Molly and I are enjoying some beautiful weather up at our cabin a bit south of the Canadian border. Yesterday I spent some significant time starting at sunrise west of Big Falls in the Pine Island State Forest. Although the weather was gorgeous … crystal clear and 39F to start my expedition, the mammals and birds did not really cooperate. However, the strong southerly winds gusting to 25 mph had lowered my expectations. It is unusual on the first of October when the temperature climbs to the high 60’s. Only this Spruce Grouse strutted its stuff for me.

This morning one could really feel Autumn. I took a hike in the dreary early morning to a remote lake. Although birds were again not really present, I found a family of five River Otters which let me watch them catch breakfast. While I love to bird, watching this family of otters for over 15 minutes was a real treat, and trumped my birding efforts! (video link of one otter’s fishing efforts for email subscribers … if you listen closely towards the end of the video you will be able to hear the otter chirping and squeaking … communicating with the other four family members).

Finally, here is an image I took yesterday of a “bog stream”. Toomey Williams Forest Road reaches deep into some amazing Boreal Bog. All that water must eventually drain out of the bog, and quite often the “streams” are amazingly straight (and wildlife magnets).