Chipping SparrowAt the Wildlife Research Institute, I was busy working on Ecology Hall stuff and missed a visit by one of the bears. Next time I checked, 2 ½ pounds of sunflower seeds were missing from the scale. A monitor inside WRI tells how much seed is on the scale. Comparing pictures, it’s hard to decide whether the mystery 2-year-old is June’s son Cole or Lily’s son Eli.
I could have been on the phone when the bear came. I got a call from an old friend who knows all the key legislators, having been a representative himself for decades. He told me that Representative Tom Hackbarth, author of the House version of the bear-feeding section of the bill, told him there was no way he would have let the bear-feeding bill pass whether it had stayed in the Senate version or not. He said that after taking it out of the House version, he would not have agreed to any compromise in a conference committee that reconciles differences in House and Senate versions. He would not have let any wording about feeding stay in, so we’re doubly safe as far as that bill goes for this year, and the DNR will have trouble sneaking it into future bills now that legislators are alert to the importance of that issue to so many Lily Fans, residents, and their legislators. When the legislators learned, they did the right thing. Thank you Lily Fans for all the information you sent!
Also at the WRI, two new birds have arrived—a chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina) and a white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). Crows gave me a good demonstration of their extreme wariness. As I walked past a window a few times, crows farther away than I would have thought cared took immediate flight. I measured the distance. In the first instance, three crows were on the ground feeding 176 feet from the window. In the second, they were feeding on the ground 168 feet away. Wary!
By contrast, the herring gull stood unmoving as I went out the door and poured sunflower seed hearts 4 feet from it. When I went back in, it stood calmly as I made eye contact. It knew my pattern. As soon as I closed the door, 9 feet away, it spread its wings and dropped down the 4 feet to the seeds.
As I began measuring the distance to where the crows took flight, a female hooded merganser emerged from a nest box. I’d seen her and her mate making flights together past that nest box, but I’d never seen her break away from him and enter it. More wildlife to see in this exciting place.
For the past 3 nights, wood frogs and spring peepers have been calling.
Working with staff and volunteers, we made good progress on the Ecology Hall exhibits and outside signage today. At the same time, the staff unveiled a broadened line of merchandise at http://www.bear.org/website/gift-shop.html --cute bear items, some moose related items, new North American Bear Center clothing, and more. I’m always amazed at what our skeleton crews accomplishes. Each item is also shared on facebook with links to the individual items here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153254004225499.1073741845.263755115498&type=1
A big thank you to them and Lily Fans for all you do. I hear a bear outside in the dark.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.