Thankful

The fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving Day for those of us who live in the U. S. The day is surrounded by traditions and myths and a reminder to be thankful for what we have.

Some of the things for which I’m thankful:

Having met and married a wonderful lady and having 57 years together (so far). A lady who has traveled the country with me; indulged my hobbies, including once having had a rattlesnake in the laundry room (in a secure cage) and a pile of cameras; and enjoyed the bears in the yard.

Our two kids who are now middle-aged adults (hopefully they won’t be offended to be called middle-aged) and nice people with whom we are good friends –

Our three granddaughters, now young adults; one a PhD candidate, one a teacher and one a college student –

That I could spend 52 years working in forest and field, seeing some wonderful and fascinating things along the way and, hopefully, leaving the world a bit better.

My parents who brought me into this world: my mother who helped me catch my first snake and my father who introduced me to the world of forest and field –

 

The cardiologists who twice saved my life and the scientists who developed vaccines for diseases that have, over the centuries, killed millions.

That I can still walk several miles every day to enjoy the woods and waters.

And the natural world: it’s plants and animals; its hills and mountains; streams and lakes and rivers; rain and snow; sunshine and wind and sunsets.

Hopefully you too have things for which to be thankful, not just on Thanksgiving Day but each and every day.

2021 at the Bear Wallow

Beginning in 2014 one of my camera traps has frequently been at a seasonal pool capturing photographs or videos of the birds and mammals using, or passing, the pool. In this area seasonal pools are frequently called bear wallows since bears often lounge in the water, especially on hot summer days, and so this one has been called the Bear Wallow. The pool appears to have originated as a pingo scar remaining from the Wisconsinan glaciation (for an explanation of pingo scars see this post). 

The camera has usually been at the pool from late spring through the fall, being removed before the arrival of hunting seasons when more people are in the woods (unfortunately not everyone’s honest). Following a suggestion from a person who follows In Forest and Field (that's you Chris), the camera was put in place just before January 1^st and remained until November 1^st – deer and bear seasons begin in several weeks and people are already prowling about.

Ever since a camera was first placed at the bear wallow the photos or videos captured by the cameras have been the subjects of posts on In Forest and Field. Here are the best of the videos from 2021 – white-tailed deer have been particularly visible while, unlike in past years, black bears have been notable by their general absence. Perhaps the dearth of bears is the result of longer hunting seasons and a record bear kill in 2019 coupled with an outbreak of mange in the bear population.

The hawk and owl were feeding on the wood frogs that breed in the seasonal pool.

Why were there no videos of opossums or raccoons or bobcat and but one fleeting nighttime glimpse of an eastern coyote on the far side of the pool? Population cycles? Weather? Disease? Coincidence? The natural world is full of beauty and mystery; beauty that can be enjoyed, mystery that can be solved by research – I'll enjoy the beauty and leave the research to others.

The camera will probably go back to the bear wallow in late December. Hopefully, when warm weather arrives next year we’ll once again see bears bathing and playing in the water.

Looking Beyond 80 – the first three months

My 80^th birthday was last August 3; H’s sister and her husband came for lunch and our daughter came to visit. The day before we’d returned from a trip to our son and daughter-in-law’s place as their daughter got ready to leave for college. 

During that period of rapidly increasing cases of COVID-19 we were all vaccinated and had been in the spring as soon as the vaccine was available - if only others had done the same. 

In the morning, before our guests came for the quiet celebration, I'd walked three and a half miles in the Big Woods taking photographs of insects, streams, flowers, fungi and deer. That walk produced the first image for the fourth “the best photo of the day for a year” series. The earlier three series can be seen on In Forest and Field.

Here are the photos from the first three months of my 81^st year on this green earth.

 

 

And so another three months pass, day by day; months like most months, chock full of interesting things to be seen in the natural world - for anyone who cares to look.