Sunday, April 22, 2012

animal watching-Is afternoon good too?

Hi! Is morning the only good moment to get a chance to see wildlife? From what I know of animal behaviour, the activity peaks tend to be during early morning AND the last hours before it get darks.

Everyone highlights the importance of getting early to places such as Lamar and Hayden Valleys, but no one mentions what happens at twilight.

I′ll be staying at the Old Faithful Inn, so it will be difficult for me to arrive early to those places. That′s why I wanted to know if I should plan my itinerary in such a way that I get to Lamar by late afternoon.

Thanks!

Noelia

animal watching-Is afternoon good too?

Hi Noelia, and welcome to the forum.

Generally speaking you are correct, wildlife activity should be nearly as good near last light as it is right after first light. So you should be able to get your morning beauty rest and still observe the wildlife. There can often be lulls in the action during mid-day, especially at the warmer times of the year, but as the afternoon temperatures beging to drop, most of the animals will become more active again. Whenever you can get to Lamar and Hayden will be better than not getting there at all!

Just a word of caution though. Be very careful returning to your hotel after dark. Driving in the park after dark demands slow speeds and good concentration. You will be driving on unfarmiliar, winding, unlighted, mountain roads, with very few if any guard rails. Add to that the fact that there are no fences in the park, and the wildlife that you went out there to watch are under no obligation to stay out of the roads! Bison in particular can be extremely hard to see in the dark, as their eyes do not reflect light like an elk, a wolf or a bear. So take you time, relax, and enjoy!

animal watching-Is afternoon good too?

Thanks for the advice! It came to my mind too that travelling at night might be a little tricky.

Do you have any idea about the time at which the sun sets? I′ll be in Yellowstone by middle May.

Thanks again! :)


Here%26#39;s a handy tool for that. For Old Faithful, WY on May 23, sunrise is 5:13 am and sunset is 9:28 pm.

aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php


One of the reasons we all suggest a cooler is to allow the traveler to stay on site to observe the wildlife w/o having to run back to a restaurant/cafe for food. So, you can travel to Lamar and Hayden Valleys and hang out to watch the wildlife and emergence of more (e.g., wolves, coyotes, bear).

BTW, if you see folks with spotting scopes, just inquire; they will often say, take a look.


I think you%26#39;ll find it to be less of a problem in May. You may see wildlife more of the day then than later in the summer. It will likely stay chilly alll day.

Also in May, you shouldn%26#39;t have to be there at the crack of dawn to see wildlife.

You may see some winter weather, though.


Hi again Noelia,

We try to visit the park from mid May to early June each year. We will be there this year as well, and we%26#39;re hoping for somewhat better weather than last May. In 2007/2008 that area experienced a very long, snowy winter, and it was still winding down when we were there. While in May of 2007, we enjoyed lots of warm, mild spring-like days. You should consider that when packing for your trip, too. Think layers, and at least something in the line of raingear, footwear, hats, gloves, etc., just in case.

As for the daylight and wildlife activities in May. You can expect to see all of the wildlife, including wolves and bears at almost any time of day out in the valleys, and just about anywhere for that matter. That is one reason that we love Yellowstone enough at that time of year to take our chances with the weather. For one thing, early viewing times are not as critical. Everybody will be hungry after the long winter, along with having wolf pups and bear cubs to feed. That early in the year, the temperatures will probably not get high enough to curtail the daily activity, except for possibly that mid-day period if we experience any extremely warm days.

I have never paid much attention to the ';official'; sunset numbers, but on clear evenings I have been out in Lamar as late as 9:00PM and had enough light to take several very dramatic photos at reasonable distances.

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