June 2023 – My Earth

Bear sign and wallow

This morning I checked a few cameras in an area where bears have been active over the last few years. Bears have likely been visiting this spot for ages before I placed cameras there. The first clue of recent activity were new tracks and marks at an old bear marking tree. The second was murky water in the spring pool and wet vegetation nearby.

©GregJoder

This bear seems to have a new injury to his left ear. It must be brutal out there. The stories he could tell… This will also help in IDing this guy if/when he shows up again.

Monument Plants

Today, while checking a couple of trail cameras, I found two Monument Plants. These plants are in the gentian family and grow for many years before flowering and dying. I’ve found it in both Colorado and Arizona, though the Arizona specimens seem to grow much taller. It can grow as a rosette from about two to twenty years before flowering. It is a popular pollinator, attracting local native and non-native pollinators.

Black bear action

The bear marking tree had some new visitors this week. While I was hoping to see the two yearling cubs again, the camera captured a different fun surprise, a sow with three new cubs (first video). The videos from the previous visit appeared to indicate via sounds that the two older cubs from the other bear family may have tried to climb a tree next to the camera, so last week I placed a second camera looking at that tree. The next surprise was a male bear using that tree as a marking tree (second video).

©GregJoder

Owl fledgling watches bats

This great horned owl fledgling was getting a drink at a remote desert waterhole when bats decided they were also thirsty. Not sure which bat species they are, but it’s fun to watch them swoop in and try to drink while the owlet watches.

Bear cubs inspect trails cameras

It look like this is the same bear family as the scat video from a couple weeks ago, even though the cameras are a few miles apart:

Greg Joder 2023

Screech owl copulation and feeding

This year, the fourth season of a Western screech owl pair using the nestbox in my yard, was a difficult time for the owl pair. Five eggs laid and hatched, but only one nestling survived to fledge. This video shows a copulation event after the eggs hatched and when only one nestling remained. It also shows how the adult male brings food to the adult female to feed her nestling.

Greg Joder 2023

Sky Island Mountain Lions

Over the last few weeks there’s been an increase in mountain lion captures on my trail cams. The following videos are from two different Arizona mountain ranges. It’s important to note that mountain lions in the Arizona deserts and sky islands often look “skinny.” However, this is a normal mountain lion body type in this region. They are healthy and have plenty of prey.

Greg Joder 2023

Black bear bath time

About two years ago I found an old, abandoned cattle trough that still held water. I realize now that it is an old spring box that still receives water from a nearby spring. The good thing is, it stays full of water during the Arizona dry season (between the winter rains and summer monsoons) and so is an important water source for local wildlife during times of water scarcity. For bears, water is not just a resource to drink, but also to wallow in and relax:

Greg Joder 2023

The lone screech owlet

This year only one of five nestling screech owls survived to fledge. Based on the body condition of the nestlings that died, I suspect secondary poisoning by rodenticide. The surviving nestling fledged a few weeks ago and I’ve seen her perched in a nearby tree with one of her parents now and then.

Greg Joder 2023

Mountain lion Flehmen response

About three months ago I was checking a camera I had set on an often-used bear wallow. Not far from the wallow, on the trail, was a fairly fresh mountain lion scrape. I decided to move the trail cam from the wallow and mount it on a tree looking at the scrape. This is one of the scenes captured by the trail cam:

Greg Joder, 2023