Snowy Owling

The snowy owls are all over now.  They've come from Canada and other places in the extreme north to visit for the winter.

Photo credit:  Hayley Ake

This year, the owls have come more south than in the past few years.  It's all part of the Snowy Owl Irruption.

I've seen a few of these owls in the past few months, and have been on the hunt to view them with my girlfriend since we heard of the first sighting around here.

These beasts hang out at local airports because the mowed grass and vast fields of airport lands are VERY similar to the landscape of the tundra where these owls come from.

They are experts at living in this weather and above lands with short vegetation.

Springfield Mall, Fairfax County, Virginia was the most recent place where we went to go see a Snowy.  People were lined up with binoculars and scopes, trying to peer at the owl.  It made for a great experience, especially when mall shoppers, children, and joggers came by and asked about what everyone was looking at.  The expert birders told them, and everyone seemed to have an extreme interest in these birds

These owls should be around for another month or so before they venture back towards Canada.  I'll be looking for them during this whole time.

Rainy Day Picture Viewing

It's a typical rainy, fall day here in northern Virginia.  I've been up all morning homeworking and getting things done.  Now, it's time to blog!

I've had a bit of time to catch up on viewing the camera-trap images from the past few months. 

Here's one that's a bit tough.  This image comes from the town of Great Falls, Virginia.

I think it's a coyote because of the size, the lighter-colored legs, the presence of thick fur, and because of the short, black-tipped tail.

Here's an image of a raccoon in the same, general area.  Use this for the size comparison.

What do you think?

I'm pretty confident with my coyote answer, but I could be wrong.

Virginia Mountain Lions

Cougars, mountain lions, catamounts, pumas.  Call them what you want, I've never seen them around here in person nor on camera.  In fact, the eastern cougar (which is what would be in Virginia) is extinct.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared them extinct in 2011.  The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' website still recognizes the animal, but claims that there have been no officially confirmed cases of them in Virginia for many, many years.   Pumas live in many other parts of the U.S., and should not be confused with this subspecies of large cat.

Even with them officially extinct in Virginia, some people still swear by their sightings of these feline beasts. I've read a lot on recent unconfirmed sightings around here and enjoy the passion that is in the writing of people's stories. I take them into consideration of course, and will have my camera-traps out in the wild anyway.  It would be such an amazing experience to get a cougar on camera in northern Virginia, but for now, I won't expect to ever see one here.

Bluemont Camera Gets Taken Down

The camera that was in Bluemont is now sitting on my counter at home.  It needs new batteries, a few tests, and a new location.

It did well in the mountains, enduring all of the spring's heavy winds and rains. 

There's nothing wrong with it though.  It's just time for a move.

This is the camera that provided me with a few bear pictures (see More Bears), and many pictures of raccoons.

The woods around are now full of fruits, especially raspberries and wineberries.  The main mission was to take down this camera, but a pit stop into the berry bushes seemed also necessary.

I gorged and had more than my fair share.  A bag was also needed to take more home.

It was a game of duck and dodge as I was working carefully to avoid thorns, flies, and poison ivy while picking.  The big scare though came when the bushes started rumbling about 15 yards away from me.

Just being in these bushes full of food puts me a little on edge in bear territory.

A deer huffed and darted towards an even lower thicket.  I'm glad it wasn't a bear that close to me.  Berry picking resumed, and after a fair amount were in my stomach and bag, I scrambled out of the thorny bushes and headed up a rocky slope to get to where the car was parked.