looduskalender.ee

I can count, at least up to four, I know "karu" means bear, "mets" is wood and I think I caught a few other words as well, like place names. And I had translated the article about looking for the bear tracks, so I had a general idea about what to expect. But I think I still have to watch many Osoon shows to get more than half a dozen words

Good evening! I just got the computer away from hubby so I can watch cams for a while, now. Some small animal came to eat by the place where the bear was before. I think it may be a raccoon dog, or perhaps a fox. It is just a dark shadow in a patch of moonlight, so it is hard to be sure.

Edit-- I just noticed another one, so I am rather certain they are raccoon dogs. And besides, a fox would not stay in the one place so long.

When I looked just now, it was pitch black, nothing to be seen.

Dawn & the ravens & crows look for food.



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Pretty sunbeams are lighting up the forest clearing. I hear a bird sound that does not seem like a raven, but maybe it is. Anyone know what else it might be?

I am falling asleep so I will say Goodnight / Good day to everyone. Enjoy the cams. It looks like a pretty day at all the cams, at least so far, although I know it is cold. So for now, I am .

You must read the words from the lips.

Good morning

At 10:18 the two doggies, that have been seen here some days before at a carcass, were through the picture, but too fast and short to take a picture ....

Summary of the Osoon video http://etv.err.ee/arhiiv.php?id=126546

Vladimir Korzhets: everything is tracks, the being of the world shows itself by tracks. Look at nuclear physics: neutrons and protons cannot be touched, only their tracks. Or for instance bears …Let’s go and see if there are any real bears [Hmm, he might have been talking to the Backyard Potterer]

Bear video (reporter; Bert Rähni from Alutaguse bear grounds; Peeter Anijalg, bear researcher): Still thick snow, best time to see bear tracks. Bert Rähni: tracks get larger in spring sun – elk tracks can be mistaken for bear. Peeter Anijalg, Eurasian bear genetics researcher: Estonian (and Finnish) bears are similar to Slovak bears, probably bears retreated there during the Ice Age; as ice melted they reached Estonia again 11000 years ago.
The Alutaguse bears ”saved” the whole Estonian bear population. 700 bears now, 100 years ago only 20-30, in Alutaguse + one more location. Researchers "meet" bears mostly in lab and computer. Hunters must send samples from shot bears to labs. No fresh bear prints here, but trees clawed 3-4 m up by bear as territory mark. Looked for hairs: Peeter might manage to extract DNA from it (6 min video run)
Bear was roused in mid-February, then went to sleep again; has been around again for a week. Male bears wake first. Females wake much later. Hungry, grumpy bears now go in search of food, preferably meat, so best avoid meeting bears now. No fresh tracks going out from this forest area now. Searched instead for the bear’s winter den. Foresters had marked the path. No cave, more like large bird nest, seemed small for a bear with 15-16 cm paw prints. Branches as ”mattress”. Very similar to wild boar nest, but bears usually have a higher bordering ”wall”. (9 min). Whose den is best checked by whose hairs in nest bottom. DNA analysis might be possible; one of few hair samples that have arrived in lab from live – not shot - animal: “lucky” bear. - Food was spread on feeding grounds at camera place. At least 7 different bears visited the Alutaguse observation grounds last year; this bear fits description of smaller of the two big ones last year.

PS. Jälg, jäljed, jälgi - track, tracks, (foot)print

thank you Liis for the summary of the video talk!

amazing the den of the bear: just a shallow hole in the ground under a small sprucetree.
in a way a worrying thing to think about: you could easily stumble on a sleeping bear in a den like that!
(if there were more of them. )

at the moment there's only a pair of ravens looking for food. it's silent and looks rather cloudy here.

Swedish schoolboys out skiing did just that last year. That bear had a sort of den, first boy skied across "roof", second fell in. The bear was as scared as the boy; she ran off and left her two cubs. The boy's friends helped scare the bear off with shouting etc. I don't think that he was bitten or scratched at all.
But waking up a bear is probably not a very good idea, normally

Good morning/Hello

a pic from last night in the moonlight ( but no bear)


and from sunrising today

Seems the sky must be full of rain-clouds. Nothing to be seen here tonight,despite the full moon.

It is still snowing here. Not ravens, no crows.

Winterwonderland

.... but the biords are chirping.

No sound,no tracks. Nobody home !!
The bears have gone back to their dens and the birds have migrated.

More snow



Nothing to hear or to see this evening

Oh my, what a snowy scene! Surely the bears have returned to hibernation in this wintery weather? I hope it warms up & we can see them soon.

"too many retries, giving up"