Asters 2013/2014 denBetween Mike, Lorie, and I we checked 6 old dens today—all empty.
Jewel's 2012/2013 denOur greatest hope was that Aster would be in her old den and would give birth this winter. The old den was still in good shape but apparently two winters in there were enough. While leaving, Mike and Lorie spotted a similar (but collapsed) den less than 25 yards away, solving a mystery of a year ago. The pictures of the two dens had looked slightly different last year, but the photos were taken from different angles, making me think they could be the same den. Now we know that Aster had begun in the first den in fall 2012 but then moved to the den where we found her in the spring and the next winter (2013-2014) when she re-used the den—probably due to her bad leg.
Jewel's 2012/2013 denJewel’s two dens where we had watched via the den cams were next. The den she shared with Fern and Herbie when they were yearlings in 2013 looked great, but two big mushrooms that were growing undisturbed just inside the entrance showed no bear had explored it. 
Railroad grade pondThe old dirt mound outside was covered with fallen birch leaves with no sign of raking.
At the den where Jewel gave birth to Fern and Herbie, erosion had washed some of the dirt pile back into the den. The next bear there will have some work to do to restore it.
Lapland longspurDonna’s nice den dug under a huge boulder where she had spent the winter of 2008-2009 and the winter of 2011-2012 with sets of yearlings had a fallen balsam fir tree across the entrance. She would have trouble raking bedding into it.
The last den today was Juliet’s log pile den of last winter. None of the six had any sign of bears.
Pincherry leavesThe first Lapland Longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) we’ve seen this fall have arrived from the arctic. They’re not very noticeable foraging beside roads in their sparrow-like winter plumage, but seeing them run and walk rather than hop was a tip-off.
Strawberry leavesWe’re glad we’d scheduled the den checks for today instead of yesterday. Today was beautiful, 59F, with winds so light the lakes were mirror smooth, at least in the morning. Strawberry leaves were red, and backlit pin cherry leaves looked like they were on fire.
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center