The theme for this month is wildlife family units, starting with videos from all four cameras.
First, this delightful daytime look at a bobcat and her kitten at the Adobe Creek crossing.
Next, a feral sow and three piglets on the hillside forest trail. We've
seen this family grouping previously, but what is unusual here is a second
adult hog bringing up the rear -- acting as a rearguard or "sweep," as
outing leaders would refer to it. We've seen hogs travel in larger groups
at times, so perhaps this is not unusual.
On the upper mountain savannah, we see plenty of deer browsing for buckeyes and perhaps acorns in the grass. While doe and fawn pairs are not uncommon, I selected this video for the unusual evening lighting, which makes the deer look almost blue. A slightly longer winter coat is visible on the fawn.
From the upper mountain camera in the bay laurel grove, another unusual (?) group. A blacktail doe and fawn are accompanied by a yearling spike buck. Is this an earlier offspring? Or an overgrown teenager from the same litter as the smaller fawn?
This video from the same upper mountain camera captures the seasonal excitement. A doe is chased by a buck. Is this courtship behavior (blacktail rut starts about now, mid-October)? Or are both running away from something? Note the strong winds on the high mountain after midnight. These were so-called Diablo winds, hot dry winds from the northeast. This year, fortunately, we seem to have dodged the fire danger they bring.
Here is a closeup of the mother bobcat in the video above. We've seen both bobcats and mountain lions use stepping stones just as humans do.
In the same spot at night, what is very likely the same bobcat carries an animal she has killed. This is a larger prey than we have seen previously, possibly an opossum. It's difficult to identify without seeing the head or tail.
This buck was observed on several nights munching determinedly on a
particular broadleaf plant growing in and around the creek.
I'll try to identify the plant next time I visit this camera, and will
update this page.
Two hawks came to drink at the creek on warm October days.
The first appears to be an adult redtail. Video shows it drinking from a
pool with a scooping motion of its beak.
The second, coming in for a landing, has been tentatively identified as a
juvenile redtail.
On the hillside forest trail, a Stellar's Jay with a Coast Live Oak
acorn.
Subsequent video shows it wedging the acorn beneath the fallen branch and
hammering it open with its beak.
A raccoon on the same trail at night. While raccoons are common near human habitation, we see them only rarely on these cameras.
This appears to be the same large feral boar we saw last month, and named "Tusky boi."
Good looking coyote on the upper meadow in daylight.
Handsome, full-grown blacktail buck on the upper mountain. This looks like the same guy chasing the doe in the video above.