June Parade in the Pisgah Woods

Bob Cat, Mother Deer, Porcupine, Possum, and First Fawn of the Year

Bob Cat and Doe Early June

Three does have had fawns. The Forrester is working nearby.

Female Coyote

A young female Coyote in the Pisgah Woods.

A New Area of the Woods

A  new part of the woods; faint deer trails criss cross the area, and a few rock piles are visible  on the slope falling down to an old spring fed brook. I placed a rock salt lick, then tried to pick out a trail .

End of April

How did the deer fare this winter? The Trail Cameras (2) have followed three does and five 2015  yearlings throughout the winter.   Old Blind in One eye doe is back, pregnant for the 4th year,  and with her two  healthy looking 2015  twins.  Her 2013 pregnant daughter is back for the 2nd year, and can be seen on the video rejecting last's year's fawn.

I've noticed two poor looking, orphaned yearlings as well, tagging along at a distance. 

Heron of a Different Color

Early in the morning:  an unusually colored Heron stalking, along the edge of the Lake.

"Yellow Crowned Night Heron" 

 (I had to look that up.) 😀

Mink sighting

On Friday March 11th we woke to find The Ice had gone Out!! Open water! A little dark mink scampered along the edge of the lake, then ran around in back of our neighbors garden shed. It's always a thrill to spot such an illusive animal. 👀

Trail Camera Early March '16

A Bobcat  has been hanging out recently. The Deer are unusually cautious.

 (Click on square bottom right to enlarge)

Spotlight on Spring

The ice is melting!

Counting the Days: On Sunday March 20, 2016, the day and night will be of almost equal duration at most time zones in the world.

Coywolf

Late January 2016 In the Woods just beyond my house.

"Coywolf Basic Info

The coywolf is currently most commonly called “eastern coyote”. However, recent research suggests that this animal is both genetically and morphologically intermediate to western coyotes and eastern wolves. So, even though most people refer to these canids in the Northeast simply as “coyotes”, their background is much more complex and recent science states that we should more properly call this animal coywolf. It is important to note that this hybridization episode did not occur recently; rather, the animal has always been a hybrid of two different closely related species since it colonized the Northeast US starting 50-70 years ago (and now, they are found throughout the region). Initially they were called coydog, then eastern coyote, but we now know that coywolf is the most appropriate descriptor of this animal because the original wolf found in the Northeast was most probably the smallish (~60 pound) eastern wolf (Canis lycaon), which is very closely related to (and possibly the same species as) the red wolf (Canis rufus). The eastern wolf is actually more closely related to western coyotes than they are to the larger gray (western) wolf (Canis lupus). Thus, the coywolf has “native” wolf genes and got here on its own four feet: it therefore should not be considered non-native or invasive. Furthermore, it is questionable if the gray wolf actually ever lived in the Northeast, or if the eastern wolf and possibly gray/eastern wolf hybrids (which are common in the Great Lakes states, Canis lupus x C. lycaon) were endemic to this region."

LINK to Source

Mink Sighting

This morning I spotted a black mink scampering along the edge of the frozen lake.  About 80 feet north from where I was watching, he  ducked into a hole in our neighbor's rock retaining wall.. Heres an old photo..not mine...and an interesting vintage article about trapping mink.  If you are curious, here's the link:

Vintage Article: Click here

Mink

January 2016 on the Trail Cameras

 Coyotes have been howling in the woods this month. They are  the size of our neighbor's black Lab, "Ace," who I was happy to have walking in the woods with me today.

They have been "stalking" the deer for several days now.  Coyotes go after the smaller varmints; Could these be "coy-wolves" instead?

January: The Wolf Moon

The Setting of the Wolf Moon.
. West-Northwest at 7:30 am.
The morning sky,  pink.
Haze from a  wood stove drifts across the frozen Lake.

In January snow gathers deep in the woods and the howling of wolves can be heard echoing in the cold still air. 

Hanging Out

A 2 mile hike in the woods today.
Snow flurries.  Tracks to study: Coyote, Fox, Raccoon, Rabbit.
A giant hemlock fell across the Long Trail.  

The Day the Lake Iced Over

Wednesday, January 6th, 2016: The Lake is finally iced over.

The Trail Camera 2016

The sun was shining so even though the woods were a sheet of ice, I pulled on "ice walkers," grabbed a ski pole and hiked out to check a couple a trail cameras.  Good news!
The Blind in One Eye Doe evaded  hunters for another year! She was  very clever about hiding this years fawn,  deep in the woods.  Her 2013 fawn is the mother of the two young bucks in the bottom photo.  Wildlife Population as  revealed by the Cameras at the start of 2016:  1 old doe; 2 young does, 5 "yearlings, " two of which are male, one  young  buck;  Raccoon,  Gray Fox, several squirrels, BobCat,  and ONE large OWL. Also we have a pair of mature eagles and two "immature" eagles fishing in the Lake from time to time.

Grandmother

Grandsons: This pair of twins born June 2015  appear to be males, as there are "buttons" on their foreheads (visible elsewhere in the video that this clip was taken from.)  They "scrap" with one another a lot. 

Another Bent Tree

This Bent Tree is 1/2 mile east of the Long Trail, on a knoll between two swamps, and "pointing" west to The Lake.
To see more, follow the link on the top rights. 

The Curious Yearling

Solstice Eagle

 The Mature Eagle on The Leaning Birch, through the window. Only had time for one shot before she caught movement and was away in a flash.

Eagle and Mink

The Eagle today, but I wasn't quick enough to photograph the small black mink which scurried along the water's edge.  The rocks are glazed with ice. Once the Lake freezes the Eagles will not be seen again until Spring.