Where on the WILDSIDE are we?

Any given week of the year, it is probable that at least one of our Wildside guides are leading a trip somewhere on the Wildside.

Pretty often, in fact, almost everyone on the Wildside team is off on an adventure! Where are we this week? Let’s see…

Yellowstone National Park

Wonders of Yellowstone National Park in winter – snow is a given, bison and moose are likely, but a Pine Marten is a rare treat! – photographs by Lee Hoy

Kevin Loughlin and Lee Hoy are leading our Yellowstone: Winter Wildlife Photography tour, and have had spectacular luck so far. Incredible encounters with river otters, a surprise glimpse of a Pine Marten, bison 3′ from the snow coach, plus plenty of Big Horn Sheep, Coyote, and Long-tailed Weasel have filled their camera frames and warmed their hearts.

River Otter – photograph by Kevin Loughlin

Lee Hoy reports, “Life in Yellowstone National Park in winter is challenging to say the least and watching a massive Bison moving large amounts of snow so they can graze is mesmerizing. We spent quite a bit of time with this big bull as he grazed along the river’s edge.” (This particular bison is pictured above!)

Kevin Loughlin has led many such trips to Yellowstone in the winter, but he mentioned that this week’s opportunity to observe and photograph a group of 3 River Otters was the BEST he’d ever had.

Kevin and Lee will return to Yellowstone in January 2021 for another amazing photography workshop in this winter wonderland.

Meanwhile, also in Wyoming

Mountain Lion – photograph (digiscoped) by Chris Brown

Chris Brown is getting ready to lead a private tour in Yellowstone this week. Early morning scouting started things off with a…roar!

In January 2021 Chris will be back in Yellowstone leading our Winter Wildlife Safari (or if you’re less into snow and more into wildflowers, Chris will also go looking for big cats and other wildlife in June and September of 2020…!)

On to somewhere slightly warmer…try California!

Female Garganey on the Salton Sea, and a light morph Ferruginous Hawk just outside of the San Jacinto Wildlife Area – photographs (digiscoped) by Alex Lamoreaux

Long-eared Owl found in Lancaster, CA – photograph by Alex Lamoreaux

Alex Lamoreaux kicked off our 2020 Big Year trips in California, leading our South Coast, Deserts, and Mountains tour (which will be followed by a brand new extension tour in search of condors, scrub-jays, and LA exotics.)

The highlight of the first day of the tour was a Ridgeway Rail showing nicely, and Alex and his group picked up 109 species by nightfall…! By day 4 of the tour, Alex and his group had found over 160 species including a gorgeous Long-eared Owl.

I’m not sure where the count is at today, but the female Garganey pictured above was spotted by his group as I’m typing this. Now they’re off to look for Black-headed and Little Gulls at the Salton Sea!

Elsewhere…

Southern Giraffe at a waterhole in Etosha National Park, Namibia – photograph by Adrian Binns

Adrian Binns just got back from Namibia (look for his Trip Report soon!) and will be headed out the door to Tanzania in a few days. Gabriel Lugo is doing private guiding in Puerto Rico this week, and Edison Buenaño might actually be resting (at home in Ecuador!)

Glenn Crawford will be leading our Belize: Southern Forests and Coasts tour starting this weekend, and Greg Miller is headed to Florida to lead field trips for North Shore Birding Festival.

In fact, by the end of January just about everyone on the Wildside team will have converged upon Flordia’s Space Coast for the Space Coast Wildlife and Birding Festival! But I’m getting ahead of myself.

New Mexico

Petroglyphs drawn by Ancestral Pueblo people – photograph by Sally Ingraham

Where am I, perched in my watchtower tracking the whereabouts of everyone on the Wildside? Sally Ingraham here, keeping an eye on things from 5,023 ft! I’m just back from scouting birding spots around Albuquerque, NM.

A quick wander among the volcanic escarpments of Petroglyphs National Monument revealed Sagebrush and Black-throated Sparrows, Rock Wren and Say’s Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike and Common Raven… New Mexico is a land of enchantment and plenty more fantastic birds – and we’re eager to share it with you as part of 2020’s Big Year tours!

So that’s where WE are on the WILDSIDE this week – tune in for more adventures soon!