We didn't see too many birds on the excursion, but at least one was a bit of a surprise...
...the gull on the left was rather far from home, we thought!
This ptarmigan along the side of the road is more the kind of bird we were expecting to see...
Although you can't see him too well, I imagine this songbird, sitting atop a bush, was serenading the neighborhood at one of our last stops ...
But mammals were the stars of the show throughout the tour.
From the little red fox that walked beside our bus for a while...
...to the mountain goats in their majestic setting (see the tiny white dots on the crags at the right and below)...spotted by our keen-eyed guide...
...to the little groundhog-like animal keeping an eye on his meadow...
It's bears, though, that are the big draw in Denali. We got very excited when we saw these first guys, 'way off in the distance....
...not realizing that soon thereafter we'd see this lazy fellow, resting on some snow, probably not 50 yards from the bus!
Then, an even more exciting sight...
... this mother bear and two cubs! Coming closer and closer to the road! Henry took a lot of photos of them, not knowing how much closer they would come. These are the best of the bunch...
Seeing wolves in the wild is another major draw in Denali, and we were very lucky where these predators are concerned.
How many people get to see this kind of wildlife action other than on TV?
The first caribou we saw, within the blue square on the left, weren't too stressed...
as were the ones below, ambling along a streambed...
...but the fellow on the right here wasn't so lucky...
that's the wolf we assume brought him down, guarding his prey...
...and finally leaving it for the scavengers...all while we watched!
But we had an even more exciting wolf-caribou close encounter awaiting us.
First, we saw this small group, containing some rather impressive individuals...
...but one anti-social guy off to the side, just the kind of loner a predator seeks out...
...and sure enough, a wolf started stalking the loner after we'd driven on a bit further...
...needless to say, we stopped to watch this drama!
The wolf is in the blue box on the left here, the caribou on the right...
...the wolf isn't visible in this shot on the left, but he was getting closer to his quarry...
...who hasn't seen him yet (noting his position relative to the trees, he hasn't moved much)...
...but here you can see that the chase is on...
...the wolf is close, but the caribou has started to run...
...what a show for us spectators!
Fortunately for the prey, and unfortunately for the predator, the chase ends in no food for the wolf...how many unsuccessful hunts must he manage before he finally gets his dinner?
We were almost as fortunate as the caribou to get to see this routine, but fascinating, drama played out for our observation.
I'll close with more peaceful scenes, examples of the summer flowers we saw in the park....
Before we even got on the bus, we saw this impressive specimen close up...a great omen for the rest of our visit...
The rest of the photos on this page were taken on the bus tour.
Note the cub below, acting naturally...I mean, what do wild bears do, anyway?
