Yellowstone Reports

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More than a tree

Owl sightings
by Dan Hartman

Dec. 6, 2023

     Cindy, Kelly and I went christmas tree hunting last weekend and found much more than just a tree.
     We pulled over to check on a pygmy owl I found earlier last month and instead found fresh wolf tracks.  It was from a loping adult, quite large in size.  This matches the large scat I came across while filming at my owl nest.
     On our way back to the cabin, just before dark, Cindy spotted a great gray owl, near Cooke Pass.   We filmed it for a few minutes before it dove into the snow for a rodent, then flew back into the timber.
     A couple days later, we watched a fox mouseing at the fire tower road in the Beartooths.  This is one of the latest dates we've been able to drive that far up.
     On our way to Cody, the next day, Cindy once again spotted an owl.  This time it was a pygmy, just below Dead Indian Pass.  The third pygmy we've come across since October.  This one was perched in a dead tree that contained a cavity lower in the trunk.  He warbled and called, leading me to believe this could be a nest site.



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Photos

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WOLF TRACKS

CINDY&KELLY

GREAT GRAY OWL

PYGMY OWL

MOUNTAIN FOX

FIRE ROAD