A Beautiful Snowfall, Deer, and Redpoll Mania - UPDATE April 14, 2022
Deer in snow
Deer in snow
This morning, deer and redpolls saw a bright forest with every tree beautifully decorated—one of the best winter displays I’ve seen . Overnight, a 3-inch snowfall of big flakes covered branches, and there was no wind to blow the snow away. The branches were so laden that they drooped low, and some saplings were leaning over so far that their crowns touched the ground.Deer eating birch catkins
Deer eating birch catkins
The snow was a mixed blessing to deer. On the one hand, it covered bare ground where deer had begun eating blades of grass that were starting to emerge. On the other hand, it made catkins and flower buds available by having branches and saplings droop within their reach. I noticed something that I had not seen before and it took awhile for me to realize what I was seeing. At 7:13 this morning when I snapped the wide picture with a half dozen deer in it I happened to noticed a maybe 30-foot birch sapling toward the right middle of the picture so laden with snow that its crown was partly buried. At 12:04 PM, Birch sapling bent
Birch sapling bent
I snapped a picture of two deer eating catkins from this crown that was now up out of the snow. I don’t know if the deer pulled it up or if enough snow fell off for it to spring up on its own. At 5:19 PM, I snapped a picture of it with the crown some 14 feet above the ground—far above where deer can reach. I’ll watch to see if this sapling can ever stand straight.
Similarly, red maple branches hung so low that three deer were eating flower buds from their tips. Redpoll
Redpoll
Later in the day, these branches, too, were above reach. I couldn’t help but think the deer were competing with bears by eating these buds that would become flowers that bears eat.
For redpolls, this snow that covered every branch probably made it harder for them eat seeds from the same catkins the deer were eating. Whatever the reason, the Internet was alive today with people saying they were seeing more redpolls than ever before. Here at the WRI, as I was seeing about 200 of them, a neighbor a half mile away called to say he had 300.
It was a beautiful, exciting day.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
