Between Ted’s new PTZ camera and Lily Fans zooming in and capturing video, we’re seeing things we haven’t seen before. 
When Ted was out today, Mods zoomed in on how he was digging down through about 6 inches of snow to eat buried grass. With a whole den full of straw, he showed his preference by homing in on bits of grass that we saw in detail as he ingested it in this 4:36 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXlm1czvJqw. Way to go, team.
Inside the Bear Center, exhibit space is expanding and becoming more attractive as Scott explains in this 2:21-minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLokeWEEaEA. A goal is to move a lot of the exhibits to a lower viewpoint to make them easier for young people to see and read.
We’re doing the opposite near the aquarium and terrariums. Kids showed us they wanted to get higher to see better. There, we built a platform to get the kids higher. To keep kids from falling off the platform, we have a wall on the outside of it. We’ll move the informational posters to the outside of that wall as Scott tells in this 3-minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VtF_fFcras.
Upgrading the Cub Room was more complicated that we thought, so we’re putting it off until next winter. The idea is to make it as fun and educational as possible while keeping it safe. The delay means we have more time for input for making it the best it can be as Scott explains in this 3-minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRxjjh4CNSM. As part of this, a team is creating educational video games for computers in that area.
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| Red-breasted nuthatch | Chickadee | Pine siskin |
Out the window at the Wildlife Research Institute, snow made some pretty bird scenes yesterday morning. Today, 26 red squirrels shifted among so many seed piles that the chickadees, pine siskins, and red-breasted nuthatches had to do some shifting themselves. Two siskins were peacefully eating sunflower seeds when a specter or angel loomed overhead, daring to descend among only two siskins. In another scene, an unusually colorful siskin raised its wings to say “No” to a chickadee that quickly changed its mind and dove down. You can see the tip of its tail disappearing in the lower left corner of the picture while the siskin still has one wing raised. He is showing us how his wing looks folded at rest and how the extended wing is a blaze of color in the late afternoon sun. Ms. Marten showed up for her daily ration of date mash. Just before she left, she opened her mouth to show that the mash wasn’t stuck to the roof of her mouth. Another chickadee found a pile all for itself and dashed in, putting on the brakes with spread wings.
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| Red-breasted nuthatch | Chickadee | Pine siskin |
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center