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Montana Road Trip:
June 2007
Itinerary:
Bozeman, MT
Gallatin National Forest, MT
Yellowstone National Park
Synopsis
Two years ago, we took a road trip to visit Brent and Elizabeth, who had at the time, recently settled into Bozeman and were eager to show off their wonderful house and "neighborhood" in the mountains outside of town. We impressed then, so we were happy to take up their invitation to visit again this summer.
So we, along with Todd, Christina, Ed and Joann, met up at Brent and Elizabeth's place. We spent most of our visit kicking around their house - looking for the occasional fox, deer, or moose that would wander the neighborhood, eating great meals, and enjoying the company.
At their house, I enjoyed the many singing birds - the Black-headed Grosbeaks, Veerys, Yellow Warblers, and Lazuli Buntings. The bird highlight at their house was a Northern Goshawk that flew into a tree before being mobbed and chased up the valley.
I was thankful for the roof over our heads, as last time we were caught in a frightful lightening/rain/wind storm while camping in the open on a mountain. During this visit, we didn't experience a storm to that magnitude, but there was an impressive show one night with a downpour, wind, and frequent lightening.
We took a day trip to the Gallatin Canyon Area to look for Callipso Orchids or any other wildflowers. We hiked up the Indian Ridge Trail and around the forest roads in the canyon. Compared to our fist visit, there were only a few Callipso Orchids still in bloom, but we saw many other wildflowers that we missed the first time.
We also took a day trip to Yellowstone National Park, with the goal of visiting the Lamar Valley and seeing the abundant wildlife. On the way to the Lamar Valley, Ed sighted a moose tucking down in the shade. As we continued on, we spotted our first black bear or rather we saw a large number of cars on the road and stopped to see what they were looking at. Once in the Lamar Valley, we stopped to watch the large herds of bison. Elk and pronghorn were peppered in with them. We also saw a couple of coyotes. We watched one pronghorn family chase their young around the meadow. It was quite impressive to see such a young, small pronghorn move so quickly! Outside of the Lamar Valley, we stopped to scope the mountains. We found both Mountain Goats and Big Horned Sheep. Both had young with them.
After a nice lunch at Cooke City, we drove through the Lamar Valley making a few stops along the way. We pulled over twice at the large mass of cars to see one black bear and then a pair of black bears. After a brief stop at Mammoth Springs, we spotted yet another black bear along the side of the road. - The fifth black bear for the day!
We had a great, but brief, visit and we're very thankful for them entertaining and putting up with us. Hopefully, we haven't put them off the idea of having us in the future.
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Garter Snake,
Brent & Elizabeth's house
Bozeman, Montana |
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Coralroot,
Brent & Elizabeth's house
Bozeman, Montana |
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Spotted Frogs,
in front of Brent & Elizabeth's house
Bozeman, Montana |
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Brent & Elizabeth's house
Bozeman, Montana |
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Calliope Hummingbird,
Brent & Elizabeth's house
Bozeman, Montana |
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House Wren,
Brent & Elizabeth's house
Bozeman, Montana |
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Columbine,
Gallatin NF, Montana |
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Gallatin NF, Montana |
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Indian Ridge Trail,
Gallatin NF, Montana |
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view from Indian Ridge Trail,
Gallatin NF, Montana |
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More Spotted Frogs,
Gallatin NF, Montana |
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Lady Tresses
Gallatin NF, Montana |
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How to spot a bear at Yellowstone NP:
Look for a black spot on the hillsides or... |
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Look for the long line of tourists on the sides of the roads. |
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Black Bear,
Yellowstone NP |
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Bison herd,
Lamar Valley,
Yellowstone NP |
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Yellowstone NP |
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Common Raven,
Yellowstone NP |
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Step 1 |
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Step 2
A handout everyone gets when they enter Yellowstone
Notice the similarities in the bison's tail position. Remember a raised tail means one of two things - charge or discharge.
For more examples of people being stupid, click here. |
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Cliff Swallows
or in this case
Urinal Swallows,
Yellowstone NP |
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Elk,
Yellowstone NP |
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Mammoth Springs,
Yellowstone NP |
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The 5th black bear we saw for the day,
Yellowstone NP |
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Have to plan our next trip to Montana |
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A composite view of the stretch of road between Spokane and Mosses lake... after 8 hours of driving. |
To see pictures of "Hippy Fest" during the Montana trip, click here.
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Bird List
American White Pelican |
Roadside |
Great Blue Heron |
Roadside |
Trumpeter Swan |
Y |
Canada Goose |
Y |
Lesser Scaup |
Y |
Turkey Vulture |
Roadside, Y |
Osprey |
Roadside, Y |
Bald Eagle |
Roadside, Y |
Northern Harrier |
BE, Y |
Cooper's Hawk |
Roadside |
Sharp-shinned Hawk |
Y |
Northern Goshawk |
BE |
Swainson's Hawk |
Roadside, G |
Red-tailed Hawk |
everywhere |
Golden Eagle |
BE, Y |
American Kestrel |
Roadside, Y |
Ruffed Grouse |
BE |
Sandhill Crane |
Y |
Killdeer |
Y (w/4 juveniles) |
Mourning Dove |
BE |
Rock Pigeon |
Y |
Common Nighthawk |
BE |
White-throated Swift |
G |
Calliope Hummingbird |
BE |
Red-naped Sapsucker |
BE |
Hairy Woodpecker |
BE, G |
Northern Flicker |
BE, Y |
Dusky Flycatcher |
BE |
Willow Flycatcher |
BE |
Olive-sided Flycatcher |
BE, G |
Eastern Kingbird |
BE |
Tree Swallow |
BE, Y |
Violet-green Swallow |
Y |
Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
Y |
Cliff Swallow |
G, Y |
Clark's Nutcracker |
BE |
Black-billed Magpie |
BE, Y |
Common Raven |
everywhere |
Mountain Chickadee |
BE, Y |
House Wren |
BE |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
BE, Y |
Gray Catbird |
BE |
Mountain Bluebird |
BE, Y |
Veery |
BE, G |
Swainson's Thrush |
G |
American Robin |
everywhere |
Orange-crowned Warbler |
BE |
Yellow Warbler |
BE, Y |
Yellow-rumped Warbler |
BE, Y |
MacGillivray's Warbler |
BE |
Common Yellowthroat |
BE, Y |
Cedar Waxwing |
BE |
Western Tanager |
BE, G, Y |
Lazuli Bunting |
BE, G |
Green-tailed Towhee |
BE |
Dark-eyed Junco - Pink-sided race |
BE, G, Y |
Vesper Sparrow |
Y |
Savannah Sparrow |
Y |
Fox Sparrow |
BE |
Song Sparrow |
BE |
Chipping Sparrow |
BE, Y |
White-crowned Sparrow |
BE, G |
Red-winged Blackbird |
BE, Y |
Western Meadowlark |
Y |
Yellow-headed Blackbird |
Roadside |
Brewer's Blackbird |
Y |
Brown-headed Cowbird |
BE, Y |
Red Crossbill |
BE |
Pine Siskin |
BE, Y |
American Goldfinch |
BE |
Black-headed Grosbeak |
BE |
BE = Brent & Elizabeth's, Bozeman, MT |
mt, valley, alpine, elevation ~7000; sunny -> breezy, rain |
G = Gallatin NF, MT |
mt, alpine, meadows, lake; overcast, partial sun |
Y = Yellowstone National Park |
alpine, grasslands, valleys, mts, rivers; overcast, windy |
Other Critter List
Richardson's ground squirrel |
Y |
Red Squirrel |
G |
Yellow-bellied Marmot |
Bozeman |
Black Bear |
Y |
Fox |
BE |
Coyote |
BE, Y |
Elk |
Y |
Pronghorn + young |
Y |
Bison + calf |
Y |
White-tailed Deer |
BE, Y |
Black-tailed Deer |
BE, Y |
Moose |
BE, Y |
Mt Goat + young |
Y |
Big Horn Sheep + young |
Y |
Garter Snake |
BE |
Notable Flower List
Calypso Orchid |
Gallatin NF |
Balsamroot |
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Spotted Coralroot |
Gallatin NF |
Larkspur |
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Paintbrush |
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Anemones |
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Shooting Star |
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White Phlox |
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Forget-me-not |
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Lupine |
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Death Camas |
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Top
Information
Yellowstone National Park
Map of Gallatin Canyon Area Trails
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All material on this website copyright © 2007-2014
Do not use without author's consent
Email: Birder AT NWBirding.com
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