More Visitors

The small clearing with the hole in the ground (see this post) that has attracted a wide variety of wildlife  had more visitors late in the spring. Late spring in this case is the month of May from the first until the 31^st of the month. While many people use astronomical seasons, where the solstices and equinoxes signal the beginnings and endings, the meteorological seasons are more attuned to the workings of the natural world. Hence, March, April and May are spring in forest and field.

This clearing has been among my favorite camera trapping locations for years and has usually provided interesting photos and videos. If you’re a regular visitor to In Forest and Field you’ve seen this clearing before, sometimes from different angles.

The camera captured hundreds of videos during the merry month of May – left out of this post are several hundred, including all of the videos of gray squirrels, cottontail rabbits and raccoons and most of those of white-tailed deer –

The month produced a large number of videos of eastern coyotes. It seems that a pair has been using the area as an activity center. The male is the first black eastern coyote that I’ve captured on camera. Although there’s been little research on color variations in eastern coyotes, it’s been estimated that about 2% are black in color.

Black bears, being very intelligent and inquisitive, seldom just walk past a camera trap and this was no exception as the female and her two cubs each examined the camera and it was moved once again.