Common Merganser With Ducklings

 This Common Merganser is a super mom with her 14 (hard to count) ducklings.  They come by my camera by the river every few days.  

Happy Birthday, Hon!

 Yesterday, we celebrated Gail's birthday.  She had requested we do a big hike in the Drift Creek Wilderness, a vast area in the Siuslaw National Forest.  The trailhead was at 1,450 feet elevation.  We hiked down to Drift Creek at 150 feet elevation.  We never saw another person from start to finish.

Beautiful Drift Creek, with it's sunny sitting area.

We had to do a selfie!

It didn't look like the forest we hiked through had been logged.  It was diverse with old growth trees, younger trees, fallen giants, and some old fire scars.  This picture is of a hemlock that sprouted on top of a dead tree trunk and then sent its roots down the trunk to the ground.  Eventually the the encased dead trunk will rot away, leaving the hemlock on its stilts.   

This hemlock sprouted on a decaying log (a nurse log) that is now mostly rotted away.   

Fun with the "pano" feature on the iPhone.

On the hike back out up the mountain we had a little excitement.  A bear was coming down the trail towards us, about 40 feet away.  We raised our voices and the bear disappeared into the vegetation.  Then Daisy got it's scent and went totally berserk.  She has a real hatred for bears and pulled me like a sled for the next 15 minutes or so.  I was worried her collar might break.

We finished our day back home with appetizers, a movie, and dinner from The Drift Inn.  

Nothing Wasted

 1

A Red-tailed Hawk kills a rabbit and comes back the next day to eat much of it, leaving the organs, bones, and fur.

2

Several days later, a Bobcat comes along that night, checks it out, but the rancid guts are not to its liking.

3

The next day a Turkey Vulture comes in and finishes off all but the skull and neck bones.

That evening, another rabbit appears.  Look carefully at the top of the frame after the rabbit takes off.

This frame grab from the above video shows an owl swooping over.  Luckily for the rabbit, it appears the owl has its mouth full with a small rodent which it could be taking to its nestlings.  Oh, the drama!

Animals of the Week

 A few days ago I found a dead rabbit with a mangled head not far from the house. I thought maybe a bobcat had killed it and then was scared off by something.  I moved it a few feet to a spot in front of my trail cam.  When I checked the camera the next day, I saw that the predator came back the previous afternoon to eat away on it.

The Red-tailed Hawk came back the next day and finished off most all of the rabbit except the organs.

On a sweeter note, this Mallard and her 9 ducklings passed by my river cam.

On my drive to check on some duck nest boxes, I stopped to admire these elk.

Ominous Visitors

 

It seemed these turkey vultures spotted a raven digging around in our compost bin and came down to investigate.  They ended up relaxing and basking in the yard.

Another Success For "April"!

 This is the 4th year in a row that our Hooded Merganser "April" has had a successful fledging of ducklings.  Our "river cam" caught her yesterday morning headed downstream with what appears to be nine ducklings.  I will count the egg membranes left behind in the wood shavings in her nest box to verify.

Big Mammal Trail Cam Bonanza!

 About 2 weeks ago, 6 miles into the forest, we came upon mud with tracks of bear, bobcats, opossums, and other animals.  We came back the next day and set up a trail cam on this remote ridge jeep trail.  We left this camera for 10 days, as well as another one off another spur trail several miles away.  

When we returned last Sunday to retrieve them our hearts sank as we could see the camera was aiming down at the ground. Something had knocked it hard.  We didn't know when it had been knocked. The whole 10 days could have been a waste.  When we downloaded the 64 videos from the camera back home, the answer was clear.  It had been knocked down about one hour before our return.  Below is the evidence of who the culprit was.

Four days earlier, another drama had unfolded.

A male Roosevelt Elk trotted by in a bit of a hurry.

Eight minutes later, a Mountain Lion followed.

The next morning, the big cat returned.  Mountain Lions can and do kill and eat elk of all sizes.  I watched a video of one locked onto a bull elk's throat and grappling its head.  This apparently asphyxiated the elk enough to weaken it, allowing the lion to bring it down.  We don't know if this was the case in this instance.

Deer seem intensely aware of their surroundings.  My camera was in the bushes and is somewhat camouflaged.  In spite of this, if something appears to not belong there, they react in fear or curiosity.  Maybe it looks like eyes peering at them.  

The other camera, after 10 days, caught only this bobcat.  Not too far away, maybe 200 yards, we found fresh remains of a mostly eaten opossum.

Of the 64 videos taken by the first camera (bears, Mountain Lion, deer, elk), 53 were of branches blowing in late afternoon breezes.  Such is the life of a trail cam geek.