Spectacular Elk Migration - Grand Teton National Park

Moose, WY (36 degrees, blue skies, chilly)

During the early spring the thousands of elk who have wintered here in Jackson Hole leave the valley and head up into the mountains.  Many  of them travel over 65 miles  to Yellowstone National Park for the summer and fall.  

It's a spectacular sight watching hundreds of them move in single file across the sage meadows not far from our campground.  They are very shy and would stop and start suddenly if cars approached. We saw a long line of elk heading up to the  high country as far as we could see.

Which way do we go??

In the winter they come back down again and spend it at the National Elk Refuge (over 25,000 acres) in Jackson Hole during the cold and sometimes brutal winters. The refuge feeds them if necessary and the herd is managed by Fish and Wildlife. This program was started in 1912 and bison and big horn sheep also stay here.  

We visited the beautiful Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center in Jackson when we first arrived.  The Elk Refuge, Chamber of Commerce,  and one of the book stores we work for co-use this nice facility.  There are interesting displays telling you about the elk and the staff are very helpful. We picked up lots of brochures and phone book which come in handy when you are staying for an extended time.  Our friends from Ding Darling, Patsy and Bob, volunteer here and will be arriving in June.  They love volunteering here and this will be their fifth season.  

On the second floor there is a walk out area where you can see the beautiful valley surrounding the center. 

We saw a Canada Goose laying on her nest on the roof below.  

The male elk shed their massive horns in the winter.  The staff, volunteers, and Boy Scouts collect them and this weekend there will be a big auction selling the antlers at the ElkFest.  We are looking forward to attending. The Boy Scouts keep 25% of the profits for their programs and the remainder is used to care for the herd each wither.  

Here is a picture of an elk we saw this weekend.  Look carefully and you can see  he is working on a new set.

Being here in the early spring has some amazing benefits.  

Celebrating International Migratory Bird Day @ Grand Teton National Park

Moose, WY (36 degrees, rain, snow, grapple, sunshine, hail)

Park Ranger Andrew Langford led an all day bird watching caravan which stopped at seven hot spots within Grand Tetons National Park (CT Visitor Center, Antelope Flats, Sawmill Pond, String Lake, Jackson Lake Dam, Oxbow, and Christian Pond)  His wife, Patty, kept accurate records of the sightings which will be reported to Partners in Flight - an international conservation program.  Their goal is to help reverse dwindling populations of migratory birds by bringing attention to factors that contribute to worldwide decline.  We decided to join the caravan and hoped to see some new birds along the way.

Western Bluebird

It started off so beautifully with the sighting of this Western Bluebird.  They were flitting all around us and were so easy to spot due to their beautiful blue color.  

Peter Langford (behind him is the Snake River)

Peter was an excellent spotter and gave us such great information about the birds we were seeing.  In addition, he can identify calls very easily.  His normal post in the park is at the Jenny Lake Visitor Center.  

Our second stop at the Antelope Flats was along an area known as Mormon Row and a popular photograph stop.  We saw a Swainson's Hawk for the first time.  The picture does not bring out his great features since for  the most part we had very cloudy conditions.  

Swainson's Hawk

The weather was mercurial.  One minute there was sunshine, followed by snow and hail.  The ranger laughed and told us there were really one three seasons in the Tetons-winter, after winter, and awaiting winter.  

Our third stop was Sawmill Pond.  We hoped to see a Great Gray Owl but he was not hanging out today. However, we saw some Cinnamon Teals up close. In the past we had seen some but only in a spotting scope at a great distance.  They are really a very colorful duck.  The Barrow's Goldeneye was interesting too.  Did you know I really like ducks?

Barrow's Goldeneye

Cinnamon Teal

Our third stop at String Lake was snow covered and certainly a very chilly spot.  In the summer, however, this is a great place to swim.  Again our Ranger promised eventually we would have warmer temperatures. But with the warmer temperature comes much greater crowds.

The Jackson Lake Dam overlook was so pretty today.  The blue skies highlighted the mountains and we lingered here for quite awhile.  We saw two new birds for us here - Townsend Solitaire and Western Grebe.

At this point we only had a few member left with our group.  The weather was changing quickly and we even had a brief period of hail. The ranger called it grapple. That's a new word for us.  :)

The Oxbow stop was definitely a hot spot for birds. We were surprised to see Double Breasted Cormorants here and a White Pelican with a bright beak. If they migrated from Florida like us, I bet they are shocked by the cold weather too.

Our last stop was a hiking trail out to Christian Pond.  Bear spray is recommended due to this being a favorite spot for them too.  It was very scenic, however, we could not get out to the lake due to snow pack. We were treated to a somewhat visible view of a Wilson Snipe.  This almost never happens with this bird because it blends in so well with its surroundings.  

Wilson Snipe

If you are interested in the complete list of the birds seen on our International Migratory Bird Day, just send me an email.  We enjoyed this opportunity provided by the park tremendously.  Andrew is an excellent ranger and if you visit Jenny Lake this summer be sure to attend his interpretive talks.  We saw 55 different species and added ten birds to our life list.  What a great day!