Fauna on the Kaibab Plateau

A break form our camp hosting duties for an anniversary lunch at the Kaibab Lodge came with a bonus this week.  In the span of just a couple of miles we spotted a slug of wildlife.  One in particular we were excited to see were wild turkey.  We have been scouting for turkey in all the places we frequently saw them last year with no luck.  On this day there were two hens, each with a brood right alongside the main highway, just outside the entrance station to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Even though I was about 300 yards away, this hen was keeping an eye on what I was doing.

Cyndee is a great critter spotter.  This comes in most handy when we are making the 25 mile drive between Jacob Lake and just past the entrance station.  This road is thick with deer along the entire length and buffalo in the last five miles from just outside the entrance station to just inside.  If you are driving this road in the twilight or dark hours it is treacherous.  It is 25 miles of a white knuckle game we call deer dodge.  Cyndee sees the faintest thing that looks like it could walk in front of us and keeps me from doing something expensive.  But in the middle of the day she puts these skills to work spotting animals that we can photograph.

For the shots of the turkey I was just boogying down the road anticipating indulging myself in a plate of hot wings when Cyndee exclaimed "Turkey!".  I had to drive to the next turnout so I could get Big Gulp turned around and go back to where I could get within the range of my lens.  A few minutes later and were back on our way to lunch.  Just a few hundred yards from the turn to the Kaibab Lodge Cyndee says; "Hawk!".  And again I had to turn around to get back to within range.  Although in range may be a matter of opinion.  Even with my zoom lens maxed out at 300mm the bird was just barely visible in the viewfinder.

With some cropping and enlarging I could get a fuzzy portrait of a Red Tail Hawk.  At the time, we were so far away we could not tell what the hawk was up to.  Maybe it was resting, maybe it was watching for its mate or maybe it was scouting for prey.  We were just too far away to tell.  So we hung around for awhile to see if anything changed.

But nothing did, just a whole bunch of pictures with the head in different positions.  We were so close to the Kaibab Lodge that I could hear those hot wings calling me so I took one last shot before starting the truck and getting back onto the road in the direction of lunch.

Wouldn't you know it.  The camera was put down, the truck running and I was starting my turn onto the road when the hawk dropped off his perch and dived directly in front of us, just feet away.  Within three feet of the ground he flared his wings and a burst of sparrow-size birds rose out of the grass.  In the blink of an eye the hawk was doing aerial aerobatics and knocking one of those little birds loopy and then taking it in his talons and flying out of sight.  It would have made for some great shots but I did not even have time to let go of the steering wheel let alone pick up the camera and get it focused on the action.  If we had waited just thirty more seconds before heading to lunch I would have had shots of a lifetime.  Darn those vocal hot wings.

We really enjoyed our anniversary lunch and the hospitality of the folks at the Kaibab Lodge.  On our way out we went across the road to the country store to say high to the two couples that run the place.  It is also the only place within 85 miles we can get a 20 oz Coke Zero in a bottle.  Having touched base with friends and Coke in hand, we headed home to the North Rim.  This time the critters were easy to see from a great distance, even while I was driving.  Three mule deer bucks, just grazing near the edge of the road.

These guys were a little more wary than the turkey.  My stopping made them uncomfortable and they decided to move on, and into the dark woods.

It is only August and these bucks already have large racks, and still growing.  The velvet was thick and shiny.

 Something that we saw on the way out and wanted to take a closer look at on the way back was a truck off to the side of the road with front end damage.  We have been hearing reports of numerous deer and buffalo strikes in the past few days and were suspecting this was the aftermath of one of those.  And boy was it.  This was no collision with a deer, it had to be a buffalo.  See for yourself.

This was no light contact encounter, a buffalo was hit broadside at speed.  The truck will probably be a total loss but the buffalo lost its life.  That is at least four buffalo in the last two weeks and another half dozen deer.  People come through the meadow, sometimes at double the speed limit, in the pitch black of night.  The deer are hard to see, the buffalo with their dark coats are essentially invisible.

The herd is now gathered up around a near-dry water hole (in the background) just inside the entrance station.

So far each of the collisions have been with cows that have had one or two calves.  The park practices a no interference policy and the calves are left to make it on their own, or not.