The Lost Surveyor

When I saw boot tracks in the snow, I was expecting a  photo of  "Hunter and his gun"  on the trail camera,  not a Surveyor with pencil and pink ribbons!
He was  WAY out of his way on that  bitter cold Monday afternoon,  December 8th, 2014. (Date stamp didn't reset when I changed the batteries last week.)

Outside on Sunday

Sunday: 30 degrees; The Thanksgiving snow had melted down, and it was time to replace batteries in the trail camera.  It hadn't taken any new photos since November 23rd.  Between Thanksgiving and cataract surgery, I hadn't been up in the woods for a couple of weeks! Even without photos, the remaining snow  told the story of our Woods: It's Deer Week, and there was  A Deer Hunt: Big Human Tracks and Little  Human Tracks, in and out several times, their quest encouraged by the criss crossing of deer, coyote and fox tracks.   And telling, too; no sign of blood or drag marks in the snow,  making Yours Truly happy.  We don't have so many deer here  that a "culling hunt" is in order.
No new photos, so here's one of a very thin summer bear; hope he fattened up the last couple of months of fall.

A bear from Summer

Bear on November 16 2014

 Bear: A surprise visit!

You can watch him on YouTube YOU Tube

It is always a "red letter day" when there is something other than raccoon, squirrels or porcupines 

on my trail camera...seeing fawns, does and an occasional buck is fun..the grey fox is entertaining; but to find a big Black Bear  WOW... Be sure to click on the You Tube link above, and watch him walk through the grove....

Buck Traveling Through

This morning The Eagle was in a tree near our deck. In a wink of an eye, he dove for a fish, dropped it, and kept flying. Away. He did not circle  back for a  do-over.   It's when he swings back to try again that I have time to pick up the camera....

  Earlier, before dawn, on the trail camera; a small parade: This Year's Doe and her fawn, followed by a medium sized buck, with a grey fox bringing up the rear.   During the day the camera captured a squirrel, busily stashing acorns.
This trail camera, when it first "wakes up," takes a still image, followed by a short video.

Deer Scrape November 2014

A young buck..just entering on the left

Two bucks are in the area this week.   Usually "deer season" keeps me out of the woods, but today was just too  too nice, so I donned an old orange hat and red coat. 

An 8 point buck, entering on the left a couple of days later. 

Deer scrape

October Eagle

A large eagle just flew past my window....

Eagle Fishing 

Rainy Night

October 20-21: Pouring rain; The does had a lot of company..but no Bucks in sight...

Cautious Doe

The Doe are more cautious entering the Grove, since the visit by the Feral Cat...
Earlier in the week: Watch them on YouTube
Click Here to watch the does on Youtube

Large Cat and Small Fox?

On my Trail Camera late September 2014 (At the day of the Autumnal Equinox) there was a very large cat on the trail camera.  I studied it for a long time..thinking "young mountain lion..." but it had to be a very large feral cat.
The  behavior of the deer after the feral cat came through was interesting. Curious that they  never reacted quite the same way to the bears, moose, turkeys, foxes, raccoons, etc. At the bottom is a video of a young deer soon after the feral cat came through.

Bear Cub on the CAIRN

Fox on the Cairn

Feral Cat on the Cairn

Want to see it better? Click on box in bottom right corner to enlarge video..

On High Alert

Doe and Fawn on High Alert. A large Moose was in the immediate area that day.

Fawn on It's Own

Here is a link to a video of the fawn that was born in early June in the woods beyond the garden:
Click here to see video

Bear

I arrived to check the trail camera today to find that it was not in it's usual spot. It's cable was still in place, and  the camera had been turned around to the opposite side of the tree by  this fellow..

The 25 second video is on Youtube….at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-Bih_QTV7I&feature=youtu.be

Great Heron

Heron walking along the shore .
I used an old telephoto lens and obtained  a pretty shaky record shot. While there has been a heron on The Lake for years, this is the first time  one has spent over a half hour fishing right in front of our house.
We were wondering what he found so interesting up ON shore…that HUGE snake, maybe

Young Bear Visits the Grove

In the video accompanying these stills, you can see the bear "marking " the tree on the left by rubbing himself against it.   I will try to create a merged video of the several 25 second clips and upload it to YouTube.

I don't usually put food out in the woods, but several loaves of stale bread came to hand and it  seemed like a nice treat  for the Raccoon and Porcupine families living together in the Boulder Condo across the brook.  Only one Bear had been in the woods to date, in early July, so finding this fellow on the Trail Camera was a surprise. As was the interesting exchange between Raccoon and Gray Fox!

Watch on YouTube…

Fox meets Racoon

Fox meets Raccoon 

Raccoon "escapes" up the Tree

Stand-off

White Tailed Fawn on Her Own Today

Mother Daughter Day Out

Quick Kiss

Did you hear what I heard?

I'll go check it out….

Great Blue Heron up a Tree

This is a new one for me: A Great Blue Heron in the top of a Pine Tree!

Bearly a Visit

The trail camera didn't "wake up" fast enough; it caught the tail end of this young bear…

Young Bear Traveling Through the Grove.
Two of the three Ash trees have died; the large one on the right doesn't have any leaves on it at all this year. Branches fall off during every storm. I will need to search the area for a safer place to locate the camera, but I hesitate to do so because this spot appears to be along a  main wildlife travel route.  There is a video of this fellow, but he is only on for 3 seconds of a 25 second clip..and he's walking away…

Our neighbor's black Lab walked with me this morning. He had lots to sniff out…raccoon, porcupine, Young Fawn, Mother Doe, and Black Bear. 

Fawn out of Hiding

A welcome sight on my trail camera!

For many years the thick grove of Hemlocks  surrounding the grove of older Ash provided a safe sanctuary for new-born fawns. Evident in this photo is how rapidly the Hemlock trees are dying. 

Survivors and Volunteers

Forgetmenots beside the Water

For many years a clump of ForgetMeNots bloomed  in-between the rocks next to the lake, but then, about 15 years ago, they disappeared. Year after year I would look for them.  Nothing.

Then,  yesterday,  my search was rewarded! A great profusion of Forgetmenots tucked into the rocks along the shore…in the same spot, after all these years!  

Nooks and Crannies

Among the Rocks

Doe in Residence

Two does had fawns in the woods beyond the garden last week. Since they are sharing the area, I'm thinking the younger one is a daughter of the older one. No sign of the new fawns as yet.
 The does are always on alert. Listening. Smelling. Watching.

Doe checking out the trail camera. 

Morning Visit by Coyote

This is a "still" video capture of a female Eastern Coyote taken with a Bushnell trail camera. This particular animal  has hungry, weaned pups nearby, and is in search of food. She's been  keeping an eye on our very pregnant Old Doe.

If you would like to read  about the Eastern Coyote (Coywolf) this is an interesting link:

Eastern Coyote

Female Coyote in the Woods

Deer and Coyote

 Coyote---
You can wach the video on You Tube by selecting YouTube on the bottom right. 

The Young Buck

 You can view this larger by clicking on the bottom right…"full screen.." button

I think this was the fawn born here last spring. 

Spring Greens & Blues

New Velvet

Caught on the trail camera this morning…While we've had Bucks with antlers in the fall months, this is the first time one has passed in from of my camera in the Spring.  I do hope he comes back throughout the summer so we can watch his antlers grow.

New Velvet
3:30 am

Short Video of White Tailed Deer On Alert

A young deer visited the grove…it is most interesting to watch the tail of this deer …perhaps  he hears  the raccoons coming through the brush ..

Raccoons

A couple of cute fellows...

Buck after a long winter

A very long winter affected this Buck…are the clumps on his body signs of a tick infestation?
Hopefully he will move further along the ridge to find food. There isn't any in this part of the woods. Years past, the deer could find acorns under the leaves, but there weren't any last fall.

Snow is Out: Young White Tailed Deer are Back

A Young Buck…thin from the long cold winter.

First Images of Wildlife on my New Trail Camera

Gray Fox-No, it's not an April Fool's Joke: We still have a lot of snow in the woods.

The Gray Fox:  The new trail camera is a "hybrid." First it takes a still photo of whatever triggered the camera, followed by a 30 second video. Nothing earth shattering here, but FUN to have the camera back in the woods.  The deep snow in places made walking difficult but not impossible.

Back Lit Flitter

This fellow wore himself out chasing back and forth between bird feeders…intent upon keeping the Blue Jays away…
No time for eating …. LOL

Third Week in March

Amazing! We had another  ice storm just last week.  Anxious to hang the new trail camera before the animals started moving in ernest, I strapped on a pair of "ice walkers, " grabbed an old walking stick and followed the snow mobile trails  up to a point where  tracks of deer, coyote and fox crossed.  I followed the animal tracks for a bit, then veered off deeper into the woods.  The snow was quite deep.
This is the time of year the Cougar passed through our area of the Country in past years. Some day there will be an image of him on my camera, and that will be the last day I hike alone. :-)

End of February

Cold! 2 degrees..and the weatherman is promising more "Plowable snow" later in the week.
This extended cold may be just what we need to kill off the ticks in the woods.  In the meantime, a nice pot of tea by the wood stove is in order! (I just read..the COLD doesn't kill off the ticks!. Oh well. )

Teapot collection at the Salem Cross Inn

No School Today

I ordered a replacement Bushnell Trophy Cam 8 mp trail camera ..a Valentine's gift from Himself.. Bought this one on eBay and should be arrive  in a week or so…Time to dust off the snow shoes!!!   I'll be ordering a cable lock, this time around. 

Walk in The February Woods

The deer began to move
After the Storm..

After the Ice Storm

Deer Tracks: Looking for food….

My Trail Camera has Gone Missing

With a break in the weather I hiked up into the woods to check the trail camera, change the batteries, and change out the image Card.  With the deep snow, ice, and deer hunters, December 18th was the last time I could safely hike into that area of the woods.  January 12th brought rain and a thaw.  The deep snow had melted, and I was anticipating a nice set of wildlife images. Was Coyote still tracking the deer?  Had Fishercat harried the squirrels?
When I arrived at The Grove

The  Camera was GONE!!!!

All of us had gotten used to seeing the  little black Bushnell camera attached trustingly to the tree in the south-west corner of the Grove.
The bears, the foxes, the coyotes..and the larger coyWolf..the deer…the fawns, does and the five bucks…all had become accustomed to the camera, where it has hung for the past 2 years.

Now it's gone.

When I return from vacation I shall order a new Bushnell camera, along with a strong locking cable.

Yes, as the days go by, I still feel a bit sad. Having the camera in the woods always gave this "Grandmother" the motivation to get up off the couch and hike in the woods.