Quill is gaining weight. Three days ago, he was 43 pounds after ingesting 3 pounds--saying 40 pounds empty. At 7:24 AM, he was on the scale eating a pound of walnuts and had not yet touched his 2 pounds of formula. 
Ted - October 29, 2016He weighed 43 3/4, which I would guess means 42 3/4 pounds empty for a gain of about 2 3/4 pounds in 3 days. That's almost a pound a day. Doing okay.
The picture of Ted is the one I forgot last night.
Gray fox near deerIt was a desk day with no Quill through the daylight hours, but I got exercise taking a picture of Woods Lake from the edge of the yard when the day turned nice around noon. All the leaves are down. The only green is from the conifers.
For a few minutes, I snapped anything else that moved. A red-breasted nuthatch was probing under a lichen where they sometimes store food--or maybe find food in this case. 
Gray fox on alertI clicked as he pulled his beak out. I don't know what he found--maybe an insect larvae or egg? I think he skewered it with his tongue. I didn't know they did that. See if it looks like that to you.
Chickadee not interested
in dead mouseI was mildly surprised to see a chickadee completely ignore a dead mouse as it decided which sunflower seed to take. Its tail is touching the mouse without concern. I don't know if chickadees are afraid of mice.
Out the window at sunset, a gray fox and a deer ate calmly about 10 feet apart. As the fox left, angling toward me, I clicked just as it went into a tense, stalking mode with eyes glued on something ahead. It lay down; but when I moved to snap that, it saw me in the window and ran.
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| Red-breasted nuthatch with food on tongue |
Red-breasted nuthatch male |
Woods Lake |
Back to work again.
Bear trainer Jeff Watson sent me the promo trailer for his Animal Planet TV series 'Project Grizzly' that will start Saturday evening, November 12 at 10 PM (9 Central Time). The trailer is at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/animal-planet-orders-project-grizzly-938947.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center