At least I hope so. It's been raining all week (over 2" total) but yesterday was very nice. Yeah, the mosquitoes and black flies were out in force, but so were the other critters.
Throughout the day I spotted 5 bear, the first one around 5am. Most scurry out back into the woods before I can get a picture of them, but this one got on the wrong side of the fence....
Due to cost, this fence around the maintenance shop and RV sites won't be completed until this summer. This young black bear ambled into the area, but quickly realized his mistake and hurried back around the other side of the fence. The camper in the photo belongs to the Refuge and is used for visiting biotechs or other personnel that need housing.
Bill saw a moose in the Bucky Beaver Pond, but I hadn't seen a moose all day. I was lamenting that around 7 pm and then looked out the window and saw a moose at the wood's edge across from us. I think even the critters were happy the rain has stopped.
One morning this week I saw these moose in Moose Marsh. You can see that the young bull's antlers aren't very big. I'm wondering if these were the twin calves we saw so much of last year. Mom moose would have kicked them out by now, but maybe they're still hanging out together.
I check my game cameras every day....
Caught a shot of this red fox bringing home dinner... probably has pups somewhere. I hope that the scruffy looking coat is due to shedding and not mange or something. I can't tell what it has in it's mouth... maybe a grouse?
The lupines are starting to bloom...
Makes me think of the book "The Lupine Lady"... one of my kid's favorites, as well as my own.
Seems like the purple ones bloom first, but there will be some pink, white and burgundy colors before long.
This honeysuckle is a fairly new invasive species here. It's the bush type (not a vine), and we're seeing a few pink bushes, but mostly the yellow/white blossoms I'm more familiar with. Anyway, I'll be spending some time next week lopping them down. If they're too much for the loppers, I'll tie some surveyor's tape on a branch to mark it and come back with the reciprocal saw. It's battery operated and should last for at least a while. Isn't it something how some of the prettiest things are such a nuisance!
Now... about that game camera...
The End!
That's All For Today!
More wonderful wild life photos.
ReplyDeleteSure is nice that rain has stopped.
I love the smell of honeysuckle.
ReplyDeleteThat game camera is a great one. What do you call that last type of animal? Very strange indeed.
ReplyDeleteThat last "game" shot is pretty darn funny!
Too many days in a row of rain can really make me feel down in the dumps. Glad it stopped for you. Shockingly, I got one mosquito bite last night. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteFinally stopped raining here, some time overnight. No rain gauge up this year, so I'll just guess at something over an inch. It's been a damp beginning to the end of a massively snowy winter.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd left honeysuckle behind at my old house. I never defeated it, and eventually abandoned one garden bed on the west side of the house to it. Nasty--binder weed, we call it, as it strangled the life out of every other plant it could reach. Thank goodness the bush sort never invaded. Or, left to their own devices, do they become bushes?
You always seem to get a good "end" shot to end the blog with. Makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteYour are too funny - loved your photos, and yes, how 'bout that game camera? LOL!!!
ReplyDelete