Trumpeter Swans Nesting

I haven’t been able to get out much lately, so this is my first post in a long time.  I went with Bruce Grayum to Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge and saw quite a bit of wildlife, including a few trumpeter swans.  They are the world’s largest waterfowl, and were very rare here just a few years ago.  Now there are several nesting pairs in the refuge, and they can be seen in several places in the valley.

There was one pair preparing to nest on an island in the biggest pond along the auto tour route.  We could see the female dragging reeds into a pile for the nest.

Soon she left the nest and swam out to the male, then both took off and flew close to where we were watching.  Because of there size, trumpeter swans need a long runway for takeoff.

The two swam together, often bobbing their heads, which is flirtatious behavior in the swan world.

They were beautiful to watch swimming together and I hope we will be able to see baby swans soon.

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Elk Herd at Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole, Wyoming is the destination for up to 15,000 migrating elk every winter.  The huge herd is spread out in the mountains during the summer, but descends to the sheltered valley in the winter.

Civilization has taken over much of the historic elk feeding grounds, so people help feed these animals during the winter, until they can return to the mountains in summer.  The biggest herds are nearly all cow elk and immature bulls.  The mature bulls tend to stay in separate smaller herds.

The scenery is wonderful here at the National Elk Refuge near Grand Teton National Park.  These photos were taken on a day of off-and-on snow storms.  Brief streaks of light changed to snow squalls in a matter of seconds.

These young bulls practiced sparring with their spike antlers.  This playing will be much more serious in a year or two when the mature bulls battle for females.  Horse-drawn wagon rides are available to take you out to see the elk, but we were lucky to be able to watch this herd from a road through the refuge.