July in Yellowstone

July is a busy month with peak number of guests, congestion at popular spots, less wildlife in my corner of the park, and the Internet has slowed down with the high usage.  I am sitting at a cafe in West Yellowstone in order to have enough speed to download some photos.   Despite the crowds, life here is good and I am enjoying my summer.   I did some travels to other parts of the park, Chris visited for a long weekend, and I found myself photographing birds more than other wildlife.

Here are some photos from around the park, taken this month.  Before the birds and landscapes, here is a family of grizzlies seen along the East Road, north of Yellowstone Lake.

Grizzly sow

This grizzly has two cubs of the year which means they were born this winter while she was hibernating.

Cinnamon Teal along the edge of the Madison River

Canada Geese with their goslings

Mountain Bluebird.  These birds, particularly in spring during their breeding time are a magnificent blue which flashes, like neon advertising as they flit about.

This Tree Swallow was catching bugs and bringing them to the young in a nest in a hole in the tree.

Immature Trumpeter Swan preening.  When mature, the neck with be bright white like the body is here.

Harlequin Ducks at LeHardy Rapids.

I almost missed seeing the "colt" as the young Sandhill Cranes are called.  Their long legs are the reason for the name.  The grasses here are quite high, hiding much of the colt and a good portion of the adult's legs.

This photo and the one below are of a male Dusky Grouse.  I enjoy photographing the males as they strut, puff their chests,  make a deep thumping sound, and fan their tails to attract females.

Three immature Trumpeter Swans

Wapiti, or elk, cows and calves.  The one at the far right has a radio collar so biologists can track them

I caught this beauty the morning after a rainy night.

Grizzly cub stands on hind legs to scope out the terrain and the people standing on the hill observing them,

On a foggy morning, this photo and the ones below we taken overlooking Yellowstone Lake near West Thumb

Sylvan Lake including family of ducks

Sylvan Lake with Cow Parsnips

Great Fountain is one of my favorite geysers in the park.  Here are three different views taken near sunset.  This geyser goes off at intervals of 10-14 hours.  

The next blog posting will include some photos from the trip Chris and I made to Beartooth Pass northeast of the park.   But I have sat at this booth in a West Yellowstone Restaurant long enough.  I'll put together a folder of photos so they are ready next time I have a strong enough signal to download photos.

In the meantime I will be busy with my tours which are going well.   The more I work with the wide variety of cameras which show up on my tours, the better I am at finding settings and helping the guests.  The composition and basics of camera operation have never been an issue.  But my friends know I am a Luddite and I initially found the settings on all the makes and models intimidating.  It gets easier all the time.   I am having fun showing people some of the things their phones are capable of.   

 To view the photos in larger format, click on the first one.  It will allow you to scroll thru in large size.  The captions won't show.