Soda Butte Creek animal tracks, ouzels and coyote, winter

In early January in Yellowstone you can see ouzels at Soda Butte creek. We stopped to watch and take photos and saw more than we imagined we would.

The tiny dot at the top center of the creek in this photo is an ouzel:

Yellowstone winter 2007 soda butte creek ouzel:

We watched it bob and fly into the creek and swim underwater feeding, then back on the snow bank, seemingly impervious to the cold.

ouzel bobbing next to soda butte creek winter: ouzel flies from snow bank into icy Soda Butte Creek creek:

We saw pawprints in the snow that went down a bank and crossed an ice bridge over the creek:

closeup of paw prints in snow: footprints in snow cross creek and ice bridge:

Notice the blowing snow coming off the bank into the creek:

ice bridge, blowing snow on bank of Soda Butte creek: trail of animal tracks over ice bridge on Soda Butte Creek Yellowstone:

We were being quite quiet, and a coyote came walking along and we watched him sniffing at the tracks in the snow. A coyote’s long nose is full of scent receptors and can detect the movement of other animals a mile or more away or days earlier.

Soda Butte Creek with coyote walking creekside winter:

Yellowstone coyote at Soda Butte creek winter: Yellowstone winter 2007 coyote walking in snow:

Yellowstone coyote winter 2007: coyote sniffing at tracks in snow:

John Muir wrote a long piece about ouzels you can read at:

http://www.abovecalifornia.com/lib/JohnMuir/MountainCa/index.shtml

in chapter XIII THE WATER-OUZEL

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More pictures from this trip are at:

Northern Yellowstone winter wildlife viewing

see also:

Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park photos

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