Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Mating bears excitement

Bruno is hanging around Glendale Cove keeping constant vigil on 2 sweethearts. He is losing weight rapidly as he chases back and forth between the 2 girls and tries to keep another male suitor at bay. This younger smaller male is very good looking, no scars or dents in his well groomed hide. We generally see Bruno lurking in the shadows of the estuary treeline, as we watch one of his mates grazing on the sedges or rolling rocks over in the intertidal zone. If she gets too far for him to monitor, he will come roaring, calling and chuffing out of the shadows in most dramatic fashion, one designed to scare the pants off tourists and other bears allike. His potential mates are playing hard to get with just enough enticement to keep Bruno interested and busy.
We still see Lenore and BPII, as we called her cub after the original Burnt Peanut, around the cove, until Bruno et al get to chasing around. When he is so aggresive, she moves with her young charge over to Siwash Bay, where she is secure and unbothered by her former mate. She has provided our tourists with plenty of " ahhs and ooohs" moments and her 5 month old cub has stolen the hearts of more than 1 animal lover. He, I think he is a he, could be adopted out to most anyone as he entertains himself with a stick or a tree stump to climb, or a rock to roll over. Bull Kelp keeps him active as he pretends it is a most dangerous snake on the beach and needs to be subdued thoroughly. Lenore has been encouraging the youngster to begin swimming lessons, much to his chagrin. He complains the whole time she has him in the water, even though he hitches a ride on her broad back. Once near the shore, Mom shakes him off her back so he can swim to shore on his own. His thin hair pasted to his head makes him look very "wet rat" like as he shakes the water out of his ears.
The Bald Eagles are still setting on their nest in the corner of the cove. There must be young eaglets in there by now, but we have seen no sign of them yet. This nest is one of the most rewarding sights to see for our tourists, once they finally see it. It is well camoflaged in the open making it difficult to spot for the untrained eye. The setting eagle's head just appears above the rim of the large nest. Turkey Vultures and Band tailed pigeons have been spotted in the area, even though they are outside their traditional range. Merganser chicks and cute little Ruffed Grouse have been spotted in the river and the forest trying to keep up to their mothers.
A cougar was spotted on one of the trail cams last week. We have seen tracks before, but never the beast. Black-tailed deer fawns and their parents must be more vigilant than ever with this new predator in the area.
The Coho salmon fry arrived for our hatchery demonstration project last week. All have survived the stressful helicopter flight from The Oyster River Hatchery and the relocation to a new water source. Feeding once a day now till August or September when some of our tours will begin planting them into the river channels. This was a very exciting part of the tracking tour last season. It helped our guests get a feeling of trying to give something back to Mother Nature. Thats all the news from the cove for now. Daylight hours have started to lessen already, so take time out to enjoy our natural world, wherever you are. Cheers, Bob