Living Wild in Yellowstone

In Yellowstone National Park, a bear sighting causes extreme traffic congestion, fondly known as a bear jam. This time, we saw a black bear and cubs wandering through the sage near Tower Junction.

One curious cub stood on his hind legs for a better look at the tourist crowd.

A cub scampered up a tree.  The camera shot caught his legs standing on a branch.  He quickly jumped down and followed mom and his siblings into deep brush.  The bears were crossing behind a picnic area when sighted.  A ranger showed up and cautioned some of the more brazen tourists (who were already traipsing out into the sage) by shouting, "Do not pursue the bears!"  The tourists complied, albeit reluctantly.

Above is the osprey nest we saw last year, built in a dead tree snag.

The osprey came back to nest again, but this time they had bad luck.  The snag fell down, nest and all! One chick remained when we viewed the fallen nest last week. A tour guide told us the nest had fallen just a few days before.  The odds of the chick surviving on the ground until it's old enough to fledge (probably another week or two) must be low.

A coyote ghosted past a bison in Lamar Valley.

Then he trotted on through the herd.  The young bison looks as if he's giving chase.