Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center- West Yellowstone

I have long wished to see the snow-covered landscape of Yellowstone National Park.  In late January 2020, I began this long-anticipated trip a day early to avoid any weather related delays.  My  trip was led by John Gerlach, a long time resident of West Yellowstone (and an accomplished photo instructor).

Flying over the plains of Montana approaching the Bozeman airport, I was concerned by what I saw beneath me.  The only snow visible from 35,000 feet was hidden in the lee of small ridges.   Would Yellowstone be barren of snow?  I over-nighted in Bozeman and boarded the Karsch Stage's bus at 4:30 am for West Yellowstone.  As the bus approached the Big Sky ski resort for an inter-mediate stop, my fears were gone - maybe not deep snow, but enough to suggest that at the higher elevations, there would be deep snow.  Nothing to worry about; and, the forecast was for mild temperatures between 12 and 30 degrees.  Perfect.

Arriving in West Yellowstone at 08:00 am, the streets were snow-covered.  A hearty breakfast at Three Bear Hotel told me that John Gerlach had picked a great place for our group's lodging and food.

The Gerlach program did not begin until after dinner, but I had plans to fill the day. It was a short two block walk over to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.  My goal was to get some practice in action photography. I scouted in the morning, and returned after lunch with camera.

The center has multiple groups of grizzly and wolf.  For both species, they have large outdoor runs that are kept meticulously clean.  The outdoor run is prepared with treats and natural scents before a group of 2 or 3 animals is allowed out.  They enter stimulated to explore the area, and the local ravens are actively interacting with them, too, as they look for food scraps. 

Let's look at the grizzly first.  The keepers hide treats under some logs in the enclosure.

One of my first lessons was how difficult it is to see a bear's eyes.   There are nearly no whites to see, and they are very dark.   Another challenge is separating the bear's shape from the gang of ravens.  Patience.

Another lesson is using a wide open lens aperture to keep the background indistinct. The bear enclosure had limited angles where the fencing is unseen. It was still very useful practice.

The wolf enclosure was also fruitful, with the wolf's fleetness offering challenging but rewarding photography. The eyes are easily seen, and capture your attention.  This wolf was prone to bursts of running, that often were free of any elements of the fencing.

Most of the wolves were towards a blackish color, and this one particularly attracted me.

On my first day at the center, it often snowed.  In the bursts of snow, it became impossible to lock focus on the eyes of a running wolf.  The camera always locked on a large snow flake closer to the camera.  On the last day of the Gerlach program, we returned to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, giving me another opportunity with moments free of snow.

There were other attractions in the discovery center.  The Great Horned Owl pair were attractive, but the enclosure always ruined the photo with fencing.  There was an indoor space with River Otters and a fish pool.  I'd  wondered if the fish were to feed the otters. No, I was told; that would have made for some wild viewing.

As it was, I did get a short clip of a lone River Otter while using my mobile phone.  I'd hope to see the otters on the Yellowstone River later in the week.  Had to settle for seeing their tracks in the snow.

One last goal on my trip was getting a good image of one of the Ravens.  It's hard to get the dark eyes and tones of their feathers.  On the last day, back at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center,  I closed my visit out with checking off the Raven from my photo list.

I will soon provide coverage on my five days in the winter wonderland of Yellowstone Park.  You will see that the park has a different personality in winter. Snow and ice create a new landscape.  A vastly smaller number of visitors present cleaner landscapes.  The bison are plentiful and present many interesting portraits.  The winter light is less harsh than summer.  I loved it and only want to experience it again.

Paul Schmitt

Costa Rica Naturally!

John Muir famously counseled the traveler to saunter rather than rush.  On our second visit to Costa Rica, Pam and  I booked with Natural Habitat. We were drawn to the small group size and a pace better suited to actually seeing more of the flora and fauna in natural settings. Arriving in San Jose at midday a full day before the program began, our driver, Marko, delivered us to the beautiful Bougainvillea Hotel. Entering the grounds, one is greeted by lush beds of flowers and bird feeders at the restaurant windows. This is not a hotel squeezed onto a small tract of land. There are several acres of gardens with trails.



Arriving a day early reduced the stress of possible flight delays coming from the wintry USA. Our free day was easily passed exploring the hotel grounds and finding abundant birds, plus many vibrant flowers.  Everywhere one goes in the Bougainvillea, one finds creative architecture and decorations.  The attentive and friendly staff perfectly complements the hotel's beauty.

Here are a few of the discoveries we made walking the grounds. Orchids are found growing on the trees along a path.

A wide variety of palms and other trees offered a hint of the variety we would see later when we arrived at Tiskita Lodge in the extreme south coast near the border with Panama.

The grounds were not just manicured lawns. The tennis courts were hidden within a dense cover bisected by a path.



Many birds were there, including a Lesson's Motmot.  It was feeding on the ripe fruit of a tree.  Note the twin "paddles" at the end of its tail.  Beautiful bird.

Our time at the hotel passed comfortably, aided by abundant discoveries like butterflies,















...graceful flowers,










.....  and other pleasant surprises.


After a pleasant day in the gardens, we met our guide Roy and the other six members of our group on Saturday, and prepared our baggage for a Sunday morning charter flight to Golfito from the domestic airport. Our driver, Jimmy, would take us to the flight and then make the 5-1/2 hour drive to Tiskita Lodge with the majority of our bags.




We were each allowed 30 pounds for the flight. It went into a pod on the belly of the Cessna. My camera bag used up most of my allowance. Wisely, I kept Pam's small Fuji XT-1 travel camera with me. The weather was beautiful, and Roy convinced our pilots to fly along the Pacific coast for a view of  a feather called the Whale's Tail.  Our luck was that we were at low tide, so it was clearly visible.

Our second location on the itinerary would be only a few kilometers from the Whale's Tail and Uvita Beach.

As we flew over the Pacific coastal areas we saw a mix of mountain and coastal planes with large plantations of  palm oil trees. Soon the pilots  began our approach to Golfito. The dense cover of trees became closer as the aircraft began to follow a narrowing valley.  Soon, we were on a glide path defined by the tree tops.  Our guide, Roy, exclaimed "Welcome to the rain forest!" and seconds later we were on the runway. It was an exciting start to our adventure.

A local driver was awaiting with his bus to take us to Tiskita.  The roads very quickly switched from paved to otherwise as we rode through a mix of farms and forest.  Just short of Tiskita, one of our party shouted out "Scarlet Macaws!"  The driver quickly stopped and pulled off as everyone scrambled to pull out cameras or binoculars.  A brilliantly colored pair were high in trees right next to the road.  These are just two images of many that were captured.

What a start to the trip!  During the next two days, we began with a 6:00 am bird walk, and after breakfast explored some of Tiskita's trails as a group.  Here are a few of our discoveries.

Three-toed Sloth

 

Squirrel Monkey

 

 I noticed that some of the palms with a broad fan of leaves were crimped over as seen to the right. Rather than reaching toward the sky, they folded downward.  Odd, I thought, but my unfamiliarity just accepted it as the usual. On a morning hike  Roy became interest in a group of such palms, and went off trail (after carefully probing the forest floor with his extended tripod legs to confirm no snakes were underfoot.)  His interest was directed at some palms where the fronds were more upright like an A-frame roof.