turkey – David Kotz

Wildlife camera – April

Momma bear returns… with cubs!

April was a month of transition for my local patch of forest, here in Lyme New Hampshire. Although we had a big snowstorm early in the month, all of the interesting wildlife videos I have to share this month show the bare ground and leafless branches of early spring. In this month’s video highlights, you’ll see a familiar cast of characters – turkey, deer, raccoon, porcupine, skunk, and even a busy little mouse. I caught the raccoon red-handed (twice!) inspecting that hole in the tree – highlighted in a recent post – but as far as I can tell, the hole is still unoccupied.

The raccoon climbed the tree and inspected the nesting hole.

Perhaps most excitingly, the big black bear is back – last seen on Christmas Day – and now has two little cubs in tow! The appearance of this bear family reminded me of a comment made by a local – that the other side of the hill is “bear country” – so I moved a couple cameras over there. Two weeks later: Wow! I got more than I expected. I’ll share that experience soon. (Subscribe, so you won’t miss it!)

Wildlife camera – March

Fox, deer, turkey, skunk, mouse, more!

March was unusually warm – and my patch of woods lost all their snow even before the month began. But snow fell again, at least twice, and so my wildlife videos include some scenes with snow, and some without. Two new critters appear this month for the first time – a tiny (but very busy!) mouse, and a chipmunk. (Both on the same log! I share only a little video of each.)

This month’s video (less than four minutes) ends in a cliffhanger: does the fox crawl into the skunk’s burrow? and if so, what happened next?

deer looking at my wildlife camera — Wildlife camera captures from March 2024, in the forests of Lyme NH.

Wildlife camera – hunting season

My wildlife cameras show a lot of activity in the forest during hunting season.

Snow fell overnight, just a little. It seemed like a fine way to mark the end of hunting season. I headed out in the early morning light, striding uphill through the woods, eager to check on my wildlife cameras. A month ago, just before hunting season, I placed the cameras in promising locations after obtaining permission from the landowner. Deer season – specifically, rifle season, when most hunters are out in the woods – ended last night. I dressed in bright orange clothing, just in case, and full of hope for what my own ‘hunt’ may have captured. Read on to find out!

Backyard wildlife

One location, nine days, six types of critter!

I found a new location for my wildlife camera that is creating a feast of images: the backyard apple tree. The apples are ripe, falling from the tree, and feeding the entire neighborhood! Check out this two-minute video review of the local deer, fox, woodchuck, turkey, possum, and porcupine.

The woodchuck stands to watch and listen – keeping one eye on my camera.

Cyprus – Coral Bay

An island at the crossroads of history.

We’re off again, this time to the island nation of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. I needed to attend a computer-science conference (DCOSS-IoT) for a few days, so we decided to extend the trip by two days and explore this island that has been at the crossroads of history for millennia. We are staying at an oceanside hotel in Coral Bay, outside Paphos; on our first morning, I took a walk along the shore to a point (“Karst point”) that provided a lovely view back across the bay to the hotel. My first gallery of photos shares views of the hotel, the bay, and some of the lovely flowers blooming this time of year.

Waves on Karst Point, with view across Coral Bay to our hotel.

The deer, turkey, and coyote

Lots of traffic in my patch of woods.

Yesterday afternoon I took another walk up the hill behind our home, to revisit the curious spot where a deer had met its end (discovered last week). As I climbed the hill, a family of wild turkeys slowly tried to sneak away – not easy now the snow has melted and the crisp, dry leaves of fall cover the forest floor. I noted they were heading uphill away from me, but toward the summit that I would soon reach by a looping path. As I neared the crest, two deer bounded away, flashing their white tails. One paused and turned, curious about me. I was able to approach much closer, allowing me time to capture photographs and video.

A deer paused, after initially running away, to let me take photos and video as I approached closer.

Predator and prey

Wish I’d had my long lens!

The coyote stopped in his tracks, right in the middle of the meadow. His ears were on full alert, watching me closely from about fifty meters away. I had spotted him out of the corner of my eye as I drove a quiet road on the west side of Lyme, and quickly pulled to a stop. It being early on a Sunday morning, it was no problem to stop in the middle of the road and just stare back at him for a while. Although I was on my way out to do some photography, I had plans for landscape (waterfalls) and did not have any big glass with me. Curses! The coyote turned and trotted back to the edge of the woods, then paused to look again to see whether I might move along. I edged forward for a better look, and he moved further into the woods.

It’s not like I was going anywhere soon. After I stopped to watch the coyote, a family of wild turkey decided to cross the street in front of me. They were headed toward the coyote; it’s not clear whether either predator or prey were yet aware. Between them and beyond in the next meadow, a pasture full of sheep grazed peacefully as the morning fog began to rise. This coyote seemed to have several options for his breakfast, and it would have been fascinating to find out how all this ended. I had places to go and things to do, so I nudged the turkeys into motion and made a promise to return to stake out this location another day.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! We are very thankful that all three of our children are home for the holidays, and we’re all healthy. Pam did a wonderful job on the Thanksgiving turkey…

and my parents and brother were able to join us via Zoom for a while.

Granny and Grandpa join us a Thanksgiving over Zoom.

My job was to make some pies, including a gluten-free maple-pecan pie.