Red maple big-toothed aspen leaves in driveway
Bear hunting has ended but suspense continues for bears that had become nocturnal and stopped coming in the last few days as we heard after-hours shots. We can only wait until next year and rejoice as old favorites show up.
 Fox sparrow |
 White crowned sparrow |
 White-throated sparrow |
In the last couple days of intermittent sunshine and snow, a wave of sparrows has stopped by. White-throated sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, and fox sparrows fed and rested as they paused their migration from Canada’s boreal forest to the southern United States. Dark-eyed juncos have mostly moved on now that they have lived up to their other name ‘snow birds.’ The snow and leaves that fell overnight left some conifers looking like frosted Christmas trees with ornaments. The main leaf fall was red maple (mostly yellow leaves, though) and big-toothed aspen leaves that left the driveway with a new look this morning once the snow melted.
 Red maple and big toothed aspen leaves |
 Gray fox pup |
 Crow in red maple |
As I clicked at sparrows out the window, a blurry form went through the view-finder. It was a gray fox pup that I was barely able to get in the view-finder before it disappeared. It is the first fox pup I’ve seen since they poked their heads out of natal burrows under the boiler shed where they were being raised. Foxes pretty much disappeared this summer but are starting to show up again.
 Balsam fir with leaves |
 Balsam fir with maple |
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center