For our tour description, itinerary, past triplists, dates, fees, and more, please VISIT OUR TOUR PAGE.

See this triplist in printable PDF format with media only on page 1.

The Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone's northern entrance may be the main gateway into the park, but for these migrating bison, it also serves as a convenient place to exit the park. (Photo by guide Terry McEneaney)

The YIW tour materialized into a good one, right up there with one of the best. The weather finally cooperated providing us with adequate snow and cold temperatures. In fact some places in Yellowstone exceeded -29F, but it didn't matter; we were prepared for the occasion. We ended up tallying 55 species of birds and 12 species of mammals. These are expected numbers or slightly above expected numbers for a YIW tour.

Bird highlights included: 2 individual Northern Pygmy-Owls on three separate occasions. On one occasion outside the park, there was a Northern Pygmy-Owl being harassed by a richardsonii Merlin. MAGNIFICO! We were watching all this take place in a van only 10 meters away. On another occasion we watched three Townsend's Solitaires trying to get a pygmy-owl to move on. Very cool. Another relatively rare sighting was of 5 Trumpeter Swans flying over the Old Faithful geyser just before it erupted in a column of steam. This is a very rare sighting for birds in this thermal area, especially in the winter. We also saw a record number of 181 Common Redpolls for the trip, 175 of them in Yellowstone NP. I have never seen this many in the park before. They kept moving slowly in front of the van, feeding on weeds exposed above the snow. Other highlight YIW birds included a Canvasback.

Gray Wolves were always on everyone’s mind, especially for a FG Yellowstone In Winter tour. We delivered true to form, though first we missed a pack of 4 wolves by 10 minutes, then a white wolf by 2 hours. But we ultimately found one gray morph wolf one day, bedded down but alert, then another morning 8 wolves (4 gray/4 black) were hunting and traveled right through a bison herd with bison tails erect.

Our biggest bird numbers were: 217 Trumpeter Swan, 136 Barrow’s Goldeneye, 10 Gray Partridge, 77 Bald Eagles, 82 Rough-legged Hawks, 51 Red-tailed Hawks (which included 5 dark morph Harlan’s), 96 Eurasian Collared-Doves, 1 intergrade Northern Flicker, 31 Pinyon Jays, 31 American Dippers, 43 Townsend's Solitaires, and only 9 Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (2 Hepburn). But the true numbers are in the mammals: 9 Gray Wolves, 13 Coyotes, 1,373 Elk, 362 Mule Deer, 728 White-tailed Deer, 83 Pronghorn, 1,952 American Bison, and 43 Bighorn Sheep. Our rarest mammal on the tour was a Northern Raccoon; we found this very rare raccoon in a thermal stream on the Yell Plateau in Hayden Valley, and everyone (rangers, the other guides and tour companies) was jealous.

People were shocked with the few numbers of winter visitors, and the magnificent photographic opportunities. In fact I figured we saw less than 1,000 visitors. But the snow and cold and the steam of the geothermal features were in full form, coupled with the incredible wildlife opportunities. Let's face it-the FG Yellowstone In Winter tour is one of North America's best kept secrets.

Thank you for the opportunity of letting me guide you through Yellowstone, and to show you my version of Yellowstone In Winter. It has been a memorable trip. I hope to see you again on future Field Guides tours. In the meantime, take good care!

--Terry

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 55 bird taxa and 12 mammal taxa