• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

seeing wolves (1 Viewer)

Steve Babbs

Steve Babbs

Well-known member
Having dipped wolves in Spain earlier this year, I'm pondering another attempt, before too long. The question is where? Any suggestions? Preferably Europe, but I wouldn't rule out elsewhere.

I think Yellowstone is fairly reliable, but I'd rather go somewhere where they aren't recent re-introductions.

Cheers
 
Hi Steve, we're going for Wolves next February in Spain, I don't know where you went but we're going to Sierra de la Culebra in the Zamora region. If you're interested I can send you the website of where we're staying.
 
keith said:
Hi Steve, we're going for Wolves next February in Spain, I don't know where you went but we're going to Sierra de la Culebra in the Zamora region. If you're interested I can send you the website of where we're staying.
Click to expand...

Keith, yes that's where I went, last February. I hope you have better luck than we did. Take lots of warm clothes!
 
Hi Steve. We had a great view of one on the road from Jasper to Maligne Lake. Others I spoke to had seen them around Bella Coola - also good for Brown and Black Bear.

Rich
 
Steve Babbs said:
Having dipped wolves in Spain earlier this year, I'm pondering another attempt, before too long. The question is where? Any suggestions? Preferably Europe, but I wouldn't rule out elsewhere.

I think Yellowstone is fairly reliable, but I'd rather go somewhere where they aren't recent re-introductions.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Yellowstone is pretty amazing, don't let the detail of reintroduction deter you. Superb birding, superb mammals and superb landscapes. Wolves are far from guaranteed, but as you say 'fairly reliable'. I have seen Wolves in about six countries, but the Yellowstone experience was pretty much the tops - after a day of watching a patch of grass at a distance for many hours where they had been seen lying down in the morning, suddenly a whole pack got up and cantered across a river valley, me setting off in pursuit. I relocated some miles up and ran like berserk across a hill and finally intercepted them for amazing views as they all passed, cubs and all.


Another fairly reliable location is in Gujarat - here a bit of work can get you Wolf and Striped Hyena to a backdrop of several thousand roosting Pallid and Montagu's Harriers. Saw several over two days here.

Within Europe, largely due to habitat considerations, you have been to probably the 'easiest' location, though I think some of the Finnish Brown Bear bait sites get Wolf with 'some' regularity.
 
Last edited:
Jos Stratford said:
Yellowstone is pretty amazing, don't let the detail of reintroduction deter you. Superb birding, superb mammals and superb landscapes. Wolves are far from guaranteed, but as you say 'fairly reliable'. I have seen Wolves in about six countries, but the Yellowstone experience was pretty much the tops - after a day of watching a patch of grass at a distance for many hours where they had been seen lying down in the morning, suddenly a whole pack got up and cantered across a river valley, me setting off in pursuit. I relocated some miles up and ran like berserk across a hill and finally intercepted them for amazing views as they all passed, cubs and all.
Click to expand...

Jos,

What are the rules about being out of the car in Yellowstone? Should one be running across a hill after Wolves?

I know you control the minds of predators but we are not all so blessed. Also some of us seem to be magnets for officialdom....

John
 
I am going looking for wolves tomorrow at Hyder, Alaska. Several people in the campground have seen them. Lots of bears also. Spectacular mountain scenery from above the treeline. Today I saw ptarmigan, a Merlin, and lots of Bald Eagles.
 
Farnboro John said:
What are the rules about being out of the car in Yellowstone? Should one be running across a hill after Wolves?
Click to expand...

No restriction on wandering wherever you wish. Many well-maintained trails also. There are however minimum distances you are supposed to stay from bears and there are some rather over-eager rangers that quickly appear if a bear is found aside a road - they then herd persons like demented shepherds. Solution of course is to just find your own bears, fairly easy at Yellowstone.
 
Last edited:
We went to Yellowstone this June and it was amazing. Wolves, bears and other mammals and plenty of good birding. Then there is the amazing scenery and the geothermals.

Jos is right about the rangers -they can be a bit over zealous. Having said that when you have a mother with cubs best to keep a respectful distance
 
When I was at Yellowstone, I saw lots of bears and other animals. Most people don't see much because they don't get out of bed until 9 a.m. Then when a bear is spotted at 2 p.m a huge crowd soon forms along the road. Not many people around at 5 a.m. and more animals.
 
Steve Babbs said:
You on for a Yellowstone trip next year then John? Jos has convinced me.
Click to expand...

Its certainly on the list of things to do, funding it is another matter, but I can talk to the boss! I need Black Bear, Wolf, Bison, Bighorn... loadsa stuff. Provisionally lets say yes and look into it.

John
 
A quick google produced this mammal checklist for the park.... I understand from Steve Davis that Yellowstone should if possible be combined with Grand Teton which has some extra goodies but I can't remember what. I'll check with him and report back.

John
 

Attachments

  • Yell287_09.pdf
    1.1 MB · Views: 125
Farnboro John said:
Its certainly on the list of things to do, funding it is another matter, but I can talk to the boss! I need Black Bear, Wolf, Bison, Bighorn... loadsa stuff. Provisionally lets say yes and look into it.

John
Click to expand...

It would solve my problem of where to go on a wildlife trip, minus family, next year. If we did go it'd be good to get a fourth person.

I was intended to go there as a family holiday last year, but the cost of carting the whole family out there made me bottle out. We were certainly intending to combine it with Grand Teton.

One thing that did put me off is the crowds, especially as it'd have to be late July/August for me. I think I read that accommodation gets booked up a long way ahead. Does anyone know if that is the case.
 
Steve Babbs said:
One thing that did put me off is the crowds, especially as it'd have to be late July/August for me. I think I read that accommodation gets booked up a long way ahead. Does anyone know if that is the case.
Click to expand...

Camp. Can get sites at the 'first come, first served' sites within Yellowstone regardless of season. Do need to arrive early in the day at popular sites however.

But away from bears appearing roadside in popular areas, crowds are not really an issue and if you walk trails (recommended), people are just occasional by passers.
 
Steve Babbs said:
It would solve my problem of where to go on a wildlife trip, minus family, next year. If we did go it'd be good to get a fourth person.

I was intended to go there as a family holiday last year, but the cost of carting the whole family out there made me bottle out. We were certainly intending to combine it with Grand Teton.

One thing that did put me off is the crowds, especially as it'd have to be late July/August for me. I think I read that accommodation gets booked up a long way ahead. Does anyone know if that is the case.
Click to expand...

I imagine that if we keep away from Labour Day we might not be too badly off. Also there's a lot of room, and if as Jos says nobody gets out early, we could probably do mammals in the park early, then go birding where people aren't in the middle of the day.

I will go for a beer with Steve and get the low-down from him, though it was some years ago that he went.

John
 
Steve Babbs said:
If we did go it'd be good to get a fourth person.
Click to expand...

The major cost is the flight. Car rental is cheaper than Europe, as is petrol and everything else. If you camp, getting a third or fourth person does not save very much. I'd personally opt for going as two - one person in front of car, cameras and all on passenger seat, one person in back for both windows. Three I guess works too, but four I'd say it would suck ...but then I'm an anti-social git in general, so maybe that's just me :)

Incidentally, if you have no objections to camping, I would say it is also the most pleasurable way to see Yellowstone - I had a Black Bear from my tent whilst there and loads of birds are common in the campsites.
 
I was presuming Maz would be going?

I've spent big chunks of my life in tents, so no objection to that. Although it is losing its appeal a bit as I get older.

Incidentally, I put a similar appeal of the mammal watching forum and got a quite a few replies there. Worth looking at for anyone else interested.
 
Maz is OK with it. We have to do a bit of financial wizardry to make it a practical proposition, some idea of the required budget would be useful.

I hadn't thought of camping, not going to broach it with Maz tonight, I suspect she might take some convincing that bears and tents mix.

I don't mind if its three or four as long as the car is big enough, perhaps saving on accommodation we could get a Jeep Cherokee or summat.

John
 
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

MiddleRiver
Cuba for gringos...?
Replies
8
Views
801
Jeff Hopkins
Jeff Hopkins
Andrew Whitehouse
Most misidentified birds in your area
2 3 4
Replies
73
Views
6K
hookem2010
hookem2010
G
  • Article
Citadels And Symphonies
Replies
2
Views
177
Green Sandpiper
G
C
NL 12x42 Optimisation
Replies
12
Views
2K
hopster
hopster
G
  • Article
Pigeon- Counting In Leith
Replies
0
Views
265
Green Sandpiper
G

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top