Andie - NABC Intern willingly cleaningOn this rainy day, some worked inside, some worked out. At the Bear Center, Scott cleaned the pond, while our brand new intern (today) pitched right in cleaning den sheds and helping on the pond. She goes by Andie and is a biology major from the University of Minnesota.
At the WRI, I worked inside on Ecology Hall exhibits.
Scott cleans the pondOut the window, I did a taste test for the birds. After the gull loved the Cheerios® so much, I gave all the birds a choice—3 piles, sunflower seed hearts, Cheerios®, and Grape-Nuts®. Chickadees, purple finches, red-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches, pine siskins, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers and red squirrels ate nothing but sunflower seeds. Herring gulls and crows strongly preferred Cheerios®. I wondered what was wrong with the Grape-Nuts® that I have eaten all my life. Then it rained. The Grape-Nuts® softened. Two gulls and a crow eventually tasted them and then ate nothing but them (the Cheerios® were gone by then).
The two gulls were the two I photographed comfortably touching as they ate together a couple weeks ago. Today, one hogged the Grape-Nuts® and repeatedly shooed the other off. I don’t know if it’s that mating season is over or that they tasted that good. The crow had no competition for them because he or she is the only crow that dares to eat while I’m at my desk.
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| Goldfinch eats seeds | Gull eats GrapeNuts® | Crow eats GrapeNuts® |
Lily Fans made a splash voting for Ely. Last night, Ely led Saugatuck by only 247 votes. Now, we lead by over a thousand votes (11,462 to 10,420). The Ely Chamber of Commerce noticed and said an enthusiastic “Thank you” to Lily Fans. We’re not sure if voting in this round ends at noon or midnight tomorrow. We all have to check to see if we need to continue voting past noon tomorrow. Assuming we win, our opponent in the next round is Spearfish, ND, which has mustered 11,746 votes to lead Indianapolis, Indiana by a nearly 2 to 1 margin.
No bears yet at this time (7:39 PM) as I get things ready for 3 volunteers who will be here any minute from Oregon to give technical help for the Ecology Hall exhibits.
Thank you for all you are doing.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.