Fish Lake Wolves

I have been following this pair's tracks and attempting to camera trap them for the last several months. Monday morning I was returning home from Grettum Flowage and these guys were in the prairie. The front one has a paunch; pregnant? The pair was filmed with a continuous roll of the tape which has been quick edited to remove most of the camera motion. The area is alive with wildlife!
Dale

Grettum Otters

At certain times I wish I had a more powerful lens for my camera and a HD video cam. Today at Grettum Flowage in Fish Lake was one of those days. I saw 2 Otters by the control structure and watched them for quite a while. They would dive down into the water and come up with a Painted Turtle and eat it. It would take them a few minutes to eat one and quite often you could hear the shell skittering along the ice. Turtle shells were scattered along the edge of the ice. Once in awhile one otter would go sliding across the ice to finish eating a turtle in a different area.
While watching the otters I could hear Sandhills on Grettum. Also saw the first butterfly of the season, a Mourning Cloak, and the first Bluebirds of the year.
Kathy J. 

Spring has sprung

With the rising temperatures (in the low sixties today) many of the ponds and flowages have open water. The remaining ice is melting fast and creates a unique photo opportunity.

Geese and swans are pairing up and claiming their territories. It's so good to see more life returning to the Meadows.

Kathy J.

Early Arrivals

Early Arrivals from Dale Bohlke on Vimeo.

The members of the Crex symphony are beginning to return. With the rain and warm weather more will soon be arriving.
Dale

Sharing Space

National Geographic magazine has an article this month on wolf conflicts in the western states. Similar conflicts are occurring in Wisconsin and Minnesota as the population rebounds. The Crex area actually has had a decrease in wolves since last year with the black pack reportedly moving to Minnesota. Wolves are motivated by food and the dining is better in Minnesota right now. A common factor in each wolf controversy is the emotional argument, usually emphasizing the superiority of man and his right to dominate. Millions of years before man animals were getting along. These images show a scene I have frequently photographed with predator and prey sharing the same space.
Dale

Full Moon Series at Crex

There was a good turnout for the first Full Moon Series Sunday evening at the Crex Visitor Center. Ali Cordie, the new Natural Resources Educator, gave a slide presentation which included facts about the moon and snowflakes and also information about the seasonal changes of flora and fauna this time of year. After the presentation we all hiked on the trail behind the visitor center to the overlook at Hay Creek to watch the full moon rising in the east. It couldn't have been a more perfect night to do this.

The next meeting of the series will be March 29th at 6:00 PM.

Kathy J. 

Diversity

One of the amazing things at Crex is its diversity. You may think of the diversity of birds, wildlife, and butterflies but think about the diversity of the people who visit Crex. I have experienced the complete spectrum of visitors over the last few days. Yesterday there was a land acquisition meeting that the Friends of Crex is initiating. The Friends is starting with zero dollars and plans to buy land (at $1500-2000 per acre) and later sell it to the Wisconsin DNR, talk about an ambitious project! There was an excitement about the prospect of undertaking a project that will have effects that will last forever.

The opposite end of the spectrum victimized me on Saturday night. I have a trail cam set up in the middle of Fish Lake WMA at a wolf sent post and trail intersection. Two wolves have been using this trail intermittently through the winter it looked like a perfect opportunity to get my first wolf video. It was not to be, a rogue snowmobiler removed my memory card to avoid being caught illegally riding through the area. The good news is he left the camera and tripod. Perhaps the loss is not as bad as feared since the batteries were dead when I replaced the trail cam at another location.

Speaking of diversity, what do you think of the talent and range of subjects shown at last month's photo club meeting? The March meeting will be this Saturday at 10 AM. Email 3-4 images to crexphotog@gmail.com before Friday if you would like to share your Crex images. Just show up if you would like to talk about Crex and photography.
Dale