The Log

For all of 2017 one of my camera traps has been mounted with a view along a fallen aspen log in order to document the species that use the log as a travelway.

Interesting and some humorous photographs have resulted, here’s a sample:

Gray Squirrel –

Red squirrel –

Hermit thrush –

A blue jay in the almost dark –

A coyote walked the log –

Some photos haven’t been of something on the log, but are instead of a nearby visitor, here a wild turkey –

And a pileated woodpecker on a nearby dead tree –

A white-tailed deer –

One morning a black bear walked the log –

Surprisingly, a spider even triggered the camera –

By far the most frequent users of the log have been raccoons that have contributed more photographs than all other species combined.
  
Raccoons can be a real pain in the --- (insert the word of your choice) for those of us who run camera traps. If bait is used to lure a predator in view of the camera, raccoons will devour the bait; their curiosity and dexterity mean that they can occasionally even open the waterproof case; at the least they move the way the camera is mounted on a tree or stake or smear the lens glass with saliva, mucous or mud.

Some of the raccoons that have been caught on camera –

Although they may be a pain in the ----, raccoons are intriguing animals that provide an abundance of good photos. I plan to leave the camera trap in place to capture more photos.

Colors, I See Colors

Colors, this is the time of year that whenever I’ve been outdoors there have been colors, vibrant colors, everywhere. These are not the colors of wildflowers or the greens of summer, they’re the colors that paint entire hillsides in northeastern North America – the yellows, reds, oranges, purples and browns of the changing leaves.

As the days shorten and the green chlorophyll in the leaves of deciduous trees  breaks down, other pigments in the leaves begin to become apparent, very apparent –

Each tree species tends to have its own distinctive color. Red maple lives up to its name –

While sugar maple tends toward orange –

But can also display yellow or red –

Black maple, sugar maple's close relative, is even more colorful with it's leaves of many colors –

The birches, black, yellow and white, display a brilliant lemon yellow –

White ash leaves (on the few trees that are left alive after the arrival of the emerald ash borer) often turn purple –

The hickories and tulip-poplar are species whose leaves become bright yellow –

Pignut Hickory

Tulip-poplar

It’s not just tree leaves that turn color, the leaves of many shrubs and vines also acquire vibrant colors –

Poison Ivy

Maple-leaved Viburnum

Virginia Creeper

Staghorn Sumac

What a joy it is to live here where there is a change of seasons and the forests are ablaze with color each fall –

Elk in the Evening

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to drive to Pennsylvania’s elk range to get some photographs of elk during the rut. It was a quick decision since I’d originally planned to go later in the week. But the weather forecast wasn’t too favorable for either elk activity or yours truly.

It had been too darn hot for early fall so it wasn’t too surprising that there were no elk to be seen in the afternoon. They spend the heat of the day in the shade of the forest, especially in woodland along the streams draining the higher open ground where they feed.

We were on “The Saddle”, part of a reclaimed strip mine, an area where I’ve gotten many of my best photographs of elk. There’s an old road on the flank of the hill that gives a good view of a small basin and the woodland below.

As the shadows lengthened and the temperature began to drop a few elk began to emerge from the forest, cows and calves came first –

The bull that had assembled this small band of cows and calves soon followed –

The bull bore asymmetrical antlers that are often called non-typical, but they were impressive nonetheless. He began to slowly feed, presenting a good opportunity to take some video –

This bull is habituated to human visitors because he spends time on Winslow Hill, the heart of Pennsylvania’s elk tourism. I wasn’t alone on the old road on The Saddle; there were other photographers there also –

The photographic opportunities were good on The Saddle, but I prefer a more remote spot – that’s where I plan to be the next time I go to elk country.

Apple Time

Last year the apple tree in front of the house had at most six apples; only one lasted long enough to turn red, the rest dropped early. This year the tree was loaded with hundreds and hundreds of apples, the local commercial orchards also have an abundance of fruit, likewise the old trees on abandoned farms are bearing heavily.

Some trees have produced huge quantities of apples- 

Our tree isn’t sprayed and is only sporadically pruned and then for its health and not to increase fruit yield. You could even say that our apples are gluten-free, lactose free, non-GMO, soy-free, anti-biotic-free, vegan and all natural. The tree’s apples have an occasional coddling moth caterpillar inside and quite a few of them are marred by apple scab; but the tree yielded a lot of apples for apple sauce, apple bread and other goodies, and even some that were without blemishes.

We picked and picked, filling 5-gallon buckets with the fruit –

Now the freezer is packed with containers of apple sauce and loaves of apple bread and we’ve enjoyed desserts of apple crisp.

But it’s not just H and I that have enjoyed the bounty of apples; a lot of wildlife has feasted on the abundance of drops and defective fruit. Opossum –

Raccoon –

Gray fox –

And white-tailed deer visit day and night –

Our apple is a descendant of the apple trees brought to North America by early settlers, as are all domestic apples and their many relatives now growing wild on abandoned farms and at old logging camps. Those apple trees “gone wild” provide a bounty of food for wildlife and those that are best for wildlife are the trees that hold their fruit into late winter –

Apple time is over for us because the fruit on the tree out front ripens early and, if not promptly picked, falls soon after.