I heart Ornithologists

Monday night was pretty chill after I left you. I was able to talk to Miss Christine Merola for almost two hours! Always a perk to any day!
I'm not sure what I did after, but I think it was sleep. My nights tend to blur together.
The next day was pretty fun. Trudy took Alexis and myself to the Lamar Buffalo Ranch to pick up some supplies that we will be revamping this summer. Oh my goodness. Lamar Buffalo Ranch is the most beautiful place in the world. Not only is Lamar Valley amazing because it has the must abundant and diverse wildlife of anywhere in the park, but it also is one of the most arguably beautiful landscapes. And right in the heart of the valley is the Lamar Buffalo Ranch. Oh to live there.
Unfortunately, I had not brought my camera with me. No pictures of this beautiful place! :P
From Lamar, we dashed back to Mammoth for the Wildlife Olympics. Alexis and I had to run the WO all by ourselves...but I think we did smashingly!
After work, I was determined to go on a hike. I texted all my Yellowstone friends and the crew developed into Udeitha, Amanda and Christina. We hiked around Beaver Ponds! And this time, we actually saw beavers! I was so pumped. Basically, these three girls are the best thing since sliced bread. I loved hiking and chatting with all of them!
In fact, one member of our crew happens to be a field biologist...and ornithologist. That means she studies birds. Out of the blue, Amanda asks me "Hey Grant. What are you doing tomorrow during work?" I responded "I have no idea, why?" She states "Well, I am going on a hike to Grebe lake to study the Trumpeter Swan family and our restoration efforts."
I was overjoyed! What an amazing opportunity that would be! All I had to do was convince my supervisor that this was a good idea. And, let me tell you, it was not a difficult sell.
This morning, when I presented the idea to Beth, she jumped on it. She said "What better way to educate your children about what goes on in the park than going and experiencing it with the professionals yourself!"
With that, I was off. It ended up being a group of four: myself, Amanda, Lisa and Lisa. Lisa has been running the ornithology department for some time and is a resident expert. I was SO fortunate to go along with these ladies. It was about an hour drive to the trailhead, an hour hike in, and then we set up camp. They were pleased to see that all the Cygnets were alive.
The story behind the Trumpeter Swan in Yellowstone is that it is the last surviving NATIVE trumpeter swan population in the United States (aside from Alaska). The swan was poached into near extinction elsewhere. As a result, Cygnets from Yellowstone were used to repopulate trumpeter swans all across the United States. But, for unknown reasons, the trumpeter swan population in Yellowstone is rapidly plummeting. There are only two pairs that are currently mating, nesting and attempting to raise young. Unfortunately, these pairs have been nesting on shores were predators have no trouble getting to the eggs.
The park decided to take action. They created a natural swan platform that they placed in the water near the mated couples. These platforms are away from the shore and are surrounded by water. This keeps all predators away. Apparently this is the type of nesting ground swans love. Swans are very territorial. Once they find an area, they will never leave. And once they find a mate, they will never remate. What ornithologists suspect is that these two nesting areas USED to have ideal platform nesting grounds, but for some reason that space disappeared. As a result, the swans resorted to nesting on shore. Bad news.
Fortunately, the swans immediately took to the platform and the females laid eggs.
From there, the park and another group created identical wooden eggs and replaced the real with these fakes. Apparently, ornithologists think there may be some biological reasons as to why the trumpeter swan populations are declining. They want to study the cygnets from this nest when they hatch. So, what they did was take some abandoned cygnets from another area and introduced them to the swan couple at Grebe lake. The mother and father took to them immediately.
Do not fear! The cygnets that they reintroduced to Grebe lake are ancestors to Yellowstone trumpeters. If you remember, I said that all trumpeter swans in the United States (besides Alaska) were reintroduced using Yellowstone trumpeters. So all Trumpeters in the lower 48 are genetically descended from Yellowstone.
Furthermore, after 7 (weeks or months, I wasn't sure) of study, they will reintroduce the original cygnets from the eggs back into the park in areas where lonesome trumpeters live, in hopes that they will choose to mate in future years.
It was so fascinating to watch the young family flourishing. The platform really seems to have done the job. The adults were so elegant and beautiful, while the cygnets were so fuzzy and cute! It was such a sight to see these professional ladies set up there scopes and get to work observing. Amanda even let me get on her scope a couple of times and check things out!
As we walked out, we observed an Osprey nest that was supposed to be inactive. As Lisa was reporting this, an Osprey flew over us and landed in the nest. We were all so excited, but Lisa informed us that Osprey like to return to their nests to rest LONG after they have used it to raise young. She was able to observe from how the Osprey was sitting on the nest and interacting with its surroundings that there were not any Osprey chicks in the nest. SO COOL! I was such a lucky young man today! I learned from pros! And that is why I love ornithologists!
Whelp, picture time! Until next time.

I LOVE THESE LADIES!

There are two beavers. I promise.

Love.

Pretty. Ominous. Yes.

Grebe Lake Trail

Grebe Lake!

Swans!

The nesting platform.

Cute

Scoping!

A cheat sheet of swan behaviors

Too legit

You can see the two parents and the four babies!

Amanda humored me! SO COOL!

The three major swans in the United States!

Lisa decided to scope out some loons. No luck

The Osprey chilling in his nest!

And by Sunday, I meant Monday night...

Here I sit, chilling at my usual haunt, blogging after an extended hiatus. It is hard to bring myself back to Friday night...so much has happened since then. But, I shall try my best!
After I finished writing last Friday, I hoped in my car and drove to 2A to consume Breakfast for Dinner. I picked up some Nutella first, naturally, and arrived for the delicious foods! So much wonderful stuff: Pancakes, French Toast, Quiche, Fritta, Biscuits and Gravy, Toast, Grits, etc etc etc. I didn't know I could fit so much stuff into my belly. There was a really nice crowd. Besides myself, my roommate Eric, the girls and guys who live in 2A (Udeitha, Amanda, Luke, Chris), Amanda's friends from the Ornithology department were there. It was lovely.
After, everyone wanted to run into the rodeo, but I decided I wanted to go for a walk and go to bed early (since I had to drive to Bozeman early the next day for work). I decided to walk up to the YCC camp and meet up with Millie to finalize our driving plans to Bozeman. I almost didn't grab my bear spray because I figured there was NO WAY I would see a bear on my way up there. Fortunately, I did...because I ran into a cinnamon black bear on my walk. She was really far away, but she did notice me. And the trail led right to her. Soooo, I had to go to the road. Boo!
When I got to YCC, I was attacked by the entire staff and forced to hang out instead of sleeping. Story of my life.
So, the next morning, after Nessa's brilliant mousing skills, I got up, grabbed Millie, got coffee and a muffin (so hard to eat while driving) and drove to Bozeman for Montana Pride. Parade. Touch table with pelts. Dancing. It was so fun. But Ranger uniforms aren't the most comfortable things in the world...especially the hats. But I was happy to be there working for the national park.
And I was so happy to have Millie and Devaney with me. I love them so much!
The next day, we grabbed delicious food at a Chinese buffet and headed back to Mammoth. I dropped off Millie and met up with Udeitha. We decided to make chocolate chip cream cheese cupcakes for Eric's birthday under the careful guidance of the expert baker and chef, Amanda.
During this time, I got a call from the lovely Abe Katz and Morandi Hurst, telling me they were in Mammoth! It was so great to see them briefly before they had to head to bed and I had to run into town with the gang for dinner. We were ravenous. We consumed delicious foods at the Raven but were soooo exhausted when we were all done. Bed was in order.
Today was a good day at work. I shadowed a hour and a half Terrace Walk and then proceeded to try and write my own. I will hopefully get to lead my own before the summer is over! We also did some other odd jobs. But, the best part was a spontaneous lunch at...the Raven. I promise I eat at other places.
But anyway, I think I tore through the weekend too quickly. But...I'm short on time. Until next time!

Walking to YCC

The cinnamon Black bear

The crew at our table!

Millie and me holding the banner!

Making cupcakes with Udeitha!

Elk cow and calves outside! Cute!

Raven Dinner

Raven lunch

The Raven: outdoor seating!

Bunsen Peak Revisited

Curry dinner was the best. There was delicious curry, scrumptious yogurt, perfectly cooked asparagus and deliciously moist banana bread. I was so happy and content, it took me no time at all to fall asleep when I eventually made it back home. Girls in 2A(?), I love you.
Thursday was a ton of fun. Work was a tad bit stressful, though. We had the Wildlife Olympics in Mammoth, which was very slow. We only had 66 visitors compared to the 222 at Old Faithful. We are thinking about doing more at Old Faithful as a result, since Alexis and I are okay to handle it on our own now.
The frustrating part of the day was the visitor interactions with elk. Mammoth is CRAWLING with elk, as I have previously mentioned. For some reason, tourists tend to think Elk in Mammoth must work like a petting zoo. Some people will walk RIGHT UP to the elk to pose for pictures! As a result, Alexis, myself and a SCA intern named Ben ended up taking turns putting on orange vests and corralling people. At one point, when I was switching with Ben, a car stopped and two children jumped out and dashed toward the elk. The elk jumped up from the ground and slammed into one another. Luckily, this distracted the elk and they turned on each other. They rose up into the air on their back legs and began to hit at each other with their front hooves. It was a terrifying site. Ben dashed over and tried to get the kids into the car. They did not speak english, so he had to do it with gestures. Poor guy.
After that, Alexis and I ran up to the YCC camp for bear safety training. It was cool to see all 25 (or 26) of the 15-18 year olds there. The YCC program seems like such a great opportunity.
Afterwords, my YCC friend Millie and I headed out for some hiking fun. She has Thursday-Sunday morning off, so I will probably be chilling with her a lot this weekend.
Millie and I decided to climb Bunsen Peak. I was really invested in this after I failed to properly direct Devaney and I on the right trail. We DID make it up Bunsen Peak...but we took a round-about way that ended up making it a 6 mile hike instead of 2. But, I'm actually happy about that because it gave us a better workout.
As a result, we did not get off the mountain until 9:00. We jumped in the car and DASHED into Gardiner for some delicious Two Bit food. We ran into some other Interpretation Rangers who invited us to socialize with them...but we were just so exhausted that we barely talked and were entranced by our food. lol. Needless to say, I need to get some good sleep tonight.
Today at work was good. Nothing much happened, but our supervisor Beth returned from the BIE conference in Denver. It was so great to have her back.
As I write, I realize that I am supposed to be running over to 2A for our 'Breakfast for Dinner' followed by potential rodeo events. So, I better hurry. It may be a while since I write again since I will be heading to Bozeman tomorrow to work the Pride Celebration Yellowstone Booth. So you will probably hear from me again on Sunday! Au Revoir!

Beautiful sunset after curry dinner.

I get to live here. ( :

Bunsen Peak!

We are going to kill this mountain!

Pretty flowers everywhere!

We had to climb around some snow to stay on the trails.

Almost to the top!

The top. ( :

Such

Beautiful

Views!

Not to be trusted with maps...

Yesterday was an exciting adventure for my young intern friend and me. We arrived at the office and everyone was gone. (Our supervisor and coworkers are either at conferences or at trainings). As a result, it was up to us to get to Old Faithful to set up for the first Wildlife Olympics. We were stressed. It takes an hour and a half to get there...so we left at nine. We had a contact to meet named Doug. It took us 15 minutes past our meeting time to finally find him. Once we figured that out, everything went off without a hitch. We had about 223 people come through the Wildlife Olympics and I watched the geyser go off three times! So cool!
After work, Devaney and I decided to go on another hike. Our destination: Bunsen Peak. What actually happened: Grant took us on the wrong trail...one that is actually an old road all the way AROUND Bunsen Peak. Whoops. Sorry Devaney! I forgot my camera for this adventure...so I apologize for no photo-evidence!
After the hike, we spent a lot of time with our (now mutual) friend Udeitha. Sadly, after hanging out, I had to say goodbye to Devaney because I was not going to see her on Wednesday. It was sad...but I will hopefully see her on Saturday! (I have to work a Yellowstone booth in Bozeman at the Montana Pride event. I'll be close enough to hang out with her afterwords! Yay!).
I miss Devaney already!
Today, Alexis and I arrived at work with virtually nothing to do. We were on top of our projects and did not know what to do with our 8 hours. We remembered that Beth recommended we shadow different Ranger talks around the park to give us ideas for our own presentations. We decided to run down to Fishing Bridge, near the Lake area, and go on a 2 hour tour down there. It was so cool! It was led by a wonderful man with the last name of Kredit. Funny thing: it turns out he knows an incoming TFA person in South Dakota named Ben Gibson. Ben and I already have several commonalities (same Oxford program, mutual friend who taught with me in Amman, Jordan). I guess this is another one to add to the list!
Once we got back from this BEAUTIFUL adventure, we found my personal uniform (that I get to keep) in the mail. So I am SUPER excited to get to wear that tomorrow!
After I finish up here at the Tumbleweed, I am going to head back to Mammoth for a curry dinner courtesy of the lovely Udeitha. I can't wait!

 

Devaney and I saw TWO grizzlies during her time here!

 

 My government Ford Explorer!

 

At Lake!

 

Some former hot springs. It is hollow underneath the ground!

 

Marmot!

 

You can see the Tetons in the distance in between the two clearer mountains!

 

Purdy.

 

Larkspur (Purple) surrounded by Grizzly bulbs (the white flowers have bulbs underground that bears LOVE to eat!)

 

A tree/root graveyard.

 

Quintessential Yellowstone.

 

( :

Accidental Mountain Climb

Oh. My.
Devaney and I have had such amazing adventures in the last 2 days. Attempting to fully give the events justice seems a very daunting task. But, I shall attempt this endeavor.
After Devaney arrives on Saturday, we had coffee, yummy food and jumped in the car. From there we went to Trout Lake in the Lamar Valley to observe trout swimming upstream to spawn. The walk was beautiful! We only saw one trout swimming upstream, but we were super pumped about it.
We did end up seeing a river otter. SO CUTE!!!!!
From there we went to Old Faithful. I don't want to talk about it.
After that we went to Midway Geyser Basin. At this point, it was still snowing. As a result, steam was pouring everywhere. At the peak of steam and wind blowing around us so that we could not see anything, we were in the middle of the board walk surrounded by hot springs. Devaney was not happy, but we persevered. I think this was a literal precursor to the following day's events...
For dinner we went into town and ate with Lloyd and Amanda at the Two Bit. Yummy. After the delicious food, we went back to Mammoth and played Settlers of Catan with Lloyd until around 2am. Yeah. That happened. Also, during this time, Lloyd suggested this longer hike called Sepulcher. Without thinking, we concluded that this would be the hike we would undergo the next day. If only we had known...
The next day, Devaney and I took our time getting. We sauntered into Gardiner, grabbed some grub and groceries for a delectable dinner and then headed for our hike.
About 1/3 of the way into our hike, we began to notice a trend. The trend can be best described as: uphill. Serious inclines. Curious, we sat down to rest and looked through our hiking book. It was at this moment that we realized Sepulcher was a mountain. And that this trail was 3,400 ft climb. I believe Devaney's exact words at this moment were "Why does Lloyd hate us?"
The rest of our hike was the exact same. Beautiful. Intriguing. Breathtaking. But up. And up. And up. Up. Up. and more up.
Finally, we reached the summit. And suddenly the trail vanished. Beneath snow. After much deliberation, we decided to turn back. **It is also important to note that we were parallel to Gardiner at this point. And we started in Mammoth. WE WERE PARALLEL TO ANOTHER CITY!!!!**
We eventually made it back. About 12 miles and 5 hours later.
We drug our bodies into the house. And then Devaney cooked. THE MOST AMAZING FOOD EVER! And then we got ice cream. And then we slept. And then I got up and went to a boring orientation all day. And now we are back at the Tumbleweed, sitting outside, drinking a pot of tea. Perfect.
That was so much writing. So I'm going to move on to pictures. Needles to say, it was a wonderful weekend. And very challenging. We are currently trying to figure out a way to keep Devaney at Yellowstone all summer. Updates forthcoming.

 

Trout Lake!

 

The stream we looked for trout in!

 

River Otter 

 

Midway Geyser Basin 

 

The steam...

 

So pumped for the hike!

 

Pretty pond!

 

Then we realized it was a mountain.

 

Then it got cold.

 

Pretty. And pretty cold.

 

SO COLD!

 

Winter Wonderland!

 

Summit!

 

We reached the top!

 

Then the trail vanished into snow.

 

Upset.

 

Then proud.

 

Then excited to double back and get food.

 

The AMAZING food Devaney made!