Red squirrelIt was a day at the desk (Ecology Hall, Appeal, Bills, etc.), punctuated by action out the window on this sunny day. A buck fawn nosed into the snow for hidden grass. Blue jays showed their preferences for my offerings. Most wanted the sunflower seeds. Hairy and downy woodpeckers wanted only suet. A blue jay displaced a hairy woodpecker, threatening the woodpecker with its crown lowered and its beak open, while a downy woodpecker half the size of the hairy waited his turn. Another blue jay ignored seeds and suet to peck at a frozen deer mouse. When the flock of blue jays left, red squirrels and black-capped chickadees took their place at the seeds.
ChickadeeThe flashback from Sue for today is from June 6, 2007 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLBUo8vvoS8. It’s mating season. 2-year-old precocious Pete (June’s son) is in the woods with his 8-year-old aunt RC. 10-year-old B.B. King (RC’s brother or half-brother) is hesitant to barge in. He walks back and forth, straddling and marking the same aspen sapling 5 times. Finally, he goes in. 
Buck fawnPete immediately runs, stops outside the woods, and stands up to see if all is lost. It was. It’s hard for adolescent males to hang onto prime females when the big males want them.
Downy woodpeckerWhat is amazing about this video clip is that we not only can see the action, but we know the age and kinship of each bear involved. It’s one of the values of a long-term study and will be one of the values of a book that links what we are describing to videos so people can see exactly what is happening and decide for themselves what is happening—just like Lily Fans learned along with us from the Den Cams. For now, the new calendar has an updated family tree to help Lily Fans follow along with the daily flashbacks.
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As we go into the Christmas shopping season, there is a way Lily Fans can help the bears without spending a penny extra. That is by ordering through igive when buying from over 1,500 places listed here http://www.igive.com/welcome/lptest/wr32a.cfm?c=62082. More information on this pdf: http://www.bear.org/website/images/stories/Documents/igive.pdf
Thank you for all you do.
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.