Trumpeter Swan Cygnets

 These are Trumpeter swan cygnets who live along the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park.  The Park Service placed these four young swans here recently in hopes of increasing the number of Trumpeters in Yellowstone.  Since Lake Trout have eaten a lot of Cutthroat Trout, which is one of the primary food sources of the Yellowstone eagles, they have started eating the young swans.  No cygnets at all survived this year. This has led to a decrease in the number of swans in the park.  Hopefully these four swans will stay or return to the Yellowstone area and will be able to raise their families here.

Trumpeter swans are North America's heaviest flying bird, with males weighing about 26 lbs.  It takes 100 yards of "runway" of open water for them to get airborne. They usually mate at about four years of age.  The oldest known wild swan was a female who lived to be 26 years and 2 months.  The oldest in captivity was 32 years old.

What do you think this swan is squawking about?

The Great Gray Owl

I found another Great Gray Owl today.  He was drawing quite a crowd of photographers

and on-lookers.  I'm not sure what he was doing in the top picture but I thought the expression

on his face was pretty funny.  It's always a pleasure to observe the wildlife of Yellowstone.  Please leave a message so I'll know you stopped by.  :-)

Lake Butte Subadult - Known to locals as Snow

We watched Snow for about four hours yesterday.  It's always a pleasure to watch the wildlife in Yellowstone and grizzly bears are my favorite subjects.  I hadn't seen Snow much this year because it seems that every time I drove to the other side of the park she was hiding from me.  I was beginning to get a complex, so I'm glad she finally came out of hiding and entertained us for awhile.   She's the most beautiful grizzly bear I've ever seen and I enjoyed getting some new pictures of her.

Snow is what they call a "road bear".  She was raised by the road and spends entirely too much time on or near the road.  Although people love to see her this type of behavior isn't good for her.  The risk of her being hit by a car is high as is the possibility that someone might throw her some food.  When you visit the park try to remember that all the animals are wild even if they don't appear to be.  They are dangerous and can easily hurt you.  Your behavior can also hurt them.  More tourists have been feeding the wildlife this year and that often leads to the animal being euthanized.   The rangers have been trying to change Snow's behavior and encouraging her to stay back from the road, but it's very difficult to do that when she's been raised there.  If she ever comes close to your car please honk your horn and try to scare her away.  No picture is worth encouraging bad behavior on the part of the Yellowstone wildlife.