Grand Yellowstone
June 12-24, 2010
Bird/Species Trip List

Red-necked Grebe – There was a pair at  the north end of Henry’s Lake – stunning plumage.
Eared Grebe – Most common at Broadview Lake – alternate plumage on everyone!
Western Grebe – Scattered on most large bodies of water throughout the trip.
American White Pelican – On most fresh bodies of water, but the flock was at Re Rocks.
Double-crested Corm – An adult and immature gave us great comparisons on the prairie.
Great Blue Heron – The best look were the birds reflected in Hayden ponds as the fog lifted.
Great Egret – One seen flying along the Yellowstone river at Two Moon Park
Canada Goose –  Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere…
Trumpeter Swan – Our first one floated down the Yellowstone with a great reflection in tow.
Gadwall – There always seemed to be a pair in adequately sized waters.
American Widgeon – Our first pair were in a pond along the Lamar Valley..
Mallard – Even if it is one of the more common ducks on the trip, the drake is absolutely stunning.
Blue-winged Teal – Only one in the pond north of Broadview on the prairie.
Cinnamon Teal – A male at a pong north of Henrys Fork gave us the best look of all.
Northern Shoveler – Only a couple of males at the same pond north of Broadview.
Northern Pintail – One drake at the Red Rocks NWR..
Green-winged Teal – Only one female in the middle of Grassy Island Road.
Canvasback – A number of pair were seen on the last field day at Red Rock Lake.
Redhead – About twenty pair at Red Rock Lake were only the second sighting for the trip.
Ring-necked Duck – A male and a female gave us our best looks on a pond west of Henry’s Lake.
Greater Scaup – One male and possibly a female at Red Rock Lake.
Lesser Scaup – Pairs were scattered in most mountain ponds.
Bufflehead – Very rare on this trip, but there were a few on Yellowstone and Red Rock Lakes.
Common Goldeneye – A flock of about 75 birds in one of Yellowstone Lake’s lagoons.
Barrow’s Goldeneye – Common on Yellowstone, but the courting trio at along Gull Point were cool.
Common Merganser – Common on most large streams for the trip.
Ruddy Duck – A few individuals at the pond north of Broadview were the only ones for the trip.
Grey Partridge – We saw a few of these birds paired up in the prairie north of Billings.
Ring-necked Pheasant – Heard while walking Two Moon Park in Billings.
Ruffed Grouse – Drumming constantly on the road to Red Rocks.
Wild Turkey – A hen with poults crossed the road as we left the prairie heading to  Red Lodge.
Turkey Vulture –  Not common, but always seen in the air.
Osprey – This aerial fish hunter was seen a couple of time on almost every day.
Bald Eagle – A pair with a young bird in the nest as we floated the Snake were the best!!!
N. Harrier – Mostly males were seen and we only saw them over their favored habitat, grassy fields.
Sharp-shinned Hawk – We got great looks at an adult male on the road to Red Rocks.
Northern Goshawk – An adult carrying a ground squirrel & then getting harassed by a RTH.
Swainson’s Hawk – A few over the prairie and one at Henrys Fork Lake were all we saw.
Red-tailed Hawk – Our most common raptor, with two dark phase.
Ferruginous Hawk – Two birds at two different locations were all we saw in the prairie.
Golden Eagle – A number of single birds were seen flying low over the prairie & along Red Rocks.
American Kestrel – Not common, but the males we saw were stunning.
Sora – We only heard this rail, but we heard it at least three times at Red Rocks Lake
American Coot – Seen mostly at Riverfront Park in Billings.
Sandhill Crane – Scattered throughout the trip, but the best sighting was a pair with two colts.
Killdeer – Our best looks were of birds on gravel bars as we rafted the Snake River.
American Avocet – A gorgeous pair at the pond north of Broadview were stunning.
Black-necked Stilt – Seen at Broadview Lake.
Spotted Sandpiper – Every stream seemed to have a vociferous pair.
Upland Sandpiper – Not nearly as many as last year, but we did see one north of Billings.
Long-billed Curlew – A pair in the prairie acted as if they had young very close by.
Wilson’s Snipe – Hard to see this year, but we heard them winnowing at Two Ocean Lake.
Wilson’s Phalarope – Not as many as expected, but a number of the prairie ponds were dry.
Franklin’s Gull – Full alternate plumaged adults were flycatching over Red Rock Lake.
Ring-billed Gull – Casual sightings over larger bodies of water.
California Gull – A few birds at Harriman State Park in Idaho were mixed in with Ring-billeds.
Caspian Tern – Only seen in Idaho, huge compared to the other Laridae.
Forster’s Tern –  Seen foraging at Red Rocks Lake
Rock Pigeon – Silos = Rock Pigeon, we had lots of silos in the prairie.
Mourning Dove – Usually seen flashing across our windshield as we drove Montana’s back roads.
Eurasian-collared Dove – They are coming… and now they are here.
Burrowing Owl – Four individuals were a mile south of black-tailed prairie dog town& other locations.
Common Nighthawk – Our only bird was seen on our Snake River rafting trip..
White-throated Swift – A few flew below us at Calcite Springs where it nests in the basalt columns.
Broad-tailed Hummingbird – Seen at a couple of feeders along the route.
Calliope Hummingbird – Three individuals at the feeder at Dornan’s.
Belted Kingfisher – Seen at Harriman State Park and Angler’s Lodge.
Red-naped Sapsucker – A few were seen, mostly in areas with aspens or cottonwoods.
Downy Woodpecker – Two Moon Park had a couple of these little guys.
Hairy Woodpecker – Best look (which was not all that good) was on the road from Billings to Red Lodge.
N. Flicker – The most common woodpecker of the trip.  Seen just about everyday.
Olive-sidied Flycatcher – Finally got to see an individual on Two Ocean Lake Road.
W. Wood-Peewee – Our first was a cooperative bird along the shores of Yellowstone Lake.
Willow Flycatcher – An individual along the roadside heading towards Red Rocks gave us great looks.
Least Flycatcher – Brief looks at a calling bird at Two Moon.
Cordilleran Flycatcher –  The only one we heard was at the aspen grove heading to Red Rocks.
Say’s Phoebe – See on the prairie nesting in an old pump house.
Western Kingbird – Mostly on the prairie and second only to the Eastern in visibility.
Eastern Kingbird – Everywhere on the prairie and sporadic through the rest of the trip.
Loggerhead Shrike – We found an active nest with three young  by a little house on the prairie.
Warbling Vireo – Quite common with best looks at Two Moon Park.
Red-eyed Vireo – A nice male calling continuously at Two Moon Park.
Gray Jay – A very cooperative bird at Grant  in Yellowstone.
Pinyon Jay – One un-cooperative bird at a bluff top park north of Billings.
Clark’s Nutcracker – Seen at the first overlook as we headed up Beartooth Pass..
Black-billed Magpie – Everywhere and nonetheless stunning!
American Crow – Uncommon, seen mostly around the larger prairie farm residences.
Common Raven – Everywhere foraging on anything.
Horned Lark – Birds were taking flight as we drove on the prairie roads north of Billings.
Tree Swallow – One of the most common swallows on any day of the week.
Violet-green Swallow – Not at all common, but we saw them..
N. Rough-winged Swallow - One of the swallows we saw around Billings’ lakes and rivers.
Bank Swallow – Common during our raft trip down the Snake River..
Cliff Swallow – A large group resting on a fence gave us long and satisfying looks.
Barn Swallow – Not common, but we saw them around residences in more remote areas.
Black-capped Chickadee – A few around Two Moon Park were in smaller numbers than last year.
Mountain Chickadee – A few in the montane forest as we traveled around.
Red-breasted Nuthatch – Best looks were at Harriman State Park.
House Wren – If we saw or heard a wren, it was this little guy.
Marsh Wren – Heard and briefly seen at Broadview Lake.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Our best look was at West Thumb geyser basin.
Mountain Bluebird – These Azure-breasted Prairie Hoverers were scatted throughout our trip.
Townsend’s Solitaire – Very good looks at a pair flycatching on Grassy Lake Road.
Swainson’s Thrush – Heard on our Snake River raft trip.
Hermit Thrush – Seen at Two Moon Park in Billings.
American Robin –Our most common thrush and right up there for being commonly good looking.
Brown Thrasher – Good looks at a stunning adult at Two Moon Park.
Gray Catbird – Very good looks at Two Moon Park on the Yellowstone River.
N. Mockingbird – Rare in and around Billings neighborhoods.
European Starling – What can I say, everywhere.
American Pipit – At 11,000 feet on the Beartooth Pass actively foraging and cruising snow drifts.
Cedar Waxwing – Nice looks at birds perched at Riverfront Park in Billings.
Yellow Warbler – Singing and flying anywhere there were willows or cottonwoods.
Yellow-rumped Warbler – In the forests around Lake and Colter Bay.
American Redstart – Gorgeous males kept landing in front of us at Two Moon Park.
Ovenbird – A calling bird at Two Moon never quite let us get a look at him.
N. Waterthrush – Heard in the marshy area in Two Moon Park.
MacGillivray’s Warbler – Seen well by most of us on the road over to Two Ocean Lake.
Common Yellowthroat – Seen and heard calling at Two Moon Park.
Wilson’s Warbler – Uncommon at best, with our best views of a female at Two Moon Park.
Yellow-breasted Chat – Nice to have North America’s largest warbler so common in Billings’ riparian.
Western Tanager – We never got tired of looking at these explosions of color along Red Rocks Rod.
Spotted Towhee – Seen well along the trail at Two Moon Park.
Chipping Sparrow – Ubiquitous for the sparrow clan.
Brewer’s Sparrow – Sporadic sightings in the appropriate sagebrush habitat.
Vesper Sparrow – Common up on the prairie, and not too shy.
Lark Sparrow – A few individuals up on the prairie.
Lark Bunting – Scattered sightings of males only up on the prairie adjacent to wet areas.
Savannah Sparrow – Where the habitat was just grass, we would sight a few of these individuals.
Song Sparrow – We had these birds show up in streamside willow thickets along the Yellowstone.
Lincoln’s Sparrow – A single bird along side the road in Yellowstone wa our oly sighting.
White-crowned Sparrow – We found an active nest on Pacific Creek Road in the Tetons.
Dark-eyed Junco – Easily found in the right habitat – mixed scrub adjacent to forest.
McCown’s Longspur – Lots of  long distance looks at a displaying males.
Chestnut-collared Longspur – Random birds sighted on fence and displaying in the prairie.
Black-headed Grosbeak – At Two Moon Park along the Yellowstone.
Lazuli Bunting – A gorgeous male sitting atop a tree along the trail to Two Moon..
Bobolink – A total of five stunningly dressed males on the way to Red Lodge.
Red-winged Blackbird – A small nesting colony at the Riverfront Park in Billings.
W. Meadowlark – These birds would scurry off the sides of the prairie roads as we drove by.
Yellow-headed Blackbird – Best looks were at the Broadview Lake.
Brewer’s Blackbird – We find these birds wandering aimlessly in the sagebrush flats.
Common Grackle – Common and everywhere around Billings.
Brown-headed Cowbird – Prairie = cattle = Cowbirds
Bullock’s Oriole – A female building  an nest at an old homestead out on the prairie
Black Rosy-Finch – A few birds of this gorgeous high elevation finch were seen on Beartooth.
Cassin’s Finch – Best looks at the feeders in Red Lodge.
House Finch – Common, but sporadic throughout the trip.
Red Crossbill – A few birds were seen briefly in Billings..
Pine Siskin – Especially common feeding on dandelion in Red Rocks.
American Goldfinch – A few individuals seen at Two Moon Park.
House Sparrow – Usually seen around eateries in the small towns we visited.          
152  Total

MAMMALS

White-tailed Jackrabbit – Crossed the road as we drove by the railroad tracks in the prairie.
Desert Cottontail – We saw these rabbits along the Yellowstone River and in the Prairie.
Mountain Cottontail – Yellowstone had lots of these little guys, not uncommon.
Eastern Gray Squirrel – This exotic was seen at Two Moon Park.
Eastern Fox Squirrel – We saw only one and that was at Two Moon Park.
Red Squirrel – We saw a number of these, which are very similar to the West’s chickaree.
Uinta Ground Squirrel – All over the national parks, aka “bear burritos”.
Richardson’s Ground Squirrel – All over the prairie.
Black-tailed Prairie Dog – The dog town in south and west of molt had hundreds.
Yellow-bellied Marmot – These guys kept popping their heads up on high altitude rocks.
Least Chipmunk – Very common in Yellowstone.
Beaver – One sitting on the bank during our float trip was very close.
Coyote – Watching one pounce on a ground squirrel & parade its kill in front of us was cool.
Gray Wolf – A member of the Silver pack escorting a grizz out of their ‘hood was very cool.
Black Bear – Lots, but we really enjoyed the one that came down the hill & walked within 20’ of the van.
Grizzly Bear – We saw a couple, but the escorted one gave us the best looks.
Pronghorn – Single individuals were first  seen in the prairie north of Billings, with lots through the trip.
Bison – Everywhere in Yellowstone,  a smattering in the Tetons.
Mountain Goat – Females with kids were not uncommon on Baronette.
Bighorn Sheep – A nice male east of Tower was only surpassed by the ewes with young @ Calcite.
Moose – Saw one on the road by the ”Moose” VC & had a better look at one on Grassy Island Road.
Mule Deer –  Everywhere, but the one hour old fawn on Two Ocean Road wobbled its way past us.
White-tailed Deer – Along the Yellowstone but the curled up fawn next to us was the sweetest.
Elk – In herds scattered throughout both parks.

 

 

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