On The Trails: Spring has sprung

This bear was quite fat, considering it had just emerged from hibernation on April 10, 2026. It ate very last fall or it's a male, not having the costly need to produce milk for cubs. (Photo by Heather Kiesel)

By Mary F. Willson

The snow is still thick on the ground in some places and my pond still has a lot of ice. The small alders that grow at the pond edge were bent double by those heavy snows and still have their tops locked in the pond ice. Pairs of mallard visit the pond every day, foraging around the edges and on the fallen seeds on the ice. Other spring things are happening too!

Black bears have been out and about for a while, leaving signs of their passage. One was reported to awaken a neighborhood by prolonged bashing of a garbage can. After hibernating all winter, they are generally quite hungry, and there is not much food readily available out there. The fellow in the photo appeared in the Lemon Creek area on April 20, surprisingly looking quite rotund. Maybe he fed really well last fall and still had a nice load of fat. I’m guessing that it was a male, because females have to burn up a lot of fat while they are lactating for the new cubs in the den, so they are less likely to look roly-poly in spring.

My bird feeders draw the usual feathered folks with the addition of an occasional white-crowned sparrow and some golden-crowned sparrows that gobble up seed fallen to the ice from the feeder suspended over the pond. One morning I saw at least 20 golden-crowns out there — and they visited the suet and peanut butter feeder enthusiastically as well. They will head for the high mountain meadows for nesting. And rufous hummers, both male and female, regularly attend the nectar feeder.

Additional excitement one day was provided when I saw a very large bird come sailing in, silhouetted against the sky. When it landed in a tree, I could see that it was a male goshawk. That species is known to nest in the Valley, but I don’t see them right here very often. This one dove into some thick brush twice, no doubt after some small bird, but I couldn’t see if he was successful.

Golden-crowned sparrows stopped by on their way to nesting habitat by the high mountain meadows. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the first day of May, a friend and I went to Kingfisher Pond. Red-winged blackbirds were very active, singing and calling. Two males were claiming territories, dividing up the area — but not without squabbling and chasing each other. They also got excited when a female came in to explore the area. It was too early for the emerging grasses and reeds to provide nesting cover, but she was chased with interest. A snipe or two burst up from the pond edges as we circled the pond, disappearing quickly. Ruby-crowned kinglets, a song sparrow, and robins were singing. Two days later, everything was much quieter. No red-wing chasing; they were all intent on feeding. But there were a couple of yellow-rumped warblers and two or three swallows flashed through, too quickly for me to name them (maybe tree swallows).

There were some relatively fresh beaver cuttings along the shore. But the old lodge at the edge of the adjacent big pond did not appear to be occupied, and the beavers may have moved house to another place on the big pond. There are several narrow trails between the small pond and the adjacent big pond; some are old beaver trails, but they may be used now mostly by ducks passing back and forth.

Then we walked down the gravel road past the ruined gate, picking our way around the deepest puddles and dodging the bent-over trees, into the old junkyard and quarry. The big pond at the end of the road was the place for ducks. Mallards, of course, plus redheads, scaup, ring-necked ducks, green-winged teal, buffleheads, and a pair of northern shovelers.

And it’s leaf-out time for the elderberry shrubs at Kingfisher Pond and in several other places. Other species will soon follow.

• Mary F. Willson is a retired professor of ecology. "On The Trails" appears periodically in the Juneau Independent. For a complete archive of Mary Willson’s “On the Trails” essays, go to https://onthetrailsjuneau.wordpress.com