We didn’t see any wolves today but there was a report of a black wolf from the Junction Pack heading west through the Lamar Valley. We waited and watched from a pull-out east of Slough Creek, hoping to see the black come over the ridge but we had no luck. We did see a black bear, however, making its way up the slope to the ridgetop. We then went to a pull-out that has a great view of the Slough Creek valley.
I sighted four Great Blue Herons sitting together on the branches of a large bush along the creek. (In the photo above, the bush the Herons are sitting in is in the far left of the image, next to the creek.)
As we glassed the area, still hoping to see a wolf, we heard howling and yipping from the north end of the valley. We’ve heard that the Junction Pack has a den in the Slough Creek area but we don’t know if we were hearing wolves or coyotes. We thought that perhaps one of the Junction Pack adults had returned to the den with food and that the high-pitched yips we heard might be pups.