Quaking aspen leaves - April 17, 2012Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) trees are leafing out. This is a month earlier than usual but on a par with the other very early spring of 2010—April 18 that year. But how could they start today when it was a freezing blizzard yesterday? So much we don’t know. We do know aspen leaves is an important spring food, though, so we’ll likely be seeing bears climbing trees and bending saplings to get them.
Juliet deftly licks up a hazelnut as cub watches - April 17, 2012
Clover is also a good bear food. The snow must have melted enough today to make clover available again. Late today, Lily and Faith returned to the clover patch.
Robins flock to roads - April 17, 2012
Mothers and yearlings made limited movements late today as the snow softened, but the mothers with new cubs stayed put in their sheltered beds.
Robin - April 17, 2012The snow fell off the trees this afternoon, but the ground is still white. Early this morning, while wet snow was still thick on every branch, robins (Turdus migratorius) didn’t have their usual places to perch, so they flocked to the roads.
Last night Donna and Lynn opened his birthday cards and saw names of so many long-time Lily Fans and a few new ones. Heartwarming!
Thank you so much for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center