Yellowstone Sketches

Dale and I have just had a long stay in Yellowstone National Park.  Here are a few of my field sketches.  More drawings, not necessarily field sketches, are on my blog:  www.elvafieldnotes.blogspot.com.

Courtship flicker style.  They bob their heads with bills pointed upwards, tails spread some of the time.  then he lies off and drums at a favorite site -- wood with a good sound to it.  The Aspen Grove - April 13.

"Sometimes I can draw more than the camera can get.  We see just glimpses of a large cinnamon-colored black bear, obviously on a carcass.  Every so often the bear stands up, but we hear he has mostly been sleeping on the carcass.

We ignored our 5 AM alarm this morning and slept until 6:45.  Heaven!  Still Cool.  Spitting snow flakes.  Only yesterday's high elevation snow remains and the new snow isn't sticking."

 A pied-billed grebe calling,

a yellow-headed blackbird

and

a raven with a beak full of food.