Sunday, March 22, 2020

Changing Times



I'm glad to see the trap is still picking up a bobcat, keeping my hopes alive that I'll eventually capture a couple of bobkittens tagging along. The time on all of these is still PST since I didn't get around to updating them to PDT until today.



Big-Eyed Mouse.



I have a video clip of the mouse coming in from the right side of the frame, and it looks almost as big as an American pika.



Leaping into the manzanita.



Another leaping rodent.



Spotted Towhee.



I hadn't caught a Band-Tailed Pigeon since back when the traps were set down by a creek-bed pool.



So my wife and I looked over these manzanita plants this morning and could not find sign of deer-browsing on the leafy stems. I had wondered if they could simply be eating the flowers, and am pretty sure that's what they're doing. In some clips, the deer press into the brush to reach farther back, even though there are plenty of leaves right up front. I've gotta think they are reaching for fresh bunches of flowers.



The fox has been paying the camera no mind.



I've started picking up a jackrabbit in the area also.



And several turkeys pass through once in a while. We heard quite a bit of gobbling on the mountain this morning.



The buck deer are already beginning to grow back their antlers.



We were surprised by how few people were on the mountain. Even by the time we headed back to San Francisco, only a dozen or so cars were parked at Rock Spring.  

Ironically, the only person we saw in the woods, despite the fact that we were on regular trails quite a bit, was a guy walking a deer trail through the chaparral and heading right for the manzanita camera trap. I'd already collected the SD card, so I guess I'll find out next week if he spotted the cam. 

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