On this last day of September, excitement is building in the denning contest to guess the dates and weights of the four bears when they den. 
Jewel and her cubsThey are all still active.
Crow callingIn the woods, one of the community feeders sent a picture of Jewel and her cubs. By this time of year, there are no reports of small bears. Cubs that weigh well under a hundred pounds look BIG with their winter coats that stick straight out 2-4 inches. Stroking through that depth of fur, it is hard to get down to skin with the under fur being so dense.
Here at the WRI last night, Samantha and Kimani were here late with their cubs. A couple of Samantha's four played with Kimani's two.
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| Loons molting into winter plumage | ||
The day turned bright and beautiful on this day of putting the pontoon boat up for the winter. We took a little ride and saw brilliant maple shoreline color and loons molting into winter plumage. One loon just had some white on the sides and bottom of its head. Two other adults had molted almost entirely to the winter plumage that looks a lot like juvenile plumage.
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| Female pine marten | Male pine marten |
Martens may still be mating. They usually mate in late summer, but today the light-colored male was very interested in the darker female pictured on the deck.
The crow cawed for several minutes, making me wonder if it was talking about something particularly important to it.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center