made on a road trip to Cody, WY.  As we drove along the East Entrance Road, this bear was seen.  Had I not had my camera, I wouldn't have been able to take this and the other photos I did.  So an outing that had nothing to do with photography ended up yielding a few nice shots.

Lastly, much of the mega fauna that everyone wants to see have typically moved into the high country, away from roads, to escape the heat and biting insects.  But there's still plenty of other critters to aim a lens at.  Marmots, pikas, mule deer, ducks, ground squirrels, and other critters can offer nice photo opportunities for those willing to see.  I saw this goldeneye at Trout Lake on one of my trips to photograph otters.  I was skunked on the otters but ended up spending a beautiful morning at Trout Lake with some friends and photographing a few ducks.  While I didn't get the otter shots I was after, I still came away with some nice images and had a good time talking to my friends.

Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. I think that's one of the things that makes photographing them so challeninging and interesting.  Even if you have a lovely seen and beautiful light, you still can't make a nice wildlife image without the wildlife.  And when you have the animal, if you don't have nice light and interesting behavior, then there's still no guarantees.  July adds to those challenges with creatures being harder to find, but with patience, great images can still be had.

Here's some information from the Billings Gazette on a man that was gored by a bison at Bridge Bay Campground:

A California man was gored by a bison in a Yellowstone National Park campground Wednesday morning.

The 55-year-old man from Norco, Calif., was staying in Bridge Bay Campground near Yellowstone Lake. At about 11:30 a.m. he was taking pictures of a bull bison that was wandering among the campsites. When the two got to within about 10 feet of each other, the bison charged the camper.

The man received a puncture wound to the upper left thigh. He was treated at the Lake Clinic, then was transported by ambulance to St. John's Medical Center in Jackson, Wyo. His injuries are not considered to be life-threatening. The man's name was not immediately available.

The full article can be found here:  http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_1bf72186-7702-11de-b074-001cc4c03286.html

Wildlife sightings in the park continue to be slow.  The grizzly and moose last Saturday were fun to watch though.  I hadn't seen a moose at Sylvan Lake before, so that was a treat.  Here's an image.

Well, it's definitely summer in Yellowstone.  Park roads are full of summer tourists, the wildlife has begun to move to higher elevations, and warm temperatures are bringing an abundance of summer flowers after the wet spring.

I did finally see my first cubs of the year.  A black bear sow seems to have taken up residence is Rosie's old "neck of the woods".  This new Rosie has two small cubs of year in tow.  I've seen (but not photographed) her several times between the Tower Ranger Station and the Tower General Store.   Tower bears seem to like to sleep late.  Rarely have I seen any during nice light.

Speaking of the old Rosie, it's believed she didn't survive the autumn or winter.  She was an older bear and also one of the best known bears in Yellowstone.  She frequented the areas between Tower junction and Tower Falls for many years, earning the moniker "Rosie" (Roosvelt Lodge is in this vicinity).  She's not the first bear to carry this moniker.  I've read of different Rosie's in this area  before the 1950's.  The new bear in this territory could very well be one of her offspring.

The otters of Trout Lake have been putting on quite a show as of late.  They've been feasting on spawning cutthroat trout and entertaining visitors to the small lake.  I've seen two adults and five pups, but I've heard there's been as many as seven pups seen.  Some speculation is that it is two different mothers each with a litter, but I've heard from very reliable sources that is is a male and female, each with different pups from their litter.  They haven't been seen in the past week though, believed to have headed back down to the Lamar River, since the trout spawn is winding down and the pups are old enough to travel.

Park visitation continues to be very high.  According the latest NPS release on the subject, found here, visitation for June was up 8.5% with over 643,000 visitors to Yellowstone.  Overall visitation to Yellowstone this year is up 9.3% over 2008. 2008 saw a total of 3,066,579 visitors, just shy of the record 3,151,343 visitors in 2007.  This information is all taken from the NPS release at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parknews/09052.htm .

With summer in full swing and warm temperatures in the 70's during the day, wildflowers are blooming everywhere right now.  A beautiful display can be seen in Mary Bay, along the East Entrance Road, and Mount Washburn also has some beautiful blooms both along the roads and on the hiking trails.  Of course, Yellowstone is a great place to be any time of year!

Giantess geyser erupted on Monday, July 6th.  Giantess is one of the largest geysers in Yellowstone National park and is a very infrequent erupting geyser.  It did erupt last on February 19, 2009. 

I also learned that the Canyon Pack does have a pup.  So while denned at Mammoth they definitely had pups and must have moved one all the way to Hayden Valley, where they're currently being seen.  The Canyon Pack consists of the nearly white alpha female, believed to be the offspring from the former Hayden Pack, and three former Molly's Pack members, all male.  The former female of the Hayden Pack is pictured here.

A new gallery has been added to Travelsinbearcountry.com .  I added a new Spring 2009 gallery, showcasing photographs I took from April through June of this year.  The gallery can be found at travelsinbearcountry.com/spring09.htm. 

The Lake Hotel photo exhibit was very successful.  Thank you to everyone who stopped by and helped make it so.  My photography will continue to be sold all summer in the Lake Hotel gift shop, so if you're visiting the park, feel free to stop in.

Wildlife viewing continues to be good.  Bears are still being seen in the usual places.  Elk calves in Mammoth, baby bison everywhere.  The trout spawn continues also.  The bear closures around the lake and fishing bridge area have finally been lifted.

On a sad note, my friend Cory passed away on July 1st, which was his 22nd birthday.  He had a bad injury in the Lake employee rec hall a week prior.  Cory was an amazing young man, full of life and optimism.  Cory treated all people with respect and was all round just a good guy.  His passing affected the Lake community deeply and he will be missed by many.  It was a sad day to be a laker.  However, Cory was always so full of life and fun mischief that the best way to honor his memory is to live life to the fullest.  I am truly honored to have known Cory.