Fauna: Creatures Great and Small

 

Duck Trio, Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey, 2002

Mountain Goats, Mt. Washburn, Yellowstone National Park, 2003.

Two trails access the Mt. Washburn summit.  We encounter these even-toed ungulates along the northern approach, the shorter-yet-steeper Chittenden Road.

Bison, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, 2001

Grazing the grassy valley, striking a classic pose.

 Monarch Butterflies, Assateague Island National Seashore, 2006

 

Sea Lions, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, Carmel, California, 2000

Mother Black Bear and Cubs, Glacier National Park, August 2000
Too close for hiking comfort: we observe this family group roadside near the Many Glacier Hotel.

Collared Lizard, Rabbit Valley, Colorado, Summer 2012
Visiting distant relatives?  On The Trail through Time, a 1.5-mile interpretive hike adjacent to an active dinosaur quarry, we spy a member of the Iguanidae clan hanging out a sun-baked rock.

 Bighorn Sheep, Bertha Lake Trail, Waterton Lakes National Park, 2000
Deep into a 7.1-mile roundtrip hike to the lovely alpine lake, we encounter this magnificently-horned, red-eyed guy on a switchback turn.

 
Starfish, Rialto Beach Tide Pool, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, 2002 

 Wild Horses, Assateague Island National Seashore, 2006