Gray fox mother and pupIt’s Flag Day, and the Bear Center’s flag pole arrived just in time. The flag went up, and staff took a beautiful picture of it flying against a blue sky. It’s near the highway, the bear statue, and Honey’s grave.
Flag and pole at the NABCMy job today was to stay by the computer and watch for mothers with cubs for the film team, but the power and internet went out and I couldn’t use the computer for much of the day, so I read the latest version of a long paper that’ll include me as a co-author.
Out the window, 18-year-old RC came by, but no mothers with cubs. Today was the big emergence of chalk-fronted corporal dragonflies. Dozens of them flew back and forth but not one landed for a picture.
A second male ruby-throated hummingbird arrived and flashed his bright chin for a picture.
Out the 2nd floor window, I saw something I’d never seen here: little gray fox pups. From the immobility of the pups, I suspect they have a burrow nearby. The two adults were together, so I could tell that it was the smaller one, the female, that half carried a pup to the front deck and underneath it. The pup or its sibling didn’t obey orders. It didn’t stay under the deck. A parent watched it from the grass. The picture shows the pup taking a faltering step. Then the family disappeared. I don’t know if they went under the deck or off into the woods. I hope they stay around.
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| Gray fox pup | Gray fox | Male ruby-throated hummingbird |
I hope old Speckles the gull can make it through the winter migration and return next year. He seems old. He lands harder and less gracefully than the others and has a harder time making sharp turns in the air. I give him extra bologna (98 cents a pound at Walmart).
Just now (5:47 PM), Mike Johnson called in with a report from the film team. Through the day, Ellie showed up with three cubs: a brown female, a black male, and a grayish female that will be interesting to see what color the grayish one turns when she molts this summer. Eventually, Ellie and her family disappeared. Lily appeared at some point with 3 lookalike cubs that would be an identification problem except for their chests. All three (a male, a female, and one yet unknown) have distinctively shaped white blazes. They already had a good day and will be out shooting until dark. I’m looking forward to a chance to get good ID pictures of the cubs. I suspect that will happen with the Black Bear Field Course groups. That starts in about 3 weeks.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center