Beautiful morning. Temperatures are already near the mid-40s with mostly sunny skies when I reach the causeway at around 9am.
The calm waters on both sides of the causeway yield wonderful reflections of mountains this morning.
The number of birds along the causeway are increasing; mostly gulls at this point but the others should be arriving soon.
Majority of the snow (around 8 inches) that fell last Sunday is gone except in the higher elevations and the more northerly facing slopes; looks awesome!
I head down towards the Ranch. Looks like some of the bison have moved to the north side of the island - there are two near the shoreline behind the Visitor's Center; a little further down the road, there are several bison with a few very near the road. I stop for these; I can hear the one pulling the grass from the ground and chewing. :)
Past Frary Peak, I see a bigger herd on a plateau in front of the mountains.
Arriving at the Ranch, I see no bison near Mushroom Springs so I turn around to head back north. On the return trip, I see another herd a little north of the herd on the plateau.
I reach the Visitor's Center again and take a left around the south end of the Center. Not far from the intersection, I spot a small herd of Pronghorn still bedded down in the grasses!
(Small group of females and one male nearby.)
Around the next turn, I see a lone Pronghorn laying in the grasses.
There are also several bison around Bison Point this morning.
I arrive at the White Rock parking. There are a few bison not far from the parking area and a bigger group in the distance somewhere near the corrals.
I start along the trail. I hear some of the larks calling (but not as many where calling on the east side). But I do find some of the larks -- all Horned Larks today.
Soon I passes those bison near the corrals - they are far off the trail.
I look left and surprise! There's a small herd of bison on the right side! These are not all that far from the trail but they do not seem bothered by me.
Further along the trail, I run into 2 other bison on the left. The birds sure like them.These are not they far away either but thankfully just keep eating.
I finally complete the uphill section and just walking around to the White Rock meadow, when I see another lone bison in the distance. Looks like the bison are starting to scatter for the Spring/Summer! As I start to pass, I notice a buddy too! He's looking out over Bison Point.
I reach the White Rock viewpoint (no animals in the meadow today)
I start my way down to the ridge. There's a few more of the pink Redstem Stork's bill flowers in bloom than last time.
At this point, I've only seen a single biker. Crossing the ridge, I have another biker pass and 5 runners. Still pretty empty -- love it, just like it was a couple of years ago.
Along the inner trail, I see more of those pink flowers and more signs of Spring
Black Beetles
one lizard (1st one of 2018)
and one Tiger Beetle (1st one of 2018)
I'm about to the west side of the trail when I see a Kestrel hovering above searching for some prey.
I take one last look of White Rock Bay before heading north.
There's some large blooming Spring Parsley over here!
These plants have me thinking about Swallowtails as parsley is host plant for Black Swallowtail / butterflies in general and surprise, I scare up a Milbert's Tortoiseshell!! First butterfly of 2018!!
Awesome day!!
