Fairly Quite This Weekend

I hiked a Northwest Gate only seeing one doe on Saturday morning. Moose droppings were consistent. Unfortunately no moose.I did not see any bear scat

Sunday I was back at my favorite gate on the east side. Very foggy with poor visibility. I was able to get a pic of this critter. I tried anticipating when he would cross in front of me. That didn't work out so well!

But knowing he would look back at me when in the water presented this opportunity

On my hike back to the truck I did see two piles of bear scat. I ended up back in the area where all the humming birds were last week. Activity has slowed down significantly. I did get a chance to take a few pics of one humming bird.

Jim

Hiked my favorite east  side gate this morning starting at first light. Not a mammal to be found. Abundant food supplies are minimizing travel. Blackberries are ripe, acorns are starting to fall and grapes are just beginning to ripen.

Humming birds appear to be in high numbers, Thinking maybe the beginning of the migration south, I took a stab at getting two birds in one pic.

Jim

I headed out to Gate 47 this morning , Hiking along East St was pretty  much uneventful. The reservoir looked nice with the sun burning off the fog. I did see a couple of small piles of bear scat. Berries were ripe and ready to be eaten.

Also a bright sunny morning to be sunning.

Jim

Camping South Central Vermont

Pulled the camper to Springfield Vermont located in South Central part of the state. The campground is located adjacent to a area very similar to Barre Falls Dam. Bird activity was high. I don't believe I have ever seen so many humming birds in one area. I did see what appeared to be two fledged eagles perched on a blow down out 230 plus yards in the flood plain. A fella hiking showed me where the active nest was located. Hiking back to the campground I did manage to get a decent picture of a Broad Wing Hawk perched in a red oak.

 Saturday evening was interesting viewing the meteor showers with little to no artifical light. They were not as spectacular as I anticipated. Sunday afternoon my wife and I headed up to VINS. Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Its basically a facility for housing injured raptors and educating folks. It was an interesting place to visit with the highlight for me being seeing several Golden Eagles and two Great Gray Owls.

Nice Weather For Morning Hiking

Interesting start to  Saturday mornings hike.  I pulled out of the driveway and it wasn't but a minute or so when a bobcat crossed in front of me,  Nice start to the day. I arrived at Gate 16A about 5:30 AM and was off  to the waters edge

Instead of hiking the sane way back I bushwhacked a short way hitting a leg of  the Gate 15 road which  I followed  to the water.
Did get a pic of a distant Pileated Woodpecker.

 The best pic to date for my library.
Sunday mornings hike  started at my favorite east side gate, Enjoying breakfast at waters edge ,I did see a mature eagle and what appeared to be a Great Egret. It was a good ways off , but I did get a few pics.

With the morning hike just about complete I was treated with seeing  these two

A couple of otter pups fishing.

What a nice few days of hiking. Weather could not of been any better. I was able to put 16 miles on my ole' hiking boots.
Jim