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Bears, Birds and Bobcats, Oh MY!!

11/22/2016

Absolutely incredible day in Shenandoah National Park with my friend Denise Machado! 4 Black Bears getting close to entering their dens, 3 young Bobcats hanging out together, a large White-tailed Deer buck, a Barred Owl, a Ruffed Grouse and some very interesting park history.... wow wow wow.
Through the last 8.5 years of exploring SNP and its wildlife I've seen Bobcats several dozen times. Most sightings have been quick glimpses of animals running across the road. Only twice did I have prolonged views, and once it was too foggy to get good photos and once the light was too low to get good photos. I had only ever dreamed of getting a photo like the one above. Today that dream came true. An absolutely astonishing 15 minutes in the presence of this young Bobcat and what I believe were its two siblings. Middle of the day, plenty of light and at about a 40 yard distance.
Thank you Denise for such a wonderful day and thank you Bobcats for this incredible experience!

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Bucks in the Rut: Rubs, Scrapes and Licking Branches

11/20/2016

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I had heard tales of this magnificent buck, but it wasn't until the end of July this year that I was able to find him and photograph him for myself. This mighty warrior would soon shed his velvet and do battle to defend his territory in the upcoming mating season. It would be wonderful to see him in action!

While birds and bears are my number one passion, I love nature in all its many forms. I have spent hours wandering the woods watching mama deer with their newborn fawns in the spring and bucks during the rut in the fall. Below is a video that was made when I was ten years old, and even then I loved being a "Junior Ranger" sharing my nature findings. This video is about a tree I came across that told the story of a buck that had marked its territory during the rut in mating season.

Junior Ranger Gabriel Talks About the Rut

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Cold and Windy Hawk Watch Day, with my Zeiss at the Ready!

11/11/2016

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Conducting the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch on a fairly cold and WINDY late fall day! Plenty warm thanks to all my winter gear! Hoping my new pair of awesome Zeiss Victory binoculars, with their wide field of view and incredible image help me spot a Golden Eagle today!

***End of Day Update: As one of the official counters at the Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch in Virginia I write up a daily report after I have kept the count. The hourly data and summary are submitted o Hawk Count a site that keeps records from all the hawk watches around the country. https://www.hawkcount.org/

Here is my report for today, and I am pleased to say I got that Golden Eagle I was in search of, along with some Bald Eagles a Northern Goshawk as well! Great day to be a Counter!!

Strong (39-49km/h) winds throughout the day, gradually shifting from WNW to NNW. 9.2-13.5C. A cloudless sky early but very nice varying 70-85% cloud cover after 10am. Haze in the distance to E & W until 2pm, then very clear visibility.Observation NotesThe strong NW winds made for a fun day of fast-flying raptors, sometimes a challenge to identify! Almost all the birds rose up over the ridge to the north, fought the winds and then gave up and headed south down the east side of the gap. Only a few birds remained steady and strong enough to fly down the west side of the gap. One of those birds was an immature Northern Goshawk (11:05am) which flew steadily and swiftly with very little flapping, fairly close by down the west side of the gap. Before continuing on to the south the NG paused to dive-bomb and then circle with three Common Ravens. Similar size of all four birds was noted.

A good Eagle day with four more BE (10:31 4th-YR, 11:36 unaged and 3:50 1st-YR x 2) as well as a gorgeous immature GE which sailed past at 3:13pm.

First Raptor: 8:35 RT, Last Raptor: 3:50 BE (x2).Non-Raptor Notes16 Ravens, 17 Horned Larks, 44 Robins, 1 American Pipit, 202 RW Blackbirds, 348 Grackles, 2 Pine Siskins.VisitorsJennifer Jowdy, Daniel MapelForecastChilly (upper-40s) and sunny with mild North Winds.

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November 07th, 2016

11/7/2016

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The Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival is a wrap! What a phenomenal week of birding and friendship building. Perfect grand finale tonight with an awesome walk with a couple of dear friends. We found my "lifer" Armadillo and got surrounded by singing Common Paraques! Last but certainly not least, I represented ZEISS at a festival for the first time. Although I wasn't officially here with ZEISS I did help out a little bit and got to spend some time with Stephen Ingraham of ZEISS who is a wealth of knowledge about optics! Truly a wonderful week on all levels and I'll miss all my friends dearly. See ya'll soon and for now good birding and much love...

YES! I saw the Amazon Kingfisher in Laredo, TX! What a way to start the festival!! On October 30, Raul Delgado found an ABA Code 5 Amazon Kingfisher at Zacata Creek in Laredo, Webb County, Texas. The bird was been present in this location the next day as well. Pending acceptance, this is a 3rd record for Texas and the 3rd record for the ABA Area.

I spent Sunday with my friends Michael Hilchey (photo) and Raymond Van Buskirk owners of BRANT Nature Tours, along with Ashli, Linda and a whole group of amazing people banding birds at the Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center. It was truly awesome!!

I had the pleasure of helping Liz Gordon, board member of the American Birding Association, lead a family bird walk at the festival on Saturday morning. It is exciting to help the next generation of birders discover a passion for birds.

Nov. 1, 2016 Off to the Rio Grande Valley birding festival!! I can't wait to see many friends and many birds. There is a Northern Jacana and Amazon Kingfisher (hopefully) waiting for me!!

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Gabriel Mapel

Welcome to my Blog, a place for me to share my photos and nature adventures with you. I would love to read your comments, so don't be shy, let me know what you think! (click on the post you are reading and a comment box will appear)

﻿Bears, Birds and Bobcats, Oh MY!!

Bucks in the Rut: Rubs, Scrapes and Licking Branches﻿

Cold and Windy Hawk Watch Day, with my Zeiss at the Ready!

November 07th, 2016

Gabriel Mapel

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Bears, Birds and Bobcats, Oh MY!!

Bucks in the Rut: Rubs, Scrapes and Licking Branches