Summer Fades into Fall

Hello everyone! This summer has flown by and we're now getting the bears and their habitat ready for winter.

Grinder and Coola have begun to fatten up and enter their 'hyperphagia' stage where all they want to do is eat! Over the next month they will put on weight and increase their fat stores in order to make it through the winter.

The will also begin their bed making process and making their den for their long winter naps.

I'm also pleased to announce that our bear cameras are now live and showing a view of our upper pond habitat. Watch for the bears day or night on this infrared camera! You can view it here: http://www.grousemountain.com/Summer/wildlife-education/refuge/grizzly-bear-live-camera.asp .

Once the bears enter their den for the winter, we will switch the camera to the interior view.

Enjoy!

Anna's Hummingbird Banded at Grouse Mountain

Hello everyone! We had a very exciting hummingbird monitoring session yesterday. We banded 12 new hummingbirds, including our very first Anna's Hummingbird and our very first recapture of a bird not banded here on Grouse Mountain.

Anna's Hummingbirds are found in the Vancouver area, but are normally located at lower elevations near the coast.

The recaptured Rufous Hummingbird was banded four years ago at the base of nearby Fromme Mountain. She has survived all these years, and multiple visits to Mexico for the winter and is now back on Grouse Mountain and when we examined her she had a nearly fully developed egg in her abdomen. It's exciting to see she chose here to breed!

The Grouse Mountain Refuge for Endangered Wildlife participates in the North American Hummingbird Monitoring Network and is the only mountaintop site in BC. The Hummingbird Monitoring Network is monitoring hummingbird populations across western North America and investigating the apparent decline of these magnificent birds. We band every two weeks whenever hummingbirds are present, and data on the age, measurements and health of the birds is collected and compared with other stations.

For more information please see: http://www.hummonnet.org/

Grinder and Coola Emerge

Grinder and Coola have come out of their 2008/2009 hibernation period! They awoke in April and were recently seen emerging into their hibernation habitat for a long wrestling and play session.

Grizzly bears hibernate anywhere from one month to five months in the wild. Here on Grouse Mountain Grinder and Coola usually hibernate for three or four months, depending on the season.

For the next couple of weeks you can visit Grinder and Coola in their hibernation area until they have access to their full five acre habitat. We are currrently in the process of excavating all of the snow from their habitats and hope to have them ready as soon as possible!