The first day, we went white-water rafting in the Yellowstone River. Throughout that, I got one life bird, a Western Meadowlark that followed us down the shoreline for a little while. Also, I got my lifer Wandering Garter Snake when we stopped on the edge for lunch. The next day, we went to the Boiling River, the Mammoth Hot Springs, and the Norris Geyser Basin. While walking to the boiling river from the parking lot, I got my lifer Lazuli Bunting. At the Mammoth Hot Springs, I got my lifer Prairie Falcon and finally a view of a perched Violet-green Swallow. The first Mountain Chickadee I saw on the trip was at a parking lot near the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone. It must have been nesting very close because every time a person would walk by a certain area, they would be attacked by the bird which would then fly and land on a car, or a nearby tree. Also, after we had visited all of those destinations, it began to snow.
Male Violet-green Swallow
Mountain Chickadee
The following day, we visited the Grand Prismatic Spring, Mystic Falls, and Old Faithful. Along the walk to the Grand Prismatic Spring, I got my lifer Dusky Grouse with two young. This bird was incredibly cooperative, and very close to the edge of the path. Also, on the way to the Mystic Falls, I got my lifer Townsend's Solitaire. While at the Mystic Falls, there were many Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels running around. At the end of the day, we watched Old Faithful erupt, and then we ate dinner at a nearby lodge.
Grand Prismatic Spring from the top of "Photo Mountain"
Adult Female Dusky Grouse
Juvenile Dusky Grouse
Townsend's Solitaire
Male Western Tanager
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel at Mystic Falls
One evening at the Grand Teton National Park, we had joined a boat that drove out to dinner on Elk Island in the middle of Jackson Lake. My mom and I both had our birding equipment with us hoping to see some western waterfowl on the lake. As we were just arriving to the island, we both spotted two American Avocets feeding along the shoreline. Along with them were my lifer California Gulls. American Avocets were on the top of the list of the birds I wanted to photograph, so I got off the boat and skipped dinner to hike over and try to get a good picture of them. I was immediately getting excited because they didn't seem to mind me as I crept up towards them. At a certain point however, they did get nervous and start walking out to the point of one small peninsula. I very slowly followed them out there while they started to calm down. When I got less than 30 feet from them, I had to take one step at a time with short waiting intervals between to ensure that they didn't fly off. I ended up getting about fifteen to twenty feet from them before I started backing off. This was a much better view than my previous sightings of them 75 yards away. Getting these photographs was well worth skipping dinner for me.
American Avocets
The following day was our free day. I spent it bouldering at Jenny Lake with my brothers for the first half of the day, and birding with my mom the second half of the day. We went to a trailhead leading into Two Ocean Lake to bird. It was a long hike with little reward. We got no life birds that day, but we got one Northern Saw-whet Owl along the trail. My mom spotted it fly up from the ground to a low, nearby evergreen tree. It must have missed what it had gone after, because it came up with nothing.
Young Northern Saw-whet Owl
The next two days of our trip were spent doing a Brushbuck tour that took us back up through the east side of Yellowstone, to stay over night in Cooke City, Montana. While in Yellowstone, we visited Hayden Valley, Lamar Valley, and a few other cool stop offs along the way. We saw a Coyote, a mother Grizzly Bear and her two cubs, many Bison and Pronghorn, and a few new bird species. These were Trumpeter Swans, and a Clark's Nutcracker just outside of Yellowstone. That evening, we had dinner with the tour guides, and then they took us up to an incredible road called Beartooth Highway. It is the highest elevation highway cars are allowed on in the lower 48 being 10,947 feet above sea level at the summit. The views surrounding the highway were incredible, and the sunset was fantastic.
American Bison in Lamar Valley
Pond Along Beartooth Highway
Beartooth Highway Summit
Beartooth Highway Sunset
The second half of our trip consisted of Bryce Canyon National Park followed by Grand Canyon National Park North Rim and then ending with Zion National Park. However, our first day in Utah was just going to be a driving day, but we had to drop my dad off at the Salt Lake City airport to go home for work, so we decided to get up early, drop him off, and then go to Antelope Island on the Great Salt Lake to bird for a few hours. Antelope Island was one of the places that I wanted to go to the most to bird after seeing some ebird reports from there. It absolutely surpassed my expectations. Just along the causeway leading in to the island, I got four life birds. These were Red-necked Phalarope, Wilson's Phalarope, Franklin's Gull, and Long-billed Curlew. The phalaropes completely covered the salt lake in the thousands.
Long-billed Curlew
Wilson's Phalarope
Phalaropes covering the Great Salt Lake
Red-necked Phalaropes and Franklin's Gulls
At our first stop on the island, I got six more life birds including Lark Sparrow, Sage Thrasher, Western Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Barn Owl, and Burrowing Owl. While I was watching the Loggerhead Shrikes and Western Kingbirds on the barbed wire fence, I turned to see if there were any to my right. There were no shrikes or kingbirds, but there was a Burrowing Owl staring right at me. I took a few pictures, and tried not to move so that it wouldn't flush and my mom and brother could see it. I turned to see where they were, and looked back to see it flying away. Since they didn't see it, we walked to try to flush it again. After doing that successfully, we found my first lifer lizard of the trip, a Common Side-blotched Lizard.
Common Side-blotched Lizard
Loggerhead Shrike
Western Kingbird
Burrowing Owl
Lark Sparrow
Western Kingbird
Sage Thrasher
After that we headed the rest of the way to our hotel right next to Capitol Reef Park. The next day we walked a trail leading to a swimming hole near capitol reef. On that walk I got five more life birds. They were Spotted Towhee, Canyon Wren, Western Scrub Jay, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Plumbeous Vireo. I also got two more lifer lizards. Painted Desert Whiptail, and Plateau Striped Whiptail. I also saw what I think was an oddly colored Wandering Garter Snake.
Spotted Towhee
Western Scrub Jay
Possible Wandering Garter Snake
Painted Desert Whiptail
The next day we were at Bryce Canyon National Park. That day I woke up early to see the sun rise and to follow that with birding. After seeing the sunrise, I was able to get five more life birds. These were Western Bluebird, Steller's Jay, Pygmy Nuthatch, Grace's Warbler, and Rock Wren.
Bryce Canyon Panorama at Sunrise
Western Bluebird
Pygmy Nuthatch
Grace's Warbler
After having a great time at Bryce Canyon, we started our drive to Page, AZ to stay the night and go out onto Lake Powell the next day. Upon arrival, I found a few more Common Side-blotched Lizards, and my lifer Desert Spiny Lizard still half in shed in the parking lot.
Desert Spiny Lizard
Desert Spiny Lizard
The next day, while out on the boat, I got one more life bird, a Black-throated Sparrow. My mom had spotted it at the shore while we were heading back to the docks. The next day, we headed to the north rim of Grand Canyon National Park. We stopped at many places along the way including a tour of Antelope Slot Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and the Navajo Bridge.
Our View Up and Out of Antelope Canyon
Horseshoe Bend
One California Condor on the Navajo Walking Bridge
Once we arrived at the Grand Canyon, it was lightly drizzling. We ate dinner at the park right on the edge of a canyon with a great view. After a great dinner, we headed to bed. The next morning it was still raining but it allowed for cool views of the canyon with fog and clouds that had settled inside. There was also a short period of time that the rain stopped, so we made the most of it by taking a short walk to another viewpoint of the canyon. Along this walk we also saw a few Steller's Jays, and a few Northern Sage-brush Lizards.
Steller's Jay
Northern Sage-brush Lizard
Northern Sage-brush Lizard
After we spent as much time as we could at the Grand Canyon before it started to hail like crazy, we started our drive to Zion National Park in southern Utah. Upon arrival, I got four new life birds. These were, Say's Phoebe, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Lesser Goldfinch, and Black-chinned Hummingbird. Surprisingly enough, the clouds started to clear in the late evening, so I made some attempts at taking pictures of the Milky Way.
Say's Phoebe on a Fence behind our Cabin
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Milky Way and our Cabin
The following day, we got up, ate breakfast, and headed into the park. Our first stop was at a nice hike up to a great view of the park. The hike was filled with small lizards all around the rocks. Before we made it there however, we saw a group of Desert Bighorn Sheep right off of the road. While I didn't get any life birds in the park, it was still my favorite place we went.
Male Desert Bighorn Sheep
Juvenile Desert Bighorn Sheep
Female Desert Bighorn Sheep
Northern Sagebrush Lizard
Northern Plateau Lizard
Striped Plateau Whiptail
Red-spotted Toad
View of Zion National Park
The following day, we had to put our bags in the car and start the long drive to catch our plane in Salt Lake City. I had finished the trip with over 50 life birds, and 8 new herp species.
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