In Jackson Hole, at the start of my tour of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, I took a two-horse open sleigh ride through the refuge and saw literally thousands of elk.

Grand Teton National Park in Winter Snow fell constantly on my winter tour of Grand Teton National Park. The journey itself was the reward. Near the entrance to Yellowstone National Park I boarded one of the most interesting vehicles I have ever ridden it. Snow coaches have skis in front and tank tracks in back in order to move through the deep snow.

Surprise! Snow Falls on Yellowstone in Winter The snow, of course, was no surprise. I was ready for it and dressed appropriately. It also set me up to more fully appreciate the sunnier weather that I experienced ahead.

Yellowstone in Winter Sun The sun came out and I saw many bison. In fact, I captured classic shots of them with their faces covered with snow from their digging for food.

Yellowstone's Old Faithful Geyser in Winter Yellowstone's signature scene is, of course, an eruption of Old Faithful. I saw it go off three times.

Yellowstone's Lamar Valley in Winter The Lamar Valley is in the remote northeast corner of Yellowstone. Known as one of the best places to see wildlife, it showed me many more bison, some elk, and the first Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep I ever saw with really big horns.

The Heron Rockery at Crane Hollow Back home in Colorado, I visited the colony of breeding Great Blue Herons in Crane Hollow, 20 miles north of my Boulder apartment. Not only did I see many herons, but also got a great view of a Harlan's Hawk and a glimpse of a  Great Horned Owl.

St. Vrain State Park Not until the end of my hike around Pelican Pond Trail in St. Vrain State Park was I able to get any good bird shots. But then I got some of my best photographs ever of a rather small bird called a Killdeer and a rather large one called a Bald Eagle.

Walden Ponds The high points of my hike around Walden Ponds were watching an American Robin take a bath and seeing a muskrat swim by right in front of me.

The Bluebirds are Back Bluebirds have returned to the Boulder area in the Betasso Preserve. No bird has such bright blue plumage as the male Mountain Bluebird. Females of that species have some blue as do male and female Western Bluebirds. I saw them all.

Back to Betasso Just a few days after seeing the bluebirds at Betasso Preserve I just had to go back. This time I saw them and more. The more was the first flowers of spring and the rare and seldom photographed Abert's squirrel.