Eli - Lily's male cub from 2013Today, a 2-year-old male we think is Eli showed up at the WRI. We never got to know him well, but we remember how he and Ellie provided some of the most entertaining Den Cam video we have seen—especially their Beary-Go-Round scene (seen here).
At the Bear Center, the staff released a monarch wearing a tag. We hope someone spots it far away and that it adds to our knowledge of monarch travels.
On the lake at the WRI, the loon chicks are nearly the size of the adults. Their down is gone. They have juvenile feathers with flight feathers growing in. They can dive and fish on their own, but the mother was still feeding them fish I can’t identify. Just before we left, the mother turned up on her side near the boat and began drawing feathers through her bill.
A male mallard in eclipse plumage flew by looking like a female except for the plain bill that lacks the black blotches of a female bill.
A great day with bears and a great group.
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| Adult and Juvenile | Adult female preening | Juvenile loon |
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| Loon preening | Mallard flying | Loon with fish |
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.