On the forested hilltop, lots of activity – day and night.
In a nearby forest the wildlife remains quite active – deer, bear, bobcat, turkeys, owls, and more. Last week’s video highlighted October activity near the vernal pool. This week, I’m sharing October clips from the hilltop in the same forest. We again see momma bear and her two cubs, one of whom is playing with the camera. We also watch while the barred owl turns away from us to eat its dinner as a train wails in the distance. And that beautiful 6-point buck! Enjoy.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
My cameras are back in action!
After deploying my five wildlife cameras into a nearby forest, three weeks ago, I went back yesterday to check the cameras and collect the memory cards. Several cameras were askew, hinting that some critters were trying to interfere – and capturing a selfie in the process. You’ll see several of those in this month’s videos! You’ll see bears – lots of bears – deer, coyote, and a new animal I’ve never seen before. Up first: a doe and her fawn. Warning: don’t watch this video unless you can handle massive cuteness!
A walk in the Lyme Town Forest.
Our little town of Lyme has several beautiful natural areas, many of them conserved and open to the public. The Lyme Town Forest spans a range of forest types and stretches from the Connecticut River up and over some rolling hills in the northwest corner of town. Today I took a walk on some of those trails – far more difficult than I expected – in search of a waterfall.
Unfortunately, this trail – the Clay Brook Trail – is severely overgrown, its treadway underused and covered with forest litter, and its painted blazes fading. So I spent much of my time pausing, backtracking, and searching for the route. At times it felt more like bushwhacking than hiking. But it was nonetheless a pretty day in a pretty forest. See the photo gallery!
Hike stats: 49th consecutive weekend hike!
Distance: 4.0 miles (6.4km)
Gain: 826 feet (252m)
Time: 1h54m
GaiaGPS track
Back to my home stomping grounds.
My calves strained as I hiked up the steep, forested hillside, following a familiar route that has no trail and rarely feels the pressure of human soles. Except mine. For this weekend’s hike I decided to stay close to home and visit a patch of forest that I know very, very well. I have traversed this hillside dozens, nay, hundreds of times, following my whim instead of any formal trails. My senses perk up as I move slowly through the underbrush, looking and listening and sometimes even feeling for animal sign, trying to read the land and determine where I might place my motion-sensor cameras to capture interesting videos of the local wildlife.
