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The Lions of Winter

For the last few years, I have set up my trail cameras in late August and collected them at the end of March. This year I’ve decided to leave them out and track animal activity all year. Usually, Mountain Lions make their first appearance in November. I’m not sure if they are around much in the summer which is one of the reasons I’ll leave the cameras out. One year I had cameras placed from July until the end of March and stopped getting pictures of Lions in February. Based on incomplete data I’ve concluded they frequent this area mostly in winter and head to higher ground in the summer. We’ll see.

I have been seeing two lions this winter. Most likely this is an adult female with one of last year’s cubs. Lions need a large territory and with the exception of mating season won’t tolerate another adult lion in their area.

Mountain Lions main prey are deer. There are lots of deer in this area, but I have not found any kills. In the mountains immediately above, there is a healthy population of Desert Bighorn Sheep. Bighorn Sheep are also favorite prey for Lions. I wonder if that is what they are hunting primarily? I may hike up there later this spring and look for evidence.

I hope to see kittens this year following this large healthy lion sometime soon.

Cormorant

I am finally able to get back out and start taking photos again. I was hoping to get Ospreys fishing pictures today, but I settled for this rather handsome Cormorant with a fish. After squatting in fresh snow by the pond for a couple of hours I took my wet feet home.

It’s amazing how the Cormorant’s beak has evolved to have the perfect hook for gripping and manipulating fish.

Autumn Romance

Late Autumn is when the rut occurs for Mule Deer in the west. Mid November to mid-December seems to be the peak time based on my yearly observations. At this time the male deer are not very cautious and rampage around even in mid-day looking for does to breed. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the trail cams were placed to advantageously capture some of this behavior.

My Favorite Buck of 2022

I have lots of photos of Mule Deer bucks from July through December of 2022. I feel like I got to know them well through the photos taken of them on my Trail cameras. It was interesting to watch them the last 6 months. They changed their behavior through the observation time. In the summer they were solitary or hung out with one other buck. I saw some sparring through summer and early fall and then the very serious business of competing for does in November and December. My favorite buck of the year is a classic 4 point western count. He has a large, very symmetrical rack and is in my opinion the handsomest of all the bucks in that area this year. He posed nicely for several photos and I enjoyed going through all his photos to choose a few I’ll show here.

Changing Landscape

We are in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains but this past New Year’s we were not shielded from the exceptional amount of moisture that hit California. We had wet heavy snow for hours on New Year’s Eve that caused widespread power outages. I waited a week to venture out to grab my memory cards out of the trail cameras. It was still a pretty muddy slog to get to them. Sadly, there were several ancient cottonwood trees that did not survive the storm and many downed branches blocking trails. I noticed wash outs in areas that surprised me. When I got home to review my cards I was shocked to see how far the river had invaded. I almost lost one of my cameras judging by the photos.

I placed this camera at the intersection of several trails and have captured lots of deer, coyotes and feral horses on it. It is several hundred yards from the river. There are not any animals in this photo but it is time stamped a couple of hours before the wet snow and rain started. I need to reset the date recorder on the camera as it one day off on the date.

Exactly 24 hours later the river is flowing right in front of the camera. Note the swimming beaver passing by. That is what triggered the camera. No wonder it was muddy even a full week later. All of the water had receded, and I would have had no idea of the extent of the flooding without these photos.

Beautiful Bobcat

As winter progresses, and we have had storms and significant snowfall, predators seem to become more active. I am seeing more daylight appearances on my trail cameras of Bobcats. Some of the photos aren’t half bad for an automated system. The Mountain Lion has also shown up in some of the same areas but is sticking to the middle of the night. I am grateful for the Lions staying with that schedule.

Snow Day with Scout

We got some significant snow over the weekend. Yesterday my 6 month old Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Scout, and I were able to get out in it and play. Here she is sporting a snow beard.

She is challenging to get photos with crisp, sharp eye shots because of all the hair in front of her eyes. The scruffy hair acts to protect them in the brush when hunting so I won’t be trimming it. The scruff is called furniture.

She really enjoyed running through the fresh powder.

I know I am prejudiced, but I think she is a beautiful dog and such a clown. We are working on her hunt training and I am looking forward to hunting chukar and quail with her next year.

Mountain Lion

Right on cue, after a bobcat appearance, a lion shows itself. I thought if I saw one this would be the camera that picked one up. It is on a well-traveled route to water. The deer and horses are frequently using this trail so why not a lion? It’s a rocky route without low weeds and brush so the lion is highlighted quite well. Unfortunately, again these photos are at night so not the great photo quality. Still, it is nice to see that they are out there keeping the wild places wild. Thie appears to be a young lion. It looks on the smaller side. I hope to see it again but not in person!

Finally a Bobcat!

While I am enjoying all the images and information that I have been able to gather on deer and coyote movements, I will admit that I have been eagerly anticipating getting images of Bobcats and Mountain Lions. I have been assured that both frequent the property. As such, I am carrying bear spray on my belt when I wander the around just in case of an encounter. A reminder of the need to be aware and vigilante came this week when it was reported that a young girl out walking her dog was attacked by a mountain lion south of this area. Fortunately, both girl and dog were not seriously injured but it is cause for concern. These are not great pictures. Trail cams don’t take the quality of images a DSLR camera takes but I am thrilled to see the bobcat showing up on two different nights on my camera. In a couple of the photos it shows the bobcat carrying a rabbit in it’s mouth after a successful hunt. Now on to capturing a Lion.

Sparrows

This time of year, White-crowned sparrows return to the lowlands of the southwest in large numbers. They spend the summers in the northern boreal forests and the higher mountain ranges. Their reappearance is a harbinger of colder temps as fall and winter arrive. They are a welcome site in the sagebrush steppe as a lot of the other birds have fled to warmer climes. Often, they can be found in the same areas as Rufous-crowned sparrows foraging for seeds. I enjoy photographing both species as they have a distinctive and attractive appearance.

White-Crowned Sparrows

Rufous-crowned sparrow