At the Bear Center, Lucky and Holly might be doing a repeat. This afternoon, after putting major effort into being Miss Independent by making a den of her own, 
TashaHolly joined Lucky in the big bunker den they shared last winter. We don't know if they played or just had quiet time.
For play, Tasha was a fireball this afternoon. Curator Sharon Herrell wrote "Tasha was running and jumping in her pool, tipping over her fresh water, and playing in the straw. She bit the hose near the nozzle and sprayed water around for a few seconds as I tried to pull it away from her (see video). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GT1yXrz96A. She ran at the fence 3 times, which means, "you need to get my belly."
Mallards at the WRILucky chased Tasha near the mound, but instead of staying away from him, Tasha tried to get him to chase her two more times. He wasn't interested."
At the WRI and in the community, a few bears are still showing up here and there, including Jewel and Fern and their cubs. We don't know of any bear hunters in the area.
Today, a female rusty blackbird joined the clean-up crew of 14 mallard ducks and about that many blue jays. It was our first sighting of a rusty blackbird passing through this fall. They stand out with their rusty color, yellow eyes, and the female's buffy eyebrow line.
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| Rusty blackbird | Blue jay flying toward | ...and away |
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center