Cover Story

A red fox kit snuggles up to the Vixen’s tail as it watches the nearby photographers pass by about 25-feet away. Grand Teton National Park rangers had put up police tape around the den area, keeping people back from getting too close – but we were still close. The foxes were unperturbed by our presence, both parents regularly bring in squirrels and voles for the kits. Sometimes predators and prey use humans as a shield to protect their young from potential predators, like bears and wolves.

Yellowstone National Park: Spring in North America’s Serengeti

By Brent R. Paull Tulare, CA www.amwestphoto.com 559-909-5208

The level of excitement built in me as my annual spring Yellowstone/ Teton Wildlife Safari approached. There was a time when I couldn’t sleep the last two weeks before this photo safari (38 years and 1800 days of visits ago). Now the anticipation came out in emails back-and-forth from friends and other guides telling me about their recent encounters. I mentally noted the locations against past encounters, and formed a plan for the 14 days of safaris I would be leading. There is no hiding from these long days, with 4:30 am wake-ups and nights spent trying to find available restaurants to eat at while cards are downloading and camera batteries are recharging back at the hotel rooms. For those on my safaris I want them to know that the long days are always rewarded in this oldest, and greatest, of the world’s national parks – Yellowstone (and the Grand Tetons).

The two back-to-back safaris this year (May 20-May 27, and May 31-June 5) were as different as they are every year, but taken together they encompass every aspect of wildlife photography in the springtime Rockies. While I do five wildlife safaris to Yellowstone/Tetons every year (two in the winter, two in the spring, and one during the fall rut) only the spring safaris have that unique jewel so many seek to photograph – babies. Wildlife babies are the crown jewels of the spring safaris in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Some are obvious, like the Bison calves, commonly known as red dogs for their brightly colored fur – which fades to brown as they get older. Some are difficult to find, hiding in holes underground most of the time, awaiting the return of parents – like badgers, foxes, and coyotes. Most of the raptors are nesting, like eagles and great gray owls, while stately Trumpeter Swans and Sandhill Cranes guard their nests of reeds from potential intruders. But the one set of animals that have been born early, and are the most sought after by photographers, yet the most difficult to find and successfully photograph, are the bears.

Above: Another image of the dating black bears during mating season. The cinnamon sow was being very coy with the boar, standing near him, swatting him on the side and doing her best to entice him. Shot near Rainy Lake on the Tower Road in Yellowstone National Park. Above Right: These black bear cubs, a cinnamon and a black cub from the same mother – but with different fathers, play in the pine branches of a tree as their mother feeds on meadow grasses a few yards away. These cubs were the delight of many photographers, including us. Photographed near the Calcite Cliffs area on the Tower Road in Yellowstone National Park. Below Right: Dating black bears during mating season. The black boar is twice as big as the cinnamon sow. Snow is falling as I shot this image near Rainy Lake on the Roosevelt to Tower Road in Yellowston National Park

In a typical spring year the snow is melting rapidly by mid-May in the mountains, and green grass is blanketing the valleys. Aspens and willows are popping out leaves, and there is a patchwork of shades of green only rivaled by Ireland. Not this year. This year late snow in the northern Rockies, and cold temperatures contined to stunt the growth of nutritious grass. And while it began to warm as the safari days clicked by, the cold rain was a constant strain for those of us who didn’t want to put our modern cameras' weatherproofing credentials to the test. Sprinkles were fine, but we fled heavy downpours. Warm boots, gloves, and multiple layers were the order of the day – you could plan on needing everything nearly every day.

Sounds tough so far, doesn’t it? Long days, less sleep than normal, inconsistent meals (except snacks) driven by time-on-target opportunities, cold temperatures, regular rain, lots of driving, and a moderate amount of visitor traffic – yet, we kicked ass and took names through all of it. I kid you not, taken together, these were two of the greatest spring safaris I’ve done in 38 years. The parks only get better with each passing year.

Since I’m a wildlife photographer, geyser and thermal areas (Old Faithful, Norris Geyser Basin, Midway Geyser Basin, etc) were out, so no visits to those areas, nor the roads around them. Beautiful for landscapes, but thse safaris are centered on wildlife.

Let's get to the nuts and bolts of successful photo safaris in Yellowstone. One thing I’ve found after all these decades of shooting is that I can’t successfully shoot all of Yellowstone or the Tetons every day – I have to divide the parks into zones of activity, activity that I’ve either heard about from friends, or witnessed myself in the opening days. One area that I’ve frequently had stellar grizzly bear opportunities in is Swan Flats (south of Mammoth) down to the twin lakes (North and South Twin Lake) and down to Norris. Not this year, nothing but blanks on a couple early morning scouting trips, so for the rest of the time I skipped this area.

Above: This little badger squeals in delight as it roughhouses with its mother in the dirt excavated from its den by the powerful claws of the adult. The den was close to the road in Soda Butte Valley, in Yellowstone National Park.

Left: This great gray owl is just seconds away from flying farther back into the pine forest as we approached it in the Bridge Bay area of Yellowstone National Park.

So we kept to two areas with the highest wildlife activity, one in northern Yellowstone, and one in central Yellowstone. The first area was centered at Roosevelt Junction, with the spur road up to Tower being finally open (although Dunraven Pass didn’t open until the second safari due to snow conditions), and the road from Roosevelt Junction far into Soda Butte Valley, via Lamar Valley. The central Yellowstone area ran from Canyon, down to Bridge Bay via Hayden Valley, then back and through Fishing Bridge to the shores of Yellowstone Lake and the road to Sylvan Lake. Those were the areas we concentrated our time and energy on in Yellowstone. We made repeated passes through these areas looking for specific wildlife critters, ones we had seen and already photographed, and ones we had heard about from others. As the days went by we narrowed the search even further, eliminating places like Slough Creek from our travels because it had produced no encounters.

Left: This little female badger nuzzles its mother as they enjoy some time out of the nest during sporadic rains.

I probably should mention again that I’m a wildlife photographer, not a wildlife watcher. Watching wolves or bears at a mile (or more) distant means little to nothing to me. I can’t photograph animals successfully at those distances. In fact I sold my Swarovski Spotting Scope decades ago to resist the urge to waste precious time watching distant animals.

Down in the Grand Tetons we had three main target areas we spent our time chasing in. The first was the corridor from Leeks Marina south to Pacific Creek (via Colter Bay and Pilgrim Creek); the second was Jackson Lake Junction to Jenny Lake, on down to the Moose-Wilson Road; while the third area was on the east side of the National Elk Refuge. We ultimately dropped the Elk Refuge and Jenny Lake from our search areas because a lack of activity, and concentrated on the Leeks Marina to the Pacific Creek area, and the Moose-Wilson Road. Wildlife activity drives photography encounters, and so as each day goes by I refine the areas we spend time searching, or chasing, as I like to call it. There are no park locations in either YNP or GTNP where I haven’t had amazing encounters, but each year is different, and I don’t get locked into trying to repeat the successes from past years by wasting time in areas with low activity.

Sniffing the footsteps of the cow elk that just chased it, this black wolf pays careful attention for her return in Hayden Valley,Yellowstone National Park.

Above: Grizzly 793, known as Blondie, carefully watches for danger as her three cubs follow along behind her. It is not uncommon for boars to try and kill cubs to get the sow back in to estrus. A boar killed a 2-year old grizzly cub near Roaring Mountain in Yellowstone National Park the week before.

Right: The three little Cub of the Year of Grizzly 793 follow carefully behind their mother as she moves through the meadow eating plants, never being far from her protection

BLACK BEARS

We saw dozens of black bears, and black bear cubs, both COY (cubsof-the-year) and 2-year-olds, but the best area was the road from Roosevelt Junction to the new Tower parking lot. I don’t have space to describe every encounter that resulted in images; let me just say that we had a 50% success rate on each trip over this 3 miles of road – meaning we had meaningful encounters that resulted in images half the trips up and down the road. With mating season among the black bears in full swing, activity was extreme, and it led to some of the best black bear images I have ever shot. We also had a very active sow with two cubs (one black, one brown) working the area that provided moments that most photographers could have only wished for.

GRIZZLY BEARS

While we photographed a number of grizzlies in Yellowstone National Park it was Grand Tetons National Park where we had the best encounter, with Grizzly 793 (aka Blondie) and her three gorgeous cubs near Leeks Marina, just north of Colter Bay. This area, from Leeks Marina south to Pacific Creek has become famous in spring for its grizzlies, mainly the most famous grizzly bear on Earth, Grizzly 399, who is 26 years old and had just cut her four cubs loose. We made numerous passes through this area, each time coming upon encounters that had just ended with the grizzly bears out-of-sight. Eventually

Red fox kits roughhouse near their den in Colter Bay, in Grand Teton National Park.

Left: This cinnamon black bear boar chased a black sow up a pine tree, where she promptly kicked his butt with a series of swats with claws and bites with teeth. He came down the tree looking dejected, and bleeding from his mouth as evidenced in this photo. A few minutes later the blood was gone and he was acting tough again, stomping around the pine tree as she looked down on him. This black sow may have been the mother of the two cubs we photographed on pages 6-7, and this cinnamon boar may have been the father of that cinnamon cub. Nature can be strange.

we struck gold again, spending nearly two hours with 793 and her cubs at distances no farther than 85 yards, some as close as 40 yards, which is pointblank distance with a 500mm lens. Bear Management Rangers in both parks were professional, allowing photography when they felt the situation was safe, while moving us (and our vehicles) when it appeared the bears wanted to cross the road, or move closer. We followed their guidance, and it didn’t slow us down a bit – as the photos show. Also, there were enough visible cans of Grizzly Bear Mace on folk’s hips to gas a good part of Wyoming should any dangerous situation appear. LOL

BADGERS

My list of must-have critters always includes badgers when I’m in the parks shooting, and these safaris were no exception. Since activity was slow at Slough Creek (a known badger hang-out), Lamar Valley and Soda Butte Valley were our go-to locations for badgers, and we spent all the time we wanted photographing them to near exhaustion. One group of badgers (or den, or cete, pronounced "set"), had a female (sow) with one young, very photogenic badger, ID’d by one of my clients as a female after careful photo examination. The antics of this little female badger were rewarding to photograph, and brought laughs to all of us. While known for their bad temper (I once had a badger rear-up on its back legs when we accidentally met on top of a low ridge) these badgers were just going about their lives. One badger we photographed at a different time was very much a male, with not only the correct anatomy, but much bigger and heavier than the female at the set.

GRAY WOLVES

No one comes to YNP without wolves being on their list of must-photograph subjects. Like unicorns, seeing wolves is rare, and photographing wolves at reasonable distances is even more so. The year 2022 has been a banner year of wolf photography for me, with every safari giving me at least one awesome encounter, if not more. I photographed wolves hunting elk this winter from 40 yards away, not a scene I ever thought I would photograph. Our wolf encounter happened in Hayden Valley on the travel day down to Jackson. One word of advice, never drive by a photographer out of his vehicle taking pictures without stopping yourself. We did, and it resulted in an encounter with a black wolf hunting an elk calf about 45 yards from us, with no obstructions. Apparently, the

Above Right: An osprey comes into the nest, hovering and slowly descending, carrying a fish to feed its mate. This was shot along the Buffalo River, east of Moran Junction near Grand Teton National Park.

Below Right: A drake Harlequin Duck preens in the waters of Le Hardy's Rapids along the Yellowstone River. These colorful ducks are easily photographed at the rapids when the water is lower, revealing rocks for them to rest on.

cow elk had dropped her calf in a narrow forest area adjacent to the road, with a small meadow and some residual snow between us and the trees. The wolf either smelled the calf (which would be a tough thing to do) or witnessed the birth – thus triggering the hunt. However, with only one wolf (about 120 pounds) the cow elk (about 450 pounds) was able to keep the wolf at distance by chasing it, back-and-forth – giving us numerous opportunities for photos during the encounter.

RED FOX

Another critter on everybody’s list is the red fox. The best area of YNP to find them is high up in Soda Butte Valley. While I’ve seen and photographed red fox in every area of YNP and GTNP, in every season, this area has been consistently good for years. This is because of the reintroduction of gray wolves which trimmed the coyote population by 50% or more. Two encounters with fox here led to photos. We also heard about a red fox den in Colter Bay, which on our travels in GTNP we stopped at numerous times to photograph the antics of these playful kits.

An interesting side note here: Both predators and prey (like fox, badgers, elk, pronghorn) use proximity to humans as a method to mitigate dangers to their young. With bears, wolves, and coyotes being the chief hunters of other critter’s young – digging a den or dropping a calf is almost always safer close to roads (people) where arch enemies are put-off by humans. Thus, the red fox den at Colter Bay was ridiculously close to near constant human foot traffic. Which, was great for us…..

OSPREY – GREAT GRAY OWLS

While not always easy to photograph, these birds have consistent locations where they live, and luckily, I know exactly where they reside. A few miles east of Moran Junction is an Osprey nest on a power pole that is actually below the level of the nearby road. This allows us a unique position to photograph the comings-and-goings of these beautiful fishing birds. The adults take turns warming the eggs or guarding the nestlings, while the other is out fishing. With the river on the backside of the nest, and the sun in its afternoon position to the west, photography is well-suited with perfect light and position as the birds zoom up from below and behind, then slowly helicopter down to the nest. The tactical trick is to not focus on the birds, but rather the nest about 90 feet away, thereby ensuring sharp images without the problem of moving wings making the camera lose focus. The birds settle into the depth-of-field at that distance the second

A male Yellow Warbler comes out of the bushes near its nest in a Hawthorne tree on the Moose-Wilson Road in Grand Teton National Park.

they get to the nest, with all images being sharp.

The great gray owls inhabit three prime areas in YNP: the area around Canyon, Fishing Bridge, and nearby Bridge Bay. I’ve shot them throughout the park, but these three areas give a higher chance of success. As we drove through the Bridge Bay picnic area, we stopped to study the large meadow to the north. Within seconds of parking, I saw a flash of gray in the pines 200 yards away. We dismounted the vehicles and crossed the sloppy meadow of mud and snow, and found the owl just inside the forest. This elusive owl lived up to its difficulty to photograph, giving me one second to get one decent image before it jumped. We followed, but the touchy owl would not settle down, and leap-frogged away from us deeper into the forest. All I can say is our tactics were sound, but the owls are much easier to photograph in the fall.

OTHER BIRDS and CRITTERS While I’ve covered a few species here, we literally photographed dozens of others. Yellow-bellied marmots, coyotes, Uinta ground squirrels, least chipmunks, harlequin ducks, trumpeter swans, common goldeneyes, bald eagles, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, yellow warblers, black-headed grosbeaks, moose, mule deer – and at least a dozen others. With the coming of spring, both YNP and GTNP are the home to dozens of songbirds arriving from their winter homes for the spring nesting season. Songbird photography is a science all its own, and one of the most difficult in the world of wildlife photography. I could spend another couple of pages just relating songbird tactics, but I will save it for another day. BRP

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