Mostly Moose... along with Bear and Birds...

 Maybe I should just say "Wild Things"....  we've been seeing a lot of critters lately.  The price, of course, is the black flies and mosquitoes.  (the moose flies and no see ums come later).

As I was doing my morning drive this lovely Sunday morning, I spotted these guys up near the Bucky Beaver Pond.

I'm quite a distance away, and my auto is fairly quiet, but they spotted me...  then kept on browsing...

I slowly crept up the road...  and was able to get somewhat closer.  Look at the budding antlers on this big guy!  Moose shed their antlers each winter and grow that massive rack anew each year.  By late summer this bull will have a huge rack...  and I hope I get photos of him throughout the summer.

Both moose crossed the road and I was able to drive to the spot where they disappeared into the woods.  Ah...  but then I saw that the big guy was still curious enough to check me out.  For such huge creatures it's amazing how silent they are in the forest....  and how quickly they can disappear.

On my way back down the road, I always check out Bucky Beaver Pond.  I saw a couple of beaver this morning and a lovely red-winged blackbird, but what really caught my eye was this...

An Osprey was perched way up high on a snag at the edge of the pond.  I don't know what all lives in this pond, but another volunteer told me she saw the osprey eating a fish there a few days ago.  He's a big bird...  and it's fun to watch him hover over the water then dive-bomb into the pond for his "catch of the day".  I didn't want to disturb him, so I moved on....

A couple of days ago I was at Moose Marsh and saw a big splash of water...  what in the world?

This big black bear was in the water...  shaking himself like a dog will shake when they come out of a body of water.  Only this guy was in the water...  I wonder if he was taking a bath?  More likely, he was trying to rid himself of some of the flies and other critters that pester him.  After he was totally wet, he slowly trod on through the marsh, onto the bank and headed over the hill.

There are lots of bird species here...  I'll have to check the brochure so I'll learn just how many species have been spotted...  but..

This Chestnut-sided Warbler is one of the prettiest ones...

I've even learned how to identify his call...  (yes... I really have ;-)

Every National Wildlife Refuge has a focus...  usually it's to help preserve an endangered species.  That could be a bird, mammal, fish or even a plant or a type of habitat.  Here at Aroostook NWR, the (Maine) endangered species is the Upland Sandpiper...

Sandpipers are usually associated with shorebirds, sand and the like, but this one likes prairies and open fields.  While they nest on the ground, they like to perch high on a fence post or...  like the one on the right, very high up in the top of that big spruce tree.  Nearly every morning we see him up there, surveying his kingdom.

We've been busy here...  Bill's usually on some piece of equipment throughout the day...  I've done a lot of mowing and trail maintenance.  We haven't really settled into a routine yet as the other 2 volunteers arrived a couple of days ago.  But that will get sorted out soon...  it will be a good summer.  Except..... No phone service...  Internet is sporadic....  I can usually read others blogs but most often can't comment.  I've been trying to write my blog in Word then copy it onto Blogspot when (and if) I can stay on line long enough.  But all is well...  Hope y'all are doing well too!

The End......  The End

That's All For Today!