June in Yellowstone marks a transition from the heady rush of spring to the slower rhythm of summer.  My daily routine remained consistent:  a quick visit to Trout Lake at sunrise followed by a longer hike in Lamar Valley, then back home to Silver Gate for a lazy afternoon.  The park’s roads are so congested in the warmer months that I try to do as little driving as possible.

At the start of June I was still regularly finding the badger family I’d watched over the second half of May.  The mom began moving her three cubs often, but I managed to keep track of them through four different dens before they finally gave me the slip.  I loved being able to observe the cubs day-by-day as they grew bigger and bolder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bears seemed to be everywhere in Lamar Valley.  Not long after writing about my determination to avoid getting too close to black bears, I walked up a small hill to get a better view of a badger den and turned to find a black bear so close that I could hear it chewing a mouthful of grass.  We gaped at each other in surprise before I slowly backed off to a safer distance.

 

 

Twice over the next few mornings I saw a grizzly bear running through the sage, likely on the way back to higher elevations after feeding on a bison carcass near Confluence.  At one point a coyote couple became alarmed when the grizzly headed towards their den full of pups, so they bravely snarled and nipped (and occasionally had to run for their lives) until the big bear changed direction.

 

 

 

About a week after the badger family of four eluded me, I discovered a different badger family – this time a mom with just one cub.  Lacking siblings, the lone cub was forced to rely solely on Mom for playtime, a responsibility she handled with grace.  Her entertainment skills, however, paled in comparison to her extraordinary effectiveness as a hunter.  One morning I saw her catch three adult ground squirrels in under an hour without even looking like she was trying very hard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The badger mom with one cub stayed in the same den for about a week before relocating.  I was able to follow them through two more dens before they vanished into the sage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every sunrise visit to Trout Lake is amazing in its own way, but on three mornings in June I encountered a lone otter, and any otter sighting is always a highlight.  The first time I saw the otter it finished off a trout before retreating into a burrow for a nap.  And the second time, the otter – fully aware of my presence and only 30 yards away – surprised me by hopping out of the water and running overland to Buck Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

Several mornings in June a bald eagle was perched in the trees bordering Trout Lake, much to the chagrin of an osprey couple that did their best to encourage the unwelcome eagle to skedaddle.

 

 

 

In mid-June my longtime buddy Phil stopped by Silver Gate on his drive from California to upstate New York, where he and his wife were relocating after decades of living in the Bay Area.  Phil only stayed for one night, but we managed to fit in a hike to a local waterfall with his dogs, an introduction to the Canada Jays, dinner at the Log Cabin Cafe beer garden, and quick trips to Trout Lake and Lamar Valley.  Later we had another visitor in Silver Gate when Marie hosted her friend Jim (who was also lucky enough to meet the Canada Jays) for a few days.

 

 

 

 

Early June is typically when we start seeing newborn moose calves, and this year our neighbors Jill and Greg got an early start by spotting a mom with two calves in late May.  Frustratingly, I kept missing them, both in Yellowstone and at home in Silver Gate.  Finally in mid-June I caught a quick look at a mom with two calves walking by our house, and about a week later I was able to get a shot of a mom with one calf walking along the stretch of Soda Butte Creek that borders our property.

 

 

As always, summer in Yellowstone is a mixed bag.  The warmer weather feels amazing, and I love every second of not having to shovel snow from our driveway.  But the hordes of people that clog the park can feel soul-crushing.  So far this year, thankfully, sunrises at Trout Lake and badger-watching in Lamar Valley have been consistently rewarding and relatively crowd-free.  Every day I feel deeply grateful to live in this remarkable place.