Evening Grosbeaks - May 27, 2013 With the temperature around 70F and the humidity reasonable at 46%, three bears headed for water in separate lakes within 20 minutes of each other—Lily at 1:38 PM, Jewel at 1:48 PM, and Aster at 1:58 PM. Just a coincidence as far as we know.
Juneberry blossomsJune’s and Lily’s 2-year-old daughters Aster and Faith, respectively, were especially active today, possibly trying to figure out where they can best establish territories.
Meanwhile, June checked out the same clover patch that Faith, Aster, and Lily visited a few days ago. Both Faith and Aster learned about the clover patch from their mothers in 2011 and 2012. We don’t know if June showed it to young Lily back in 2007 and 2008. It didn’t take June and her cubs long to pay the patch a visit after leaving their den area a couple days ago. Another video of June's foraging on May 25 is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZny4GoiR1U.
Crushing Ted's medsKnowing the bears’ preference for clover, we are planting white clover and a mix of colorful wildflowers in the newly opened area of the Bear Enclosure next to the Hope Learning Center. We’re imagining visitors on the end of the outdoor viewing balcony photographing the bears eating clover surrounded by flowers for spectacular pictures. We can imagine Jim Stroner taking beautiful pictures of the bears to compete with last year’s terrific calendar that has become a collector’s item for many.
Bear Center's newly cemented creekSpeaking of food, the photo shows Judy Thon crushing Ted’s glucosamine pills, as she does twice each day. She then mixes the crushed pills with honey. She said, yes, she knows the Mary Poppins song about helping the medicine go down. The pills help Ted's joints.
Burying cablesAt the Bear Center, electricians were burying cable under the Hope Learning Center, and landscapers were creating the stream that will carry fresh rainwater from the roof to the pond.
In the woods, if the number of blossoms is any indication, this will be a bumper year for juneberries (Amelanchier spp.). We’re wondering about pollination, though. Black flies (Family Simuliidae) help pollinate the blossoms, and we haven’t seen any yet. We never thought we’d want to see these biting flies.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.