Our wildflowers continue to put on quite a show in the area, and this elephant’s head is one of the most unique plants that we have. Each flower resembles the large ears, face and trunk of an elephant. They tend to grow in moist areas and the flowers are favored by hungry elk.
July 16th, 2008
Although this bird is called a “common” loon, in Jackson Hole we don’t see loons very frequently. These birds are exceptional divers and are probably more comfortable under water than they are in flight. Nevertheless, they are very capable fliers and many of them winter in coastal areas.
July 11th, 2008
Our objective is simple on our wildlife safaris; to see as much wildlife as we possibly can. This morning we had wonderful sighting of eight different mammals, five species of birds of prey and many other birds. This Western meadowlark posed for us for several minutes while singing. The meadowlark is the state bird of Wyoming and today we were lucky enough to also see the state mammal (bison), the state tree (cottonwood) and the state flower (paintbrush).
July 2nd, 2008
Uinta ground squirrels (frequently called chiselers) are the most frequently seen mammal here at Spring Creek Ranch and throughout Jackson Hole. Their month-long gestation has come and gone and we are now seeing babies such as this one in great numbers. They seem oblivious to potential predators (this image was taken this morning without a telephoto lens) and consequently hawks, badgers and coyotes are very fond of them. We are seeing black bears frequently on our safaris and despite the fact that moose become more elusive during the warmer months of the year, we are still seeing moose on most of our excursions.
June 25th, 2008
The little creatures within our ecosystem are often overlooked due to such charismatic large mammals, but we do have a small representation of reptiles and amphibians in the region. We found this smiling tiger salamander the other day in a marshy area of Yellowstone and it was cooperative enough to pose for a few photographs. Although this is the only species of salamander here, we do have chorus frogs, garter snakes, toads, spotted frogs and the occasional prairie rattle snake in North-west Yellowstone.
June 19th, 2008