Bears Are Roaming

 

Single bear captures with trial cameras are a weekly occurrence as boars search for a mate. Females with cubs in tow are scarce. I’m hoping when mating season winds down and boars head back into isolation, bear families will start roaming more. Moose are just starting to visit secluded ponds in search of freshwater vegetation. Lost pond had a young bull grazing along the water’s edge last week.

I continue to swamp watch with my camera. I find this very enjoyable. I’ve yet to see a bear or moose. Hopefully, persistence pays off.

There is a Sow with two COY in the furthest northern area of my camera trap line. I headed out early this morning in search of a secluded area to set camera traps. Things went well except for going over the top of my boots while navigating a swamp.

New area I located this morning. Two trail cameras were set. Hopefully the sow with two COY travel through this area .

 

Jim

 

I checked camera traps at Scat Swamp early yesterday morning. It was a chilly start with light frost on the windshield. Still bear activity in the pond area but for whatever reason the bear(s) do not use the dam as a bridge. There were fresh bear tracks in the mud at the beginning of the dam before the bear veered off trudging through deep mud to reach the other side. The trail camera on the opposite side of the beaver dam caught a glimpse of the bear.

There are two beaver dams in this area. Moose have been using the second dam. There is also a pregnant cow using the area. Fingers crossed they will start using the pond for feeding.

I spent a most mornings this week watching two swamps with my camera, hoping to see a bear or a moose . I am really surprised I have not seen either one to date.

Looks like another good week of weather on tap. My plan is to continue swamp watching and make the rounds checking trail cameras.

Jim

MA Bears On The Move !

 

I Posted this about a month ago: (slightly revised)

I like to set goals for myself, it keeps me motivated and on track with improving my camera trapping skills, I hope to video a bear with a beaver lodge in the background. That is what I would call, “Ideal Bear Habitat”. Hopefully, it will be nice enough to frame and hang on the wall.

The second bear goal was to video a bear using a downed tree as a bridge “Log Walker”. One of my new locations has a downed tree at a corner of the pond. A recent bear had used the log twice in the cover of darkness. I just needed that bear to take a daytime stroll.

Recently one of my camera traps also videoed a pregnant cow moose. I want to see if I can capture a day video of that cow with her calf. Not sure how I will get this done, but I do have some ideas. Stay tuned.

I’m off to a good start, getting a bit lucky with the two bear goals. The sow and two cubs that crossed the log at the corner of the beaver pond (pictured last week) continued foraging along the shoreline and triggered a trail camera that has a beaver lodge in the background. This pond has a wonderful view from this vantage point. The likelihood of capturing additional bears crossing the log is good, my walk around the pond this week revealed numerous piles of bear scat.

I’ve made three water sets in hopes of capturing the cow with her calf. It will probably be late June before mom and calf really start moving around.

Jim

Spring - Wildlife - Cameras - Doesn't Get Much Better !

 

It has been a good week watching Massachusetts swamps with a SLR camera. One of my winter projects was to learn more about my camera. So far so good! Wildlife is busy! Beaver kits are busy learning the ropes, raptor chicks are growing fast, heronry females are still sitting on eggs and goslings are in all the swamps that I’m watching. Warblers have started arriving in MA. I saw a white & black, black throated, palm and yellow warbler this week. Plenty of deer working the swamp(s) edge grazing on the green grass. Surprised I have not seen any bears. There have been a few cold mornings earlier this week. Had light frost on my truck.

Lost Pond camera trapping site has come alive with BEARS!

Jim

https://youtu.be/89FjQVx10Ao

Coyote Frequent Visitor

 

The weather has not been particularly good the last week! I have been dressing in rain gear and heading out at first light to watching several swamps. There has been a variety of wildlife activity! More on that in an upcoming post.

 One of my camera trap locations has a frequent visit from a nursing coyote. Early April I stumbled upon a den while bushwhacking which was found a short distance from a beaver dam. I bet the den belongs to her. I do not want to disturb the area, so I’ll have to wait a while before checking it out.

Jim

 Den located approximately 75 yards from the dam the coyote is jumping onto.

Spring - Swamp Watching

 

It’s been a good month camera trapping bears. The tally so far for April is seven different bears. I still have two locations to check next week. Yesterday, I finally found an old chewed deer shed heading into a camera trapping spot. Checking two trail cameras that have been there about a month showed a consistent visit from a coyote during the day and it wasn’t skittish about passing by the cameras. I suspect there’s a den in the area.

Now that Spring is here, I’ve been sitting with my SLR camera watching a swamp come alive. Lots of waterfowl seen with the spring migration north. There is a beaver lodge in view and what a show I got the other day. A Beaver colony typically consists of two adults, two adolescents and two newborn beavers. Late April or early May the two adults will” push” the two adolescent beavers to leave the lodge. This process can become physically confrontational and vocal, as it did to this morning. It took nearly four hours with both parents continually driving the youngsters away from the lodge for them to finally move on. Things quieted down after that, then two kit beavers were seen swimming around close to the lodge entrance. Just when I thought the excitement was over, a large snapping turtle surfaced about twenty yards from the beaver lodge. Immediately one of the adults moved into the turtle’s space and persuaded it to move on.

What an awesome morning “Swamp Watching.”

 Jim

Yearling Didn't Care For Trail Camera

 

The picture above is one of two yearlings that had a day with my trail camera.

 

The bear that had visited the Lost Pond location appears to have moved on. His last visit was April 4^th. Skunk Cabbage is now abundant in many of the swamps. He most likely is hanging close to the food source.

I had an eventful morning last week while checking camera traps. A skunk cabbage patch close to the beaver dam where my TC’s are set was eaten by a bear. The leaves had tear/ bite marks and many cabbage stems were bitten off. Now that’s a good way to get your blood pumping!

I collected the SD cards then hiked up a steep knob adjacent to the beaver pond and was surprised to see a bear feeding on skunk cabbage about sixty yards away. The bear wandered through the swamp browsing as it worked its way towards a lower beaver dam where camera traps are set. Hopefully, it crosses that dam. What a neat experience just watching the bear as it wandered out of sight. One of the rewards that comes with camera trapping!

I’ve seen two road killed bobcats this week in two different towns while out checking camera traps over the last week. Maybe an indication of an abundant wild feline population in Massachusetts.

I changed up my website cover page ( https://hikingcamerawildlife.smugmug.com/) to include a slide show sharing different bears that are camera trapped in 2023.

Jim