Vacation Journal
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
It got down to 30 degrees at five o'clock this morning. The high today was 65. This is what I call perfect weather.
We left camp at mid-morning to drive to the Old Faithful area. As we went through the Madison Valley, we stopped to get a real close view of a Great Blue Heron stalking small fish in a backwater off the river. He would walk slow then freeze. Sometimes he would spear his bill into the water. Sometimes he came up shaking his head as if he was arranging a fish so he could swallow it. He was a lot of fun. The heron was where the swan had been yesterday. We didn't see the swan. The valley had its usual complement of elk and buffalo.
We stopped to visit one of Charolette's favorite places, the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is the largest hot springs in Yellowstone and the second largest in the world. It tends to be a bright blue color with reds and oranges around the edges.
We ate lunch at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge cafeteria. Then we sat in rocking chairs on the covered porch at the Lodge and watched Old Faithful erupt. It was raining with a cold wind, so part of the crowd on the boardwalk left before the eruption. It was probably the largest eruption I have ever seen at Old Faithful, but because of the gray cloud cover, it was not easy to see. We did see two Mountain Bluebirds while sitting on the porch.
Afterwards, we visited the Madison valley again. We stopped for about 30 minutes and watched an Osprey on a tree above the river. He was watching the river closely, but apparently never found a fish because he stayed put the whole time we watched.
Back at Seven Mile Bridge, we found the swan again. We think it is a yearling. We crossed the bridge and found three more swans slowly swimming upriver and feeding. We watched for 40 minutes. I took pictures with my film camera with the 300mm zoom lense. I hope some of them turn out OK. While we were watching the swans, a marmot came out of the rocks and wandered along the shore for several minutes. We had seen marmots over by the Yellowstone River Canyon last year, but had never seen one in the Madison Valley.
Further towards West Yellowstone, we stopped to view the bald eagles. We saw two of the young. Both parents were away from the nest. We found one parent perched on a tree across the river about 400 yards from the nest. We watched until he flew away. Then he circled up high for a long time just gliding with the currents. Then two Canada Geese with six young came swimming up the river in single file - one parent leading and one parent at the rear. They stopped and climbed up on shore. Then another swan came along - the fifth swan of the day. We never saw more than two swans here all last year. If this place isn't heaven, it's the next best thing.
We got back to the trailer to discover that the female Cassin's Finches had discovered the feeder than hangs on our window. I had put it up this morning. Now we get close views of them.
We left camp at mid-morning to drive to the Old Faithful area. As we went through the Madison Valley, we stopped to get a real close view of a Great Blue Heron stalking small fish in a backwater off the river. He would walk slow then freeze. Sometimes he would spear his bill into the water. Sometimes he came up shaking his head as if he was arranging a fish so he could swallow it. He was a lot of fun. The heron was where the swan had been yesterday. We didn't see the swan. The valley had its usual complement of elk and buffalo.
We stopped to visit one of Charolette's favorite places, the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is the largest hot springs in Yellowstone and the second largest in the world. It tends to be a bright blue color with reds and oranges around the edges.
We ate lunch at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge cafeteria. Then we sat in rocking chairs on the covered porch at the Lodge and watched Old Faithful erupt. It was raining with a cold wind, so part of the crowd on the boardwalk left before the eruption. It was probably the largest eruption I have ever seen at Old Faithful, but because of the gray cloud cover, it was not easy to see. We did see two Mountain Bluebirds while sitting on the porch.
Afterwards, we visited the Madison valley again. We stopped for about 30 minutes and watched an Osprey on a tree above the river. He was watching the river closely, but apparently never found a fish because he stayed put the whole time we watched.
Back at Seven Mile Bridge, we found the swan again. We think it is a yearling. We crossed the bridge and found three more swans slowly swimming upriver and feeding. We watched for 40 minutes. I took pictures with my film camera with the 300mm zoom lense. I hope some of them turn out OK. While we were watching the swans, a marmot came out of the rocks and wandered along the shore for several minutes. We had seen marmots over by the Yellowstone River Canyon last year, but had never seen one in the Madison Valley.
Further towards West Yellowstone, we stopped to view the bald eagles. We saw two of the young. Both parents were away from the nest. We found one parent perched on a tree across the river about 400 yards from the nest. We watched until he flew away. Then he circled up high for a long time just gliding with the currents. Then two Canada Geese with six young came swimming up the river in single file - one parent leading and one parent at the rear. They stopped and climbed up on shore. Then another swan came along - the fifth swan of the day. We never saw more than two swans here all last year. If this place isn't heaven, it's the next best thing.
We got back to the trailer to discover that the female Cassin's Finches had discovered the feeder than hangs on our window. I had put it up this morning. Now we get close views of them.
Archives
May 2005 June 2005 August 2005 September 2005 August 2006 September 2006
