May 15, 2026
The “Red Dogs” are back!
Ken is a neighbor. He is talented and very connected to the beings and places he captures in his images. If you would like to learn more and see more photos his website is https://kennyjonesphoto.com/
Spring 2026 has arrived. Winter tries to creep back occasionally, and then it feels like summer. No doubt you have experienced similar “weather uncertainty”. The bison calves, (sometimes called “red dogs” locally or “little oranges”) are here. The Little Oranges term comes from YNP’s Bison biologist, Chris Jeremiah, and it’s fun to hear that from him as he is “all science”!
Certainly, we are seeing migrating birds return. The first I saw were the Mountain Bluebirds who always seem to arrive first.
Osprey arrived and started claiming traditional nesting sites. In the trees along of the right side of the walls in Firehole Canyon is an Osprey nest that has been active for years. I walked up here earlier this spring and one lone Osprey was in the nest for hours waiting for it’s nestmate to arrive.
Other migrants who continue to move north pass through. Now we have some of the summer residents arriving such as: American Robin, Cassin Finches, Red Breasted Nuthatches, White Pelicans, Sandhill Cranes and more will come soon. It’s fun to understand the seasonal changes through bird behavior. Some of you who have bird feeders or nesting boxes see that in your own back yard. The challenge is re-learning the calls and songs every year!
The usual cast of flowers are starting to bloom. Out of the snow first come Glacier Lilies, Spring Beauty and Buttercup.
Lots more species are appearing now. Pasque Flower and Cushion Phlox are some who dependably arrive just after the snow melts.
Everything is early this year. Even the surface ice on Yellowstone Lake (measuring 132 square miles) melted out almost a month early. Much of the lake surface freezes every winter with up to 2-2.5 feet of ice, with the exception of areas above underwater hydrothermal vents. The timing of the Lake opening up can be an indicator of an early or late arrival of summer.
This time of the year we are also getting prepared for more visitors to arrive. The highest percentage of visitors are in the park from mid May through early September. Last year, Yellowstone had 4,762,988 visitors come through the gates. Less than 5% of those come in the winter season! Some of us who have the privilege to teach and guide guests can stay informed about new research, data and geological changes with a resource update meeting each season. Yellowstone is an amazing resource for many interests, natural history and fascinating geology, human history and archeology, landscapes from the grand to the microscopic, and much much more. I’ll relay a story about the situation with Wolves as we move into the summer.
One of the big draws in Yellowstone over the last 30 years has been the reintroduction of wolves.
The timeframe and story of all of this is big. So much has been understood about wolf biology and society and behaviors. Many visitors come to the park with the hopes of seeing or hearing wolves. 41 wolves in total were reintroduced from Canada in 1995 and 1996. The largest population/number of wolves peaked at 174 in 2004. In more recent years, the population has stabilized and been fairly consistent with around 90 to 110 wolves. However, the population has dipped some years to roughly 84 to 85 wolves due to factors like natural disease outbreaks (canine distemper) affecting pup survival and state-managed hunts just outside the park boundaries. This year we may be as low as 68 wolves. This number does not reflect the pups who have been born in the last month. They aren’t out of the dens yet. Another count will happen in the fall after the pups have been out learning the ropes and the survivors will be part of the next count.
If you are interested in more about wolves, check out the “Wolf Family Tree”.
in 2015, Dr. Jim Halfpenny & Leo Leckie created the Yellowstone Wolf Family Tree.
https://www.yellowstone-wolves.com/
A decision was made that Ancestry.com would be the best platform to accurately represent and historically memorialize the greatest wildlife restoration project in North America, and perhaps the world: the reintroduction of gray wolves to the Lower 48 of the United States! Featuring the life stories, genealogy and photographs of *every* Yellowstone wolf, from the founding wolves of 1995 and 1996 to those you see on Yellowstone National Park’s landscape today, this is your free and open-to-the-public internet and mobile source to the unfolding history and genealogy of Yellowstone’s wolves!
OK, that was a lot of ” Yellowstone stuff “. One last mention is the Kid for the Wild Scholarship.
We have applicants and the next newsletter will be announcing the recipients and what their plans are for summer, so stay tuned for that. https://walkinjim.com/kid-for-the-wild-scholarship/
Wishing you many moments visiting your favorite places in Nature,
Leslie lesliehstoltz@gmail.com
“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter.”— Rachel Carson.
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”— John Muir
“Nature is not a place to visit, it is home.”
–Gary Snyder
Credit is always given to the photographer. If you do not see a credit, an amateur, me, took these (with a phone)!