Yellowstone: See a Bald Eagle catch a fish

This is probably the coolest series that I managed to take in Yellowstone. The bald eagle has been sitting on top of a pine tree for at least half an hour when it noticed the fish and swooped in to take it:



















If you click on the last picture to zoom in, you can still see the trout's eyes staring out blankly in disbelief at such an indignity.

Yellowstone birds

Yellowstone is actually more known for game wildlife, not birds, but there is still a good number of unique birds living in it:

A juvenile white pelican was tooting around on the river, but once the sun went down, it just took off:


We also discovered a colony of cliff swallows under a small bridge over the road:


A kestrel making its first morning flight:


An osprey patrolling the Old Faithful:


Two immature bald eagles looking for lunch:


A couple of house wrens:



Can't figure out whether it's a Song Sparrow or some western specialty:


A kestrel (different one) harassing a red-tailed hawk:



And a sandhill crane, one of the pair that was spending the nights on the lake right in front of our cabin:

Yellowstone: Old Faithful

Old Faithful is still the prime attraction of any Yellowstone trip:



Sapphire pool:


Grand geyser:


Grand geyser is so big that its eruptions killed all the trees around it:


The resident chipmunk can hardly be classified as "wildlife" anymore:




BTW, this was our rental car. It's actually larger than we expected, but was still totally dwarfed by the mountain-sized pickups the locals drive out there:

Yellowstone morning

Sunrise over Madison River:


A kestrel watching the sunrise:


Why are there four kestrels on this tree? Because it's a four-kestrel tree!


Bald Eagles preparing for the day in their nest:


A solitary sandpiper (called Solitary Sandpiper) looking for breakfast:


And this guy could easily become breakfast for those kestrels, if he keeps standing around like that:


While we were out, a small plane came around and started flying in circles around us:


First we didn't know why, but then we noticed something interesting:


Parting shot:

Yellowstone: Elk traffic jam

It's a constant joke that you see inscribed on mugs and t-shirts in all Yellowstone souvenir shops: if you are late to meeting someone, just claim that you got stuck in a buffalo traffic jam. Not only they stop the traffic when they cross the road, but they do it even if they are just standing nearby - since everyone wants to take a peek. So that's how you know if there is something interesting ahead - don't look for the wildlife but look for people looking for wildlife. We got stuck in a traffic jam like that, only this one was caused by elk:

Yellowstone: Mammoth Springs

Just finished my latest trip to Yellowstone - my second one in two years. This time around, we didn't spend much time around geological features, but it was a lot more about wildlife. Nonetheless, there a few places in Yellowstone that are worth seeing over and over again, and the Mammoth Springs are one of them. It's just a really weird place with a very strange landscape:





Bridge over Yellowstone River on the approach to Mammoth Springs:


The water that comes down from the springs is hot and mixed with sulfur. But it didn't bother this sandpiper (killdeer?) that was happily taking all sorts of baths in it:


Brewer's Blackbird giving me an evil eye:

Rock Pigeons

I bet you didn't know that was their name. People even think of them as just pigeons (with a lower p), something to kick or step over in midtown Manhattan, but even they can help form pretty pictures if photographed with care, especially in a natural environment. Rock Pigeons have an amazing history: they are native to Ethiopia (where they live under cliff edges), domesticated by humans ages ago for their homing abilities (no GPS back then), transported to every single habitable continent by owners, released or allowed to escape there, and yet perfectly adapted to every place they've found themselves at. I've seen them as far north as Moscow, and as far south as Manila. Amazing adaptation abilities!