September 1, 2024: Kittens under the Cabin

Our neighbor caught mother bobcat and her kit in their yard this week!

A young bobcat.  Photo by Michael Marion.

Her kit isn't all that little any more, but from the size of its paws you can see it still has a lot of growth yet to come.  Mom came by first, poked around the cabin just a bit then went on her way to find some food for them while the kit explored underneath the cabin for several minutes before heading off to catch up with her.  Thanks MM for sharing!

Mom off to the fertile hunting grounds on the Marion Conservation Area,
one of many conserved areas around Lake Wicwas.

Our relatively quiet loon season still has signs of life as the resident loons continue to defend their nesting areas from intruders to reinforce that the territory is occupied, so visitors don't get any ideas about coming here next spring to find an area to claim.  Lately it's been groups of three or four which might include a resident pair fending off a couple of rogues.  When loons are focused on each other they tend to be oblivious to me and will sometimes pop up right next to my kayak. 

The small groups continue to engage in circle dances with lots of head bobbing and showing off their size. 

"I'm bigger than you are - now get out of my cove!"

It will be interesting to see how long they stay on the lake this fall without chicks to look after. 

This one decided to move on.

The geese on the other hand had a good breeding season.  I counted 19 Canada Geese one afternoon on the large field that runs down to the lake. They can make a mess but they must help to fertilize the field as well. 

Can't really distinguish the juveniles from the adults now.

There's other natural fertilizer being left on the ground.  For perhaps a half-mile stretch of the Arbutus Hill Trail there are numerous piles of fresh bear scat right in the trail.  They are clearly visiting someone's bird feeder as the scat is full of sunflower seeds.

Deer scat isn't always immediately recognizable this time of year because it often doesn't look anything like the small, hard pellets seen in the winter.  In summer, when there's lots of lush green foliage to browse on, their droppings can be a soft, mushy plop.

Summer deer scat can look like a miniature cow patty.

We also saw a pile of moose droppings on the trail by Arbutus Hill Pond but they weren't photogenic. It's been a few years since I've seen a moose up there, but they are still present.  Thanks for a fun and interesting hike LH!

Here on the first of September it's time for the late summer wildflowers to be in the spotlight.  Lots of asters and goldenrod are blooming. 

Purple-stemmed (above) and Calico Asters (below).

Another pretty and prolific late-summer plant is Jewelweed, also known as touch-me-not.

Orange Jewelweed

After flowering, it produces a fruit that when swollen but not yet burst, will explode if you touch or gently squeeze it, ejecting its seeds far away from itself.  It spreads well and grows aggressively and has been shown to be successful in crowding out invasive garlic mustard.  I read recently that Jewelweed is an antidote to poison Ivy.  

And after seeing several tree branches around the lake with leaves turning red, there's no more denying that summer is fading fast.

But fall is a great season too!