David Kotz

Lyme wildlife – October – vernal pool

A busy crossroads!

One of my favorite locations for placing wildlife cameras and watching local wildlife is a small vernal pool in a forest near home. Although the month of October started quite wet, and water was plentiful in this puddle, the latter half of the month was completely dry. In this month’s video you’ll see the pool dry up. Most interestingly, you’ll see a solo adult black bear, perhaps a male… and separately will see a crippled Momma Bear with her two playful cubs. Other highlights include a 6-point buck (who should be wary about the imminent arrival of hunting season) and a dainty barred owl who likes the water but tries to keep its knickers dry.

still photo of the video to which this is linked

Lyme wildlife – October backyard

Under the apple tree and down by the river…

Our backyard has again been busy, as the apple tree drops its harvest and critters of all kinds come to enjoy the bounty. The possum was especially busy, carrying off many apples to its burrow for dinner. Deer, turkeys, and even fox found the apples to be a tasty treat; raccoons and a skunk also came by to investigate. Meanwhile, a bobcat and a coyote patrolled in hope of finding an apple critter for dinner.

Lyme wildlife – September forest

Frolicking fawns and vandalous bears!

Last week, I posted a video of September clips from the wildlife cameras in my backyard. Today, I’m sharing September clips from my other collection of wildlife cameras, in a forested area here in Lyme New Hampshire. This batch includes an exciting first – a bobcat carrying its prey, presumably back to its den for sharing with the kits. We also see mama bear and her two cubs, as well as a solo adult bear who likes to tear my cameras off trees. Finally, we get to watch a particularly fun segment at the vernal pool: a little fawn frolicking in the shallow water. It proves that every kid loves to play in puddles!

Lyme backyard wildlife – September

Bears and bobcats, oh my!

I found two of my older cameras and placed them in strategic locations in our backyard: down by the river, and on the trunk of a productive apple tree. Both of these locations attract a variety of critters –including a resident possum who loves fresh apples. This month, though, I was surprised to see both a bobcat and a black bear passing through in broad daylight! Click on the photo to see the video.

poster frame for the video; click to visit the video.

Mount Cardigan

A fall-foliage classic hike.

It was a beautiful autumn day, with the fall foliage reaching peak color at the higher elevations. So I left home early for Mount Cardigan, knowing the trailhead parking would fill quickly on a gorgeous holiday weekend. After nabbing one of the last parking spots, I strided quickly up the familiar West Ridge trail to the summit. I passed nearly all the earlier ascending hikers, and encountered one or two sunrise groups descending.

Hikers enjoy the view from Mount Cardigan during peak autumn color.

Mountain View Farm

Visit to a recently conserved property in Orford.

It was a beautiful fall weekend – perfect October weather, with the autumn colors intensifying here in the Connecticut River valley. We drove a bit further north, into the town of Orford NH, then up into the foothills near Mount Cube. At this slightly higher elevation, the fall foliage was nearing peak color.

Hiking 52 weekends

Every weekend for a year.

Today marks the 52nd consecutive weekend I’ve been out hiking.

I never set out to hike every weekend for an entire year. It was perhaps mid-November when I noticed I had been out for a hike every weekend (and sometimes more) since mid-September, so I decided to keep it up. The resulting quest has been a remarkable forcing function – sometimes pushing me to get outdoors even when I felt too busy or too tired to identify, organize, and execute on a plan. In retrospect, it was always worth the effort. Always.

The trail on Anchor Island was muddy, slippery, and challenging; Dusky Sound, New Zealand.

Lyme hills

Two hikes today.

Today was a quintessentially gorgeous September day in New Hampshire – early morning valley fog, then cool air with warm sunshine and calm winds. My long to-do list precluded any serious hiking, so I headed out on two short hikes before and after breakfast.

Early morning fog between the Lyme Pinnacle and Smarts Mountain.

Svalbard landscapes

Spectacular scenery from the high arctic.

For my final installment in the Svalbard series, I share some of the incredible scenery we encountered on this arctic archipelago in late March. When I speak to others about this trip, they imagine a land covered in snow and ice would be monotonous. Far from it! The stark contrast between rock and snow, the ever-shifting sea ice, and hour after hour of low-angle sunlight led us to some spectacular photographic opportunities.

Svalbard wildlife

A belated post to share photos from my visit in March.

As regular readers know, I spent ten days on an incredible cruise around the arctic archipelago of Svalbard, latitude 77-80º north, in late March. I was there for a week-long photography workshop with Muench Workshops, aboard the MS Virgo, and captured over 12,000 raw images in ten days! It has taken me many months to winnow this collection down to just a precious few that I want to share with you. My earlier posts included photo/video galleries with an overview of the trip, the town of Longyearbyen, walking on ‘fast ice’, and landing on the windswept Moffen Island at 80º north during a snow squall. Today I’m going to highlight some of the wildlife we encountered, and share three new photo/video galleries.