Wildlife Sightings (Image heavy)

[Arctish]

Almost a year ago I started a thread at TR in honor of Earth Day. The purpose was to provide a place for people to post pictures or stories of their recent encounters with wildlife. It turned out to be a lot of fun, especially for the dedicated birders and the photographers. I think it would be fun to have a similar thread here at the Secular Café, so here goes:

Today a flock of Redpolls visited the bird-cherry tree just outside my front door. The tree has been pretty thoroughly picked over these last 5 months but they were still finding a fruit here and there.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/flockofredpolls.jpg

[Christina]

I can't remember which of these that I posted where, so sorry if they're all repeats.

Monarch butterflies hang in chains from Eucalyptus trees that grow near a source of milkweed and we have several of those groves here.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/DSC01706.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Monarch1small.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Monarch2small.jpg

There are lots of pelicans down by the coast:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Pelicans1small.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Pelicans2small.jpg

This is a quail. They're all over the place too.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/800px-California_Quail_mail_in_Gold.jpg

I'll do the rest in another post because I'm not sure how many images we can have in one.

[Christina]

I'm pretty sure that this guy is just lost.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/Roosters.jpg

Caterpillar and Dragonfly:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/caterpiller1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/dragonflys.jpg

Elephant Seals:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/800px-Elephant_seal_fight_Part-1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/DSC00056b.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/DSC00040b.jpg

This is some kind of shore bird:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/DSC01751.jpg

[Christina]

I didn't take these myself because there's no way I'm getting that close to a bobcat or mountain lion. There are a lot up here.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/bobcatphoto.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/mountainlion.jpg

[Mediancat]

-- it's not that either one is uncommon, but driving to the library a while back I saw three turkey vultures and a fox having a heated disagreement as to which of them was going to eat from the deer carcass they'd found.

Rob

[Ray Moscow]

This is some kind of shore bird:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/DSC01751.jpg

I was going to say a Brewer's blackbird (http://identify.whatbird.com/QuickSearch.aspx?q=Brewer's%20Blackbird), but the bill is different. Maybe a rusty blackbird (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/549/_/Rusty_Blackbird.aspx)?

Where did you see it?

[Danhalen]

I was going to say a Brewer's blackbird, but the bill is different. Maybe a rusty blackbird (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/549/_/Rusty_Blackbird.aspx)?

Where did you see it?I was thinking a starling or grackle.

[Ray Moscow]

I thought the bill was wrong for grackles, too, but it sure looks to be a close relation.

Common grackle (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/536/_/Common_Grackle.aspx)

The more I look at the Brewer's blackbird (http://identify.whatbird.com/QuickSearch.aspx?q=Brewer's%20Blackbird)entry, the more I think that's probably it.

[Mediancat]

I thought it was a kind of crow, but it doesn't seem to match any of the US species. If you know what zip code you saw it in, Christina, you can always go to enature.com -- just put in a fake email address when they ask.

Rob

[Christina]

There are loads of them right down at the coast. It's standing in ice plant which is only a few inches tall if that helps. I've never seen them anywhere else but right by the ocean. They were taken in the same place that the pelicans were, but it didn't look like they flew out to those rocks.

These next picture aren't great because they're so high up in the trees but every October flocks of band-tailed pigeons (I think) come to feast on the madrone berries.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/LowerBandtailedpigeonfullsize.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/UpperBandtailedpigeonsfullsize.jpg

I think that this is a junco:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/birdonthefence.jpg

Thanks Rob - I'll check out that link.

[Anne]

dragonfly nymph's mouth being opened. I can't believe how big the mouth is...

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii287/jessebison/102_9364.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

I think that this is a junco:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/birdonthefence.jpg



Yes, I think you nailed it. Dark-eyed junco (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/125/_/Dark-eyed_Junco.aspx)

[Christina]

Yes, I think you nailed it.

Yay - for once. We have really loud raucous bluejays too but they're common, and woodpeckers that are too high in the trees to get a good shot of. We either have crows or ravens but I'm not sure which. They're very big and you can hear their wings flapping from a long distance away. They caw. I don't know the difference between the 2. We have lots of hawks and vultures but I don't have any pictures of those either.

I don't know what this one is.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/birdonfeeder-1.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

Cowbird, I think. Maybe the brown-headed cowbird (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/107/_/Brown-headed_Cowbird.aspx)?

[Oolon Colluphid]

Our garden gets hedgehogs, blackbirds, sparrows, pigeons, bluetits and our neighbour's skanky cat. :(

Well, we did have a brief visit from a green woodpecker, which was the highlight of our wildlife year...

[Brianna]

I don't have a picture but last summer a moose walked into my camp site up by the lake.

Then we saw a bear and her cub, we were driving in the car and had to break for bear crossing.

[Mediancat]

Christina, I was assuming your bird was on the west coast. Am i wrong? Because Rusty blackbird seems to fit, except the range places it not native to any western state.

I would go with Brewer's -- here's a pic of one from the National Zoo's website:

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/ConservationAndScience/MigratoryBirds/Featured_photo/Images/Bigpic/brbl1.jpg

Rob

[Christina]

It does look kind of like that. Here is a side view of it. I'm looking at eNature but there are 291 species in my zip code. You can filter it by family but since I don't know what I'm looking for this could take a while. I'll probably find all the other birds here along the way.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/DSC01750.jpg

Am I stretching the page on anyone's browser?

[Mediancat]

Yeah, but you can filter certain ones out right away: It's not a duck/goose/swan, it's not a raptor, a New World vulture, an owl, or a gull.

Rob

[Goldie]

We have just about every critter...deer, elk, moose, bear (black, brown and grizzlies)cougar, bobcat, coyotes, wolves, skunks, racoons, porcupines, badgers, weasles, rabbits, hares and all sorts of rodents...bald eagles, owls, osprey, hawks, falcons ravens... all sorts of birds even humming birds...
But we don't have foxes!!! Isn't that WEIRD? No foxes or opossums for that matter. Too much competition?

[Christina]

Yeah, but you can filter certain ones out right away: It's not a duck/goose/swan, it's not a raptor, a New World vulture, an owl, or a gull.

Rob

I looked at thumbnails of all of them and I didn't see the one that you mentioned, but I also didn't see a lot of other birds that are commonplace around here. My zip code stretches from the coast, up through coastal valleys through redwood forests and into ponderosa pines with an elevation change from sea level to 2500'. It's probably hard to get all of those ecosystems into a zip code. I'm going to look at the zip codes on the other side of the mountain and the next zip code up the coast.

We have countless deer and coyote too. They're howling all around us at night. When he could still hear my little foofy cocker spaniel would go out on the porch, throw back his head and howl with them. He looked so silly.

[Ray Moscow]

We have just about every critter...deer, elk, moose, bear (black, brown and grizzlies)cougar, bobcat, coyotes, wolves, skunks, racoons, porcupines, badgers, weasles, rabbits, hares and all sorts of rodents...bald eagles, owls, osprey, hawks, falcons ravens... all sorts of birds even humming birds...
But we don't have foxes!!! Isn't that WEIRD? No foxes or opossums for that matter. Too much competition?

The bigger predators tend to kill off the smaller ones, so maybe that's why you're not seeing foxes.

Here in the UK, there are no wolves, but foxes are very common.

[Mediancat]

Yeah, here in MD the only regular predator larger than a fox is the black bear, and they have better things to do than chase after foxes. And the few coyotes tend to chase the foxes away, not hunt them down and eat them.

So we have a lot of foxes. Gray and red.

Rob

[Pendaric]

Starfish Discussion split to: here (http://www.secularcafe.org/showthread.php?t=588)

[Brianna]

The bigger predators tend to kill off the smaller ones, so maybe that's why you're not seeing foxes.

Here in the UK, there are no wolves, but foxes are very common.

Actually foxes are really stealthy. People often don't see them.

[Mediancat]

I see them around here fairly often, although, except for the one I saw fighting with the vultures and the one i caught loping across a barren field, not for very long.

Rob

[Arctish]

A very handsome moose was browsing on twigs at the side of the main road in downtown Fairbanks today. Traffic slowed a bit going past him but no one stopped. Moose are common enough in this town people mostly just ignore them.

[Laton]

Almost every afternoon there is a large male Kangaroo feeding on the front lawns of our office building.

A 10 minute walk from my house is a bush reserve where I routinely see:

Echidna's
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd313/Ash51a/f_echid10.jpg

Kookaburra's
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd313/Ash51a/kookaburra2341.jpg

Magpie's
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd313/Ash51a/4775100-lg.jpg

Galah's
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd313/Ash51a/galah.jpg

Sulpher-crested cockatoos
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd313/Ash51a/Sulphur-crestedCockatoo.jpg

and always kangaroos (of course)
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd313/Ash51a/Forrester-Kangaroo-mob_fs.jpg

[Arctish]

My daughter and I took our terrier on a long walk today. About halfway through he suddenly tried to plow through the undisturbed snow leading into the woods. The snow on the ground is 25" deep so he didn't get far. He had a determined look on his face, though, so we looked around to see what he was after.

He had picked up on the presence of a pair of ptarmigan about 20' away. He must have smelled them because there was no way he could have seen them before he scrambled over the snowbank.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/ptarmigan.jpg

[Goldie]

My husband just hit 2 out of 30 deer in the hwy.
Yea, wildlife!
There goes our insurance...up...up...up!

[Christina]

I just spent 20 minutes trying to catch a poor little junco bird and that flew into the sunroom before the cats got him. There were 3 of them and only one of me and they're a hell of a lot faster but I won. The bird seemed fine after I caught him because I set him down on a high ledge and he flew off into the trees right away.

[espritch]

I went hiking today. I saw what I initially took to be a lizard with two tails scrambling away. On closer observation, it turned out to be two lizards of different species. One had a big spider in it's mouth. The other had a couple of legs of the spider and was apparently trying to take it from the other one. Not something you see every day.

Naturally, I didn't have a camera. :(

[Arctish]

I went hiking today. I saw what I initially took to be a lizard with two tails scrambling away. On closer observation, it turned out to be two lizards of different species. One had a big spider in it's mouth. The other had a couple of legs of the spider and was apparently trying to take it from the other one. Not something you see every day.

Naturally, I didn't have a camera. :(

The mental image is pretty cool, though. Any idea what species of lizards were involved?

[Ray Moscow]

I had a good time surveying banded snail populations near our home yesterday.

http://www.kscience.co.uk/as/module5/seashore_web_site/organisms/images/cepea.jpg
(not my photo)

But on the more exciting side: we saw house martins and swallows yesterday, too -- in early April!

[rlogan]

Moose to the left of Lira's head.


http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/liramoose1.jpg

We've seen a lot the last few days but we're always going somewhere on the snow machine, so they run away.


Wow arctish - great ptarmigin shot.

Hope he tasted good.

[Mediancat]

I just spent 20 minutes trying to catch a poor little junco bird and that flew into the sunroom before the cats got him. There were 3 of them and only one of me and they're a hell of a lot faster but I won. The bird seemed fine after I caught him because I set him down on a high ledge and he flew off into the trees right away.

Something like that happened in my house a dozen or so eyars ago, except in this case it was a catbird that had somehow made its way down our chimney and absolutely could not figure out how to get back up.

Fortunately for the catbird, we had a glass screen on our fireplace. I say fortunately, because at the time we had four cats, all four of whom were standing there staring into the fireplace; if hunger were heat vision, that bird would have been ashes.

So I had to try to free it, and spent five minutes chasing the cats away (which did me no good at all) and then opened the glass.

Birds are faster than people. Has anyone mentioned this?

It shot out of the fireplace fast enough to break the sound barrier and flew upstairs.

At the top step -- it was flying very low to the floor -- it was caught by our cat Gwennie. Gwennie had horrible eyesight, couldn't jump more than two feet off the floor, and was probably "special." Nonetheless, she was the only one of our cats who could hunt worth a damn, and proved it by being the one to grab the terrified catbird in her mouth.

Her triumph lasted for maybe a half second; I don't typically cotton to hitting your animals, but at that point I was more concerned with saving the bird than anything, so I backhanded Gwennie halfway across the living room. (She suffered no ill effects.)-

She spit out the bird, and it flew into the den, where I was able to shut the door, much to the yowls of disappointment of our four cats.

After a minute or so of searching, I located the bird -- it was hiding behind one of the computer game boxes we had on the top shelf of our built in bookshelves. I grabbed a handy towel -- fortunate that it was handy, because I wasn't about to open that door and risk either a, the catbird bouncing around the house like a superball, or b, the cats enjoying some catbird tartare -- and managed to take hold of it, finally.

I looked it over for a second -- no obvious wounds, apparently Gwennie hadn't had it in her mouth long enough to do any serious damage -- and then went over to the window, opened it, and released the bird.

It dropped like a rock for maybe three feet -- long enough for me to nearly have heart failure -- and then remembered it could fly, and got busy doing just that.

The cats came in, inspected the room, and yowled unhappily for about five minutes.

But they got over it.

Rob

[Christina]

Usually what they drag in is either dead or barely alive and I go at them and it with a broom and get it outside again if I'm there when the do it. If not, Joe gets to get rid of it. I pitch such a fit that they're more than aware that it's a gift that the dog can't have in the house and they're going to lose their toy for good if we catch them. This one had way more of a chance to get out alive but cats were flying everywhere along with it.

[Arctish]

When our cat Pearl was about 9 months old she ran into the house one summer day and very excitedly showed off the beetle she had caught. A week later she was back with another one and a few days after that she proudly showed my daughter a small live grasshopper. Two weeks later she released a small live bird into the living room.

Toward the end of the summer my sister came to visit. We were all outside when we saw the cat trotting out of the woods with a yellow warbler in her mouth. Knowing exactly where she was headed I intercepted her in the driveway. I cupped my hand a few inches in front of her mouth and calmly said "Pearl, give". The cat very obediently placed the bird in my hand. I held my hand up at shoulder height while the bird righted itself and took off like a shot. The cat made a small startled mew of disappointment but apparently thought it was an accident because she forgave me. My sister was amazed the cat gave up the bird without a fight.

Last summer when she started bringing live voles into the house our open cat-door policy underwent a radical change. :D

[rlogan]

Yea, pretty interesting she would not give up the bird. Reminds me -

I had an amazing dog that could leap like none I have ever heard of. She came home with a couple of cats, and after being scolded about it the next one I saw she had it draped in her jaws at the edge of the woods, looking at me trying to figure out what she was going to do with it, and then disappeared.

One day I had her locked up in my jeep at a hot springs resort. She had been there sitting for some time watching this squirrel some tourists were also watching in a tree. Someone was taking a picture and they were chatting. I happened to come out of the hot springs resort not knowing what was about to happen, and opened the door to the jeep.

So tatoo (the dog) leaped past me on a dead run towards the tree. I could see what was about to happen and was mortified. This was a dog that could clear a seven foot fence in my back yard. Just an incredible jumper. Part dane part malemute.

So she was off like a shot and headed for this squirrel and I was yelling "tatoo...no!!"

Tattoo was beautiful when she bounded, and made girls that saw her squeal with delight. One of these tourists said "oh look..." But that joy was about to turn into terror.

Tattoo launched up and snatched this squirrel clean. When she landed she did this ferocious act with a head shake and menacing growl, which is how she killed things. One of the ladies was really fat, and she fell backwards against presumably her husband and knocked the two of them down.

Of course now that tattoo had her prize she was not about to cooperate with me and it just prolonged the agony of trying to effect any kind of escape.

She died not long after, contracting a cancer that killed her in just a couple of weeks it seemed.

[Arctish]

Today I took the dog to the same part of the woods where we saw the ptarmigan. We took a different path along a snowmachine trail to get to the place the birds were browsing and sure enough the dog scared up 2 ptarmigan. One of them flew so close I could have touched it as it went past.

[Zygote]

I don't know what this one is.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/birdonfeeder-1.jpg

I'll bet that's a California towhee. They are middle brown, middle sized and have a non descript, non-musical sound - a coarse rrrrraaach.

[Christina]

That sounds about right. They're usually by themselves and I rarely see more than 2 of them around at a time as opposed to the junco flock that's always together.

[Zygote]

I get two or maybe three at the feeder, pecking the fallen seed off the ground. I get groups of chickadees, juncos and oak titmice in the live oaks in the back yard.

Sometimes the trees will seem to shimmer with movement, but it's just a flock of teeny, greyish, hummingbird sized bushtits flitting through.

[Christina]

Do you know if the sugar water that you can supposedly use in hummingbird feeders is good for them? I want to be able to watch them from up close and take some photos, but I don't want to be setting up the McDonalds of birdfeeders for them.

[Brianna]

Do you know if the sugar water that you can supposedly use in hummingbird feeders is good for them? I want to be able to watch them from up close and take some photos, but I don't want to be setting up the McDonalds of birdfeeders for them.

I don't see why it wouldn't be? It is what they eat.

[Barefoot Bree]

Just make sure to change it out a couple of times a week or so, so it doesn't go bad on them.

[Christina]

Thanks. I know that it's more or less what they eat, but they aren't getting refined white sugar in the wild, Brianna. My dog will eat damn near anything but it doesn't mean that it's good for him. I'm starting to run out of places to hang feeders that the cats can't get near and I didn't want to waste one.

[Barefoot Bree]

Hummingbirds.net (http://www.hummingbirds.net/) has a lot of good info. From their page on feeders:
The sugar water we use to fill hummingbird feeders is only a supplement to the birds' natural diet. It's not necessary to buy a commercial "nectar" mix that includes additional vitamins, protein, or other substances, because the birds get all they need from the flower nectar and insects they consume. All they want from us is the quick energy they get from ordinary white cane sugar. It's just fuel for chasing bugs, and causes no known health problems in hummingbirds, whose metabolism is significantly different from humans'.

A note about sugars: natural nectars may contain any of the plant sugars, including sucrose, glucose, and fructose. There is no proven advantage in using, say, fructose instead of sucrose (cane or beet sugar). In fact, given the choice, hummingbirds seem to prefer sucrose above all others. Sucrose is by far the most common sugar in the flowers of plants for which hummingbirds are the primary pollenators. Water and sugar (usually sucrose) are the only constituents common to all natural nectars; most also contain traces of minerals and amino acids, but they vary from plant to plant, and probably are of little dietary importance.

What about beet sugar? I have read anecdotal evidence that hummingbirds can taste the difference between cane and beet sugars, and at least sometimes will reject beet sugar completely. If you can't seem to attract hummers and are using white sugar that's not specifically labeled as cane, try changing to a brand that is.

Americans can't use raw sugar, because its sale is banned in the U.S. due to diverse and unpredictable impurities (bacteria, molds, heavy metals, rat excrement, insect parts, etc.). The so-called "raw" sugar (also known as turbinado) common in third-world countries and marketed by health food stores is actually refined by the same process as white sugar, but without removing all of the molasses and other non-sugar components. The result is a less-pure sucrose that contains about five times as much iron as white sugar; since iron is essential but normally rare in hummingbird diets, their bodies hoard it, and even a modest excess of iron can poison them. If you have the choice, use only white sugar in hummingbird feeders.

Here is an article by Penny Elliston, a licensed hummingbird rehabilitator, about the dangers of relying too heavily on commercial mixes.

Please, do not put honey, Jell-O, brown sugar, fruit, or red food coloring in your feeder! Honey ferments rapidly when diluted with water and can kill hummingbirds. The effects of red dye have not been not scientifically tested, and it is not necessary to color the water to attract birds to your feeder. Further, there are unverified reports that red dye can cause tumors in hummingbirds; this may or may not be true, but why take the chance?

[Christina]

That's interesting. I'm glad they mentioned honey since I was wondering about that too but discarded the idea because I figured that it would make a sticky mess on the inside of the feeder.

[Brianna]

That's interesting. I'm glad they mentioned honey since I was wondering about that too but discarded the idea because I figured that it would make a sticky mess on the inside of the feeder.

You have to be careful for ant attacks.

[Christina]

Good point. I wonder if they draw wasps too.

[Zygote]

This is a picture of an egret I just took this evening. It was gusty and cool out by the bay.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa166/Zygote_photos/FLyingEgret.jpg

[Brianna]

saw one of these

http://www.k101images.com/osprey/osprey4295crop_std.jpg

http://www.greglasley.net/Images/Zone-tailed-Hawk-0006.jpg

and lots of these
http://media.wktv.com/images/crow1207.jpg

[Zygote]

The top one looks like it might be an osprey, but what's the middle one?

[Arctish]

The top one looks like it might be an osprey, but what's the middle one?

I found it! It's a Zone-tailed Hawk (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/522/_/Zone-tailed_Hawk.aspx).

[Brianna]

The top one looks like it might be an osprey, but what's the middle one?

Correct. It is.

And I saw a hawk, I am guessing it was probably a red tail, though the image I posted is probably not a red tail.

[Zygote]

Here's the redtail I saw yesterday. He's a regular. I can recognize him from the notched tail.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa166/Zygote_photos/RedtailNotch.jpg

[Arctish]

Here's the redtail I saw yesterday. He's a regular. I can recognize him from the notched tail.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa166/Zygote_photos/RedtailNotch.jpg

Very cool.

The migratory birds are just starting to arrive in my area. Banner headline of a local TV news webpage: They're Back! (http://www.webcenter11.com/mostpopular/story/Theyre-back/JFFNAv-8Mkie9f0Ag_CUyw.cspx)

We take our seasons seriously up here. :D

[Christina]

I often see groups of red-tailed hawks flying together very high up and circling around each other. From the ground it looks like they're playing around in the updrafts and not at all like they're searching for food. Does anyone know what they're really doing?

[Mediancat]

Are you sure they aren't vultures? The only birds I see circling in these apats en masse are turkey or black vultures.

Rob

[Christina]

I'm pretty sure. Joe has excellent eyesight and can tell the difference from their tails and the way that they hold their wings all the time.

[Arctish]

I often see groups of red-tailed hawks flying together very high up and circling around each other. From the ground it looks like they're playing around in the updrafts and not at all like they're searching for food. Does anyone know what they're really doing?

They are probably kettling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_(birds)).

[Christina]

Thanks - that sounds exactly like what I've seen. Usually it's less than 5 of them but I've seen as many as a dozen doing it all at once.

[rlogan]

Lira saw her first wolf yesterday evening.

He was tearing the guts out of this dead moose from the butt end (a pic is a bit too graphic for the ladies maybe) But you can see the melting snow has just uncovered the moose and the smell is starting to waft about, bringing in the predators.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/deadmoosewolfprints.jpg

Those are the wolf prints there by the moose.

Wow, you want to talk about MOVING. This wolf took off and was storming through a clearing in DEEP snow like a rocket ship. Just amazing. We tried to walk a little bit through it to follow him, and it was too deep. Probably why he did it.

The trick right now in walking through the woods is sticking to the bases of the trees. That's where it is shallowest. Go from one to another.

Unless you are a wolf!

By the time I had the camera out he was long gone. Sorry.

[nygreenguy]

^ cooooollll.

[Marduk]

I’ve had turkeys in my back yard hop up on my neighbors roof, deer crossing the street, red foxes, owls collide above my traffic light, wood peckers, doves sitting on my patio, squirrels in my living room, rabbits in my dogs belly, and the usual ducks, geese, groundhogs, snakes, chipmunks etc. One loan swan in a small pond and a blue Heron that hangs out near the fish hatchery looking for a freebie. Saw a hawk snag a squirrel the other day to.

[4321lynx]

Otter crossed cottage road, moving from beaver pond to our lake. It was only 30 feet from me & my dog, so dog gave chase, right into the water after it for her first swim of the year. (Ice not quite all out yet, water temp 32F :) ). Otter swam 20 yds, stopped & turned round to jeer at dog and peer at me, dog swam back to shore. Getting soft in her old age, she's almost 14 yrs old.

[Brianna]

I saw a big female red tail hawk looking for prey. I saw two mourning doves at my favorite bird feeder.

I saw a Canadian goose with a nest.

Deer and turkey in my back yard.

[Norrin Radd]

My bird-feeder regularly swarms with titmice and a couple different kinds of sparrows, plus a sort of sparrowy-looking reddish thing that I think is actually a finch of some sort. Lots of slate-colored juncos on the ground under the feeder. Also lots of pidgeons. Nuthatches are fairly common. Occasional black-capped chickadees. Recently cardinals -- both male and female -- have been visiting; they're more shy than some of the others. Sometimes I get downy woodpeckers -- male and female. Once had a brown-headed cowbird. A big nasty blue-jay has just started visiting. I have had one visit by two different cute little yellow birdies -- maybe finches and/or wrens. I'll have to see them a few more times to have any hope of identifying them in my decades-old bird book. (I may get myself a big shiny new book for my birthday.)

Also have scads of chipmunks living in sundry holes in my yard, a big honkin' bunny that meanders around, squirrels that bury walnuts everywhere, SOME-EFFIN-THING that lives in my garden shed, having dug under the door and wrought havoc within, a family of groundhogs that lives in a big mound in the woods just below my yard, and of course the obligatory random visits by polecats and possums.

[Norrin Radd]

Oh yeah -- little green tree frogs are around most summers. Occasional little harmless snakes here and there. BATS. Used to be fun... or something... to play badminton around dusk, and see the bats chase the birdies, briefly thinking they may be edibles.

Used to have lots of cool spiders. Big gnarly black-and-yellow ones that made webs with "zippers" down the middle. They only abounded for a few years back in the '70s or so, when there were tons of Japanese beetles to feast on.

[Marduk]

I forgot skunks, walked right by one the other night, also saw one rolling a garbage bag down a hill with its little feet.

[Mediancat]

Eastern towhee. Common, maybe, but I've never seen one before.

(Not my picture)

http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/images/eastern-towheewtmk.jpg

Rob

[nygreenguy]

I saw the biggest fucking bird I have ever seen in my life today! It was a heron or something. No picture, I was going to slam my brakes on but it was a big hill and someone was on my ass.

[Norrin Radd]

I saw the biggest fucking bird I have ever seen in my life today! It was a heron or something. No picture, I was going to slam my brakes on but it was a big hill and someone was on my ass.

If it was a hardy-looking heron, it may have been a penguin in disguise.

:D


Silly diversion over. Back to the real topic.

[crazyfingers]

This morning I went into my detached garage, two door with an attic, and there was a robin in there. He would not leave the ground floor. I spent several minutes trying to get him out of the rafters of the first floor. He kept flying around in the garage but not leaving.

I finally gave up and decided on a demonstration. I shut the door to the garage to show him that with the door shut there is no way out! (A him as he had nest making material that he was carrying around).

About 10 minutes later I opened it up hoping that he would fly out.

No good. He kept flying around about the ceiling boards which would make a good nesting perch, if he could actually get in and out during daylight, which he couldn't because the garage is closed when I go to work.

So I closed the door again for around 30 minutes. A longer demonstration.

Came back in and he had found his way to the attic still flying around with nesting material. I heard him fluttering up there so I extended down the retractable stairs and went up.

It was horribly hot up there. It was an abnormal 80'F today. He's flying back and forth between the front and back of the attic. I try to shoo him down the opening to the stairs. No good.

Finally I tried grabbing him as he flew back and forth. After about the 12th try I got a few tail feathers. He flew a bit but took a crash and landed on the floor on his back. Stunned I guess.

So I picked him up in my hand and took him down the stairs and outside the garage and put him on a lawn chair in the yard. He immediately flew off to the tree in front of him. His flying was just fine despite the loss of a few tail feathers.

Didn't come back.

I love birds but a robin's nest doesn't belong in a garage that's shut all day long with no way in or out!

Silly bird.

[Arctish]

This morning I went into my detached garage, two door with an attic, and there was a robin in there. He would not leave the ground floor. I spent several minutes trying to get him out of the rafters of the first floor. He kept flying around in the garage but not leaving.

I finally gave up and decided on a demonstration. I shut the door to the garage to show him that with the door shut there is no way out! (A him as he had nest making material that he was carrying around).

About 10 minutes later I opened it up hoping that he would fly out.

No good. He kept flying around about the ceiling boards which would make a good nesting perch, if he could actually get in and out during daylight, which he couldn't because the garage is closed when I go to work.

So I closed the door again for around 30 minutes. A longer demonstration.

Came back in and he had found his way to the attic still flying around with nesting material. I heard him fluttering up there so I extended down the retractable stairs and went up.

It was horribly hot up there. It was an abnormal 80'F today. He's flying back and forth between the front and back of the attic. I try to shoo him down the opening to the stairs. No good.

Finally I tried grabbing him as he flew back and forth. After about the 12th try I got a few tail feathers. He flew a bit but took a crash and landed on the floor on his back. Stunned I guess.

So I picked him up in my hand and took him down the stairs and outside the garage and put him on a lawn chair in the yard. He immediately flew off to the tree in front of him. His flying was just fine despite the loss of a few tail feathers.

Didn't come back.

I love birds but a robin's nest doesn't belong in a garage that's shut all day long with no way in or out!

Silly bird.

A couple of years ago a wild bird became trapped in my greenhouse. It was desparately trying to get out but couldn't figure out in needed to fly a little lower to go through the open doorway. It kept trying to fly higher. Anyway, after a few fruitless minutes of trying to guide it to the exit I borrowed my neighbor's dove, Angel. I let the wild bird get a good look at Angel then left them together with the door open. I knew the dove would get bored after a few minutes and come looking for me. Sure enough, Angel flew out about 3 minutes later with the wild bird following close behind.

[Ray Moscow]

I often see groups of red-tailed hawks flying together very high up and circling around each other. From the ground it looks like they're playing around in the updrafts and not at all like they're searching for food. Does anyone know what they're really doing?

Yep, kettling -- usually during fall migration.

I've seen it more often in related species, like broad-winged hawks.

[Ray Moscow]

A sloworm -- a legless lizard -- spotting while mountain walking in Switzerland yesterday.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/527/slowworm.jpg

[nygreenguy]

Out in the swamp today, saw a few things!
Garter snake
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_2006.jpg

Crawfish

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_2003.jpg

Branta canadensis- Canada goose (NOT Canadian)
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_1953.jpg

Fish watching me....
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_1982.jpg

Everes comyntas- Eastern tailed blue
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_1985.jpg

Meleagris gallopavo- an early thanksgiving
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_1989.jpg

Spotted salamander egg mass. This is in a vernal pool in the middle of a bog. Vernal pools are necessary for amphibians because they dont have fish predators, but they dont have any legal protections.
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_1991.jpg

Anthill in the middle of a bog. Ant hills can change the microtopography of a site, which can also influence the local biogeochemistry.
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/swamp/DSC_1995.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Today was another abnormally hot day. About 87'F. We decided to take the kids for a bike ride in the state park near us. It's really hiking and biking trails in the woods and around lakes mainly.

We were riding by one of the ponds and I saw what looked like a row of bumps on an old log quite too far away for me to make out what they were but I suspected that it was a row of turtles. I took a picture to check later.

It turns out I was right. zooming in on the photo, it was indeed a row of turtles. By the looks of them, 4-5 in long.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0673a.jpg

We kept going a while and then ran into a clog of people. When we got there we learned why.

This big snapping turtle was on the side of the bike path.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0676a%281%29.jpg

He really was huge. I'd guess a good 16 inches from nose the back of the shell, excluding tail.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0678a.jpg

Here is a close up of his head. It was roughly the size of my fist. He/she blinked just before I took this picture.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0679a.jpg

About an hour and a half later we came that way again and he was gone. The pond is about 20 feet from where he was.

[crazyfingers]

Seeing as I have left TR, I thought that I'd grab some of my favorite wildlife photos from the wildlife sighting thread over there to here. These are only pictures that I took myself

******

This was during one of the guys wilderness canoe trips in Quebec a few years back.

The little ones were wanting our blueberry bushes.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/Bear%20tree%202.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/217a.jpg

We wondered where mama was. After a while they scampered off to the nearby island beyond the canoe.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/220%20Bears.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/230%20BBBear1.jpg


Next morning, mama showed up. We finally decided it was time to move on to the next campsite in the circuit we were doing.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/mama%20bear%20s.jpg

********

From March 22, 2009

I took this picture this morning. They appeared to be fighting in the tree. They made clucking sounds and attacked each other in the air.

Eventually one of them left for another tree.

Clearly wood packers. After a bit of googling, it appears that they are red bellied woodpecker.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0469a.jpg

A week later they were drumming on my house first thing in the morning. Either calling a mate or signaling territory. 6am on a random corner of the house. I'd go out and scare it off and it would pick a neighbor to drum on. Christ they are loud!
****
April 19, 2009

Took this picture from a distance. A hawk of some kind. Haven't googled it yet. I see them around a lot but it's rare for them to sit still long enough to get the camera out.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/P3140011a.JPG

[Brianna]

Crazy, I think that is a krestel.

[crazyfingers]

A couple of years ago a wild bird became trapped in my greenhouse. It was desparately trying to get out but couldn't figure out in needed to fly a little lower to go through the open doorway. It kept trying to fly higher. Anyway, after a few fruitless minutes of trying to guide it to the exit I borrowed my neighbor's dove, Angel. I let the wild bird get a good look at Angel then left them together with the door open. I knew the dove would get bored after a few minutes and come looking for me. Sure enough, Angel flew out about 3 minutes later with the wild bird following close behind.

That's a pretty neat story. I don't know anyone with a domesticated bird though.

[crazyfingers]

Crazy, I think that is a krestel.

Thanks for that tip. I just googled it and the American Kestrel looks to have two black lines separated by white on it's neck.

http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/gallery/american_kestrel.jpg

My photo really isn't too good but the head looks uniformly dark. Would there be some without the white dark lines?

[Brianna]

Crazy, I think that is a krestel.

Thanks for that tip. I just googled it and the American Kestrel looks to have two black lines separated by white on it's neck.

http://animal.discovery.com/guides/wild-birds/gallery/american_kestrel.jpg

My photo really isn't too good but the head looks uniformly dark. Would there be some without the white dark lines?

IIRC, they vary on color slightly with region.

but the other one it might be is a juvie Red tail

http://www.greglasley.net/Images/Red-tailed-Hawk-0019.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

Took this picture from a distance. A hawk of some kind. Haven't googled it yet. I see them around a lot but it's rare for them to sit still long enough to get the camera out.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/P3140011a.JPG

Cooper's hawk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hawk), I think. It's easier to tell if you see it flying, as the wing shape is quite different than the buteos (red-tail hawk family).

But on the other hand, it could be a red-tailed hawk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tail_hawk). The plumage looks very similar to one of those in the linked article.

[Brianna]

The ovenbirds are back! :D

[crazyfingers]

The ovenbirds are back! :D

Overbirds? What that?

[Brianna]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovenbird

[crazyfingers]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovenbird

Shit it's a real bird! I thought that it was just some hip expression. :D

[Brianna]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovenbird

Shit it's a real bird! I thought that it was just some hip expression. :D

Yeah. :)

I like them.

Just bigger then a mouth full :evil:

[crazyfingers]

mouth full :evil:

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/P9170182a.JPG

Couldn't resist. But I suppose that I'm cheating going back to a photo from the summer of 2006.

But since I'm cheating, here's a baby spotted salamander. Got a bunch of photos of little and big ones. The big ones get to be a good 6-7 inches long.

They regularly cross my yard in the summertime.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/P8100248a.JPG

[crazyfingers]

Took this picture from a distance. A hawk of some kind. Haven't googled it yet. I see them around a lot but it's rare for them to sit still long enough to get the camera out.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/P3140011a.JPG

Cooper's hawk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hawk), I think. It's easier to tell if you see it flying, as the wing shape is quite different than the buteos (red-tail hawk family).

But on the other hand, it could be a red-tailed hawk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tail_hawk). The plumage looks very similar to one of those in the linked article.

Ya they both resemble it. I wish it was a better picture.

[crazyfingers]

Tonight I took my littlest boy outside at bedtime to look at the night sky for his homework. There was a crescent moon with Earth-shine illuminating the dark side so we could see the whole disc.

Anyway, as we were standing there in the dark we heard one, "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble" of a wild turkey. It was fun.

We have a lot of wild turkeys about. This is from a few years ago with my Avatar cat pretending not to care.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/Dudes%20Thanksgiving.jpg

[Brianna]

That is so uber :D

[Norrin Radd]

It's weird when the geese fly over after sundown, as if they feel like they're behind schedule and are trying to make up time.

[Arctish]

The Sandhill Cranes have arrived! Spring has now officially sprung.

[4321lynx]

A bird ?mourning dove rocketed into a white spruce in my yard this afternoon with a merlin about 1 foot behind it. Merlin emerged & made off empty-clawed. Narrow escape.
This time last year merlin was catching chickadees in the same area of the yard. Never see it in summer, must live further north, see it sometimes in the fall.

[crazyfingers]

It's weird when the geese fly over after sundown, as if they feel like they're behind schedule and are trying to make up time.

I notice that too sometimes. It's odd. From their direction I know that they just passed a nice pond that would have done them well for the evening.

Don't know why they would keep doing after dark.

[crazyfingers]

Abird ?mourning dove rocketed into a white spruce in my yard with a merlin about 1 foot behind it. Merlin emerged & made off empty-clawed. Narrow escape.
This time last year merlin was catching chickadees in the same area of the yard. Never see it in summer, must live further north, see it sometimes in the fall.

I have never seen a bird of prey go for a kill. It would be interesting though I'm not sure that I'd like to see the ending depending on the prey. I'd feel too sorry for a chipmunk or bunny.

Neither have I ever seen a wild turkey actually fly, though I know that they can.

[Brianna]

Abird ?mourning dove rocketed into a white spruce in my yard with a merlin about 1 foot behind it. Merlin emerged & made off empty-clawed. Narrow escape.
This time last year merlin was catching chickadees in the same area of the yard. Never see it in summer, must live further north, see it sometimes in the fall.

I have never seen a bird of prey go for a kill. It would be interesting though I'm not sure that I'd like to see the ending depending on the prey. I'd feel too sorry for a chipmunk or bunny.

Neither have I ever seen a wild turkey actually fly, though I know that they can.

I have seen both a bird of prey go after prey (eagle go after fish) and a turkey fly. :D

[Arctish]

Abird ?mourning dove rocketed into a white spruce in my yard with a merlin about 1 foot behind it. Merlin emerged & made off empty-clawed. Narrow escape.
This time last year merlin was catching chickadees in the same area of the yard. Never see it in summer, must live further north, see it sometimes in the fall.

I have never seen a bird of prey go for a kill. It would be interesting though I'm not sure that I'd like to see the ending depending on the prey. I'd feel too sorry for a chipmunk or bunny.

Neither have I ever seen a wild turkey actually fly, though I know that they can.

I have seen both a bird of prey go after prey (eagle go after fish) and a turkey fly. :D

I've seen a horse fly.

[Ray Moscow]

I've seen quite a few birds of prey go for prey, but I've only seen them catch it occasionally. Most predators miss 80% of the time or so -- it's the evolutionary assymmetry between "catching dinner" and "running for one's life".

Once I saw a barn owl catch a rat. I've seen a sparrowhawk nail a starling. A few times I've seen osprey and bald eagles catch fish. Once I even saw a perrigrine nail a pigeon.

But I think that's it.

[Brianna]

I've seen hawks be chased by crows. :)

[nygreenguy]

I've seen hawks be chased by crows. :)

I saw an eagle catch and kill a deer.

xAsXtDKdU0Q

[crazyfingers]

That's pretty amazing!

[nygreenguy]

I saw tons of critters today!

Snapping turtle- Chelydra serpentina

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2090.jpg

Fish

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2081.jpg

Catfish

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2080.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2078.jpg

Chipmunk- Tamias striatus

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2076.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2069.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2073.jpg

Woodpecker

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2066.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2065.jpg

Snake

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Beaver%20Lake/DSC_2096.jpg

[rlogan]

That turtle looks pretty big - but hard to tell without a reference. Squirrel is cute peeking out of the tree!

Several Dozen caribou here in an area where I have spotted an old gold mine from the air, but can't seem to find the god damned thing from the ground. We'll come in with the supercub and just land as close as we can later in the summer.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/honeycaribou-1.jpg

[Arctish]

That turtle looks pretty big - but hard to tell without a reference. Squirrel is cute peeking out of the tree!

Several Dozen caribou here in an area where I have spotted an old gold mine from the air, but can't seem to find the god damned thing from the ground. We'll come in with the supercub and just land as close as we can later in the summer.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/honeycaribou-1.jpg

Nice.

Is that one of the old burned over areas near Delta Junction?

[Danhalen]

I helped a buddy get back into his marsh this morning. It's shell was about 16 inches long. It probably would have been hit had I not helped it get back in the water.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/AgainsterPrime/Snapper.jpg

[rlogan]

Is that one of the old burned over areas near Delta Junction?

Broad Pass just south of Cantwell.

The gold mine is on the East side of the valley and the trail coming out of the mine looks like it is headed sort of towards the Igloo if you know where that is, but it gets lost in the timber right away and could go any damned place. Frustrating.

I am very reluctant to admit where this one comes from, but it was what Lira wanted to do so here is a picture from the *ahem* Anchorage Zoo WILDERNESS not.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/twobears.jpg

Wanted to get one of her standing next to a Kodiak bear. Not sure what flight he was catching but I often see him waiting at the airport.


http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/lirawithKodiakbeArfox1.jpg

These guys can weigh 20 times what she weighs, and twice the height.

But I am pretty sure one look at her would strike terror in him.

[Arctish]

I took a trip last weekend and saw a few of the more common birds and animals in my area. (*None of the following pictures were taken by me - I never seem to have a camera with me when I want one)

There were a dozen or so caribou along the roadside including one standing about 30' off the pavement watching the traffic. I think it was waiting for the right moment to cross the highway:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/caribou2.jpg

I saw a fairly large moose browsing in a meadow:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/cowmooseinmeadow.jpg

I saw a few snowshoe hares along the roadside:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/sshareinroad.jpg

I also saw a bald eagle, a couple of black-billed magpies, and a pair of tree swallows:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/bald-eagle-flying_4091.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/flyingmagpie.jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/tree_swallow.jpg

[Arctish]

I saw a Harlan's Hawk today. It's a subspecies of the Red-tailed Hawk.

Not my picture but very cool:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/HarlansRed-tailedHawkMetz2.jpg

[rlogan]

I'm guessing you went south for Caribou? Off the Parks? Or did you punch through the Brooks range?

[Arctish]

They were hanging around outside Cantwell, as usual. Most of them were browsing near the highway on the south side of the Jack River.

[Worldtraveller]

Saw an osprey patrolling over the lake by the zoo here last weekend. I think that's the first time I've seen one around here.

As for birds of prey I've seen actually take prey:
1) I've seen an osprey successfully hunt in a lake in N. Az.
2) I saw a Northern goshawk make a strike at a couple of red flickers and miss, in Estes Park, CO.
3) I've seen a redtail flying with a snake in it's talons, but didn't see the actual strike.
4) Just a couple weeks ago, I saw a redtail wing over and dive into some deep grass, but couldn't see the results. Since it didn't take off almost immediately, I'm guessing it got something.

[Arctish]

Yesterday I spotted a Peregrine falcon. It's only the second time I have seen one in the wild.

At first I thought it was a Harlan's hawk but as it flew overhead I clearly saw the distinctive plumage and tapering wings. I think it might be a young bird returning to Alaska from it's first migration. It had the streaked breast feather markings of an immature bird instead of the barred pattern of an adult.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/peregrine.jpg

(nmp)

[rlogan]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jkOmmkqSAvs/ShMukFR23pI/AAAAAAAAACs/3BdADSuDKBM/s1600-h/porky+pine+2.jpg

Porcupine and pregnant Mountain Girl


Edit:

Hmph. Can't seem to make pics from the blog load here:

http://alaskafilippina.blogspot.com/

Porcupine and den.

[Notta]

I've seen quite a few headless baby bunnies on my back porch lately. Apparently, from a cat's POV, the head is the tastiest part.

[Brianna]

the eyes are the best part. :D

and We had a baby fawn two weeks old in our back yard tonight.

[rlogan]

Porky pine -

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/porkypine2.jpg

And his little house in the forest -

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn180/lirajeanlogan/porkypineden.jpg

I don't know why I can't just put the IMG brackets around the location of the picture on our blog. Maybe a geek can help. But I don't want to load things twice. This is the location of the first picture -

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_jkOmmkqSAvs/ShMukFR23pI/AAAAAAAAACs/3BdADSuDKBM/s1600-h/porky+pine+2.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Had a bunny in my yard yesterday evening. He's probably there every evening and I just don't see him.

The cats were in their fenced in area that takes up half the back yard (that they can't get out of) and the bunny was outside.

I tried to show the cats the bunny but they didn't understand and eventually the bunny went away.

No new photos at this time :(

[Brianna]

Had a bunny in my yard yesterday evening. He's probably there every evening and I just don't see him.

The cats were in their fenced in area that takes up half the back yard (that they can't get out of) and the bunny was outside.

I tried to show the cats the bunny but they didn't understand and eventually the bunny went away.

No new photos at this time :(

Bunnies are tasty. They also breed like very quickly. Quicker then the cats. :D

I found a wing of a baltimore oriel. saw some crows chasing a bald eagle.

[crazyfingers]

Had a bunny in my yard yesterday evening. He's probably there every evening and I just don't see him.

The cats were in their fenced in area that takes up half the back yard (that they can't get out of) and the bunny was outside.

I tried to show the cats the bunny but they didn't understand and eventually the bunny went away.

No new photos at this time :(

Bunnies are tasty. They also breed like very quickly. Quicker then the cats. :D

I found a wing of a baltimore oriel. saw some crows chasing a bald eagle.

Last summer we did have some baby bunnies about. Not sure if they are smart enough to stay outside of the cat fence. The little ones could get in.

Didn't have cats last summer. Now we have two who are real primed for play-hunt. Hopefully the parent bunnies will keep them away from the cats.

[Zygote]

Turkey vultures from a camping trip last week near Livermore, California:

Wondering if I'm edible
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa166/Zygote_photos/TurkeyVulture_8383.jpg

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa166/Zygote_photos/Turkey_Vulture_8385.jpg

[Arctish]

Nice pictures, especially the second one.

[Zygote]

Thanks! The second shot was pure luck. I just kept clicking as it flew away. Gotta love digital.

[Ray Moscow]

Yesterday I spotted a Peregrine falcon. It's only the second time I have seen one in the wild.

At first I thought it was a Harlan's hawk but as it flew overhead I clearly saw the distinctive plumage and tapering wings. I think it might be a young bird returning to Alaska from it's first migration. It had the streaked breast feather markings of an immature bird instead of the barred pattern of an adult.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/peregrine.jpg

(nmp)

I saw a pair while walking on the South African coast last Saturday. I scared the male off his perch before I could get a picture of him.

I even saw the female snatch a pigeon, but it got away.

No good pics (of the birds) though. I need to start bringing a better camera on these trips.

[crazyfingers]

We were at the state park yesterday with the kids and my parents. My parents said that they spotted a bald eagle while they helped the kids fish and my wife and I were off for a bike ride. My parents are pretty avid birders So I think that they were likely not mistaken.

Park information on species found in the park does include the bald eagle as a bird to watch for.

[Ray Moscow]

I was out walking on the South Africa coast last weekend and spotted what appeared to be a washed up medussa jellyfish being eaten by snails (whelks?).

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1928/medussa1.jpg

I came back back the same spot about an hour later and found more snails under the jellyfish.

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1559/medussa4t.jpg

What amazed me was how fast the snails could move -- but as predators, I suppose they have to move fast to catch their prey.

I remembered that there are a few poisonous shellfish around there (cones), and even though these didn't appear to be them, I left them untouched.

[Ray Moscow]

OK, here's a Cape Hyrax about to pounce. (or expecting a handout, more likely)

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6215/hyrax.jpg

And here are a bunch of them lurking for unsuspecting passersby.

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2024/wherethehyraxroam.jpg

[Mediancat]

(Not my picture)

Rescued one of these crossing a fairly busy road on Sunday. Picked it up and hustled it as far back in a nearby semi-wooded lot as I could get.

Unlike the snapping turtles, it did not try to murder us as we rescued it:

http://www.hostmoon.net/~bumblebe/storage/Eastern%20box%20turtle.jpg

Rob

[crazyfingers]

(Not my picture)

Rescued one of these crossing a fairly busy road on Sunday. Picked it up and hustled it as far back in a nearby semi-wooded lot as I could get.

Unlike the snapping turtles, it did not try to murder us as we rescued it:



Rob

Having read up on turtles recently, see snapper photos a few pages back, the experts say that if you see a turtle crossing a road, the best thing to do is to help it cross the road and put it down only a small bit across the road and pointing the same direction that it was headed. Turtles crossing roads usually know exactly where they are going (either back to their pond after laying eggs, or to it's egg laying place) and it's best not to confuse it by moving it far from it's intended route even if you don't know of any pond anywhere near. The turtle knows what it's doing.

[Mediancat]

-- and if I'd been on a back road, I would have done just that. this sucker was crossing a very busy road.

Rob

[A Dead Relative]

I need to start carrying a camera. I took my kids on a walk, a couple weeks ago, and saw a couple birds I have never seen, and a small snapping turtle. Today, I almost hit a small turtle, crossing the road.

Allie had a close encounter with wolves, last week, out in Washington. She thinks it ate one of the cats.

[Christina]

I finally got a few hummingbird pictures although they aren't very good at all. They're too fast and scare off too easily.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/hummingbird4.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/hummingbird5.jpg

Does anyone know what kind they are?

[crazyfingers]

Cool hummingbird photos!

[Mediancat]

Research shows maybe this one:

http://www.hummingbirds.net/species_images/broadtailf.jpg

The broad-tailed hummingbird. (Female.)

Or possibly this one:

http://www.sierrafoothill.org/images/Gallery/FemaleAnnaHummingbird.jpg

Anna's Hummingbird.

There's a list of hummingbirds by state here. (http://www.hummingbirds.net/states.html)

Rob

[Christina]

They look more like the Anna's Hummingbird with the iridescent green coloring and a duller underside and those are very common here. This article (http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_11840087) has an interesting video clip about how the males can chirp with their tails. I googled images and it looks like they come in other colors too.

[crazyfingers]

I was outside in the yard around dusk tonight and two bunnies were frolicking, running and chasing each other about on the lawn. Very cute. I expect to see babies soon.

[Arctish]

This past week was a very good one for wildlife viewing.

The little pond at the end of the parking lot where I work had been a good place for waterfowl. It's only about an acre in size but there is a pretty good variety of birds feeding, sleeping, and hanging around the shoreline. In the past week I have seen:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/Mallardth.jpg

Mallards,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/Shovelerth.jpg

a Northern Shoveler,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/Scaupth.jpg

Greater Scaup,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/AmericanWidgeonPr-1.jpg

American Widgeons,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/goldeneyeth.jpg

Common Goldeneye,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/Canvasback_arp_750pix-1.jpg

and Canvasbacks.


A pair of Red-necked Grebes are nesting on a small rise surrounded by water.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/redneckedgrebe.jpg

Wednesday was apparently shorebird day. Severla species were feeding in the shallows for a few hours that afternoon. I saw

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/Semipalmated-Sandpiper38270.jpg

Semi-palmated Sandpipers,

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/lbdowitcher0597.jpg

Long-billed Dowitchers, and

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/HudsonianGodwit.jpg

Hudsonian Godwits.


Today a flock of Cliff Swallows was feasting on mosquitos at the edge of the pond.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/cliff20Swallow202.jpg

These are the birds that build colonies of mud nests under cliffs and on the sides of buildings.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/Cliff_swallows_2_sized.jpg

Unfortunately, their favorite building is being torn down as part of a renovation project but I'm sure they have already found another nesting site nearby.

(nmp)

[Arctish]

Continuing with this past week's sightings:

Last Saturday morning I saw a pair of young moose browsing on waterplants. They were probably twins born last spring and recently separated from their mother. I tried to get a picture but as soon as the dog figured out why we had stopped on the side of the road he ran them off.

A few days later I saw a red fox sitting just off the side of the road and down a slight slope. He was sitting there scratching behind his ear just like a dog. When he finished he gave himself a good shake and trotted off into the trees.

On Friday I had another fox encounter, and I'm pretty sure it was the same one. The coloration was the same and the place was within a few hundred feet of the previous sighting. It happened right outside my office. I had opened the door to place a piece of equipment outside on the stair railing. Apparently I startled the fox because it jumped up and sideways from behind my car then stood very still watching me. It was only about 30 feet away but the light was not very bright (2 AM in Alaska in May is like early twilight in the Lower 48) so I think the fox felt confident enough to take his time studying me. It looked me over for about 15-20 seconds then trotted away.

I didn't get a picture but it looked a lot like this:

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k264/Arctish/fox.jpg

The one I saw had a reddish coat with sandy brown highlights on his flanks and very dark legs and ears. I get the impression the foxes in my area have longer legs than their counterparts further to the south. The fox I saw was pretty tall in the legs and he seems typical for the Interior.

Also this past week I nearly ran over a Red-backed vole with my scooter.

[crazyfingers]

Went to our favorite state park, Borderland, today for a bike ride. Took this photo of a spotted turtle crossing the path.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0849a.jpg

ETA: he was about 4 inches long.

[crazyfingers]

On Friday I had another fox encounter, and I'm pretty sure it was the same one.

Red foxes are super-cute. The summer of 2007 we were up at the place in Maine and spotted a red fox close to the side of the road.

My wife took these photos from the passenger side window.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2067a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2068a.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

I finally got a few hummingbird pictures although they aren't very good at all. They're too fast and scare off too easily.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/hummingbird4.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/hummingbird5.jpg

Does anyone know what kind they are?

I'd say Anna's, too.

[nygreenguy]

Bufo americanus American toad

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Huntington/DSC_2521.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Huntington/DSC_2542.jpg

Spring peeper Pseudacris crucifer

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Huntington/DSC_2418.jpg

(its really cool full size)

Garter snake Thamnophis

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Huntington/DSC_2472.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Huntington/DSC_2470.jpg

Tamias striatus Chipmunk!

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/Huntington/DSC_2535.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

We heard a female cuckoo (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/index.asp) while walking today, but we didn't actually see her.

[A Dead Relative]

I had a red fox cross the road, in front of me, a couple days ago. Last week, I was inches from hitting a white tail deer. I actually had to swerve a little, to miss her.

[crazyfingers]

Got a fair picture of one of the bunnies in the yard today at dusk. There were two. Only got close enough to one to zoom in and get a not too fuzzy photo.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0905a.jpg

[crazyfingers]

I had another wildlife story this morning. Our cats can go outside into their wired in enclosure. We have that to keep the coyotes away from the cats and the cats away from the wildlife and the road. (Posted a photo of our old cat and some turkeys separated by the enclosure a while back)

But sometimes the wildlife ventures into the enclosure at their own peril. That happened with a chipmunk this morning. I was a tad late for work as one of the cats got it and took it inside and let it go. They ended up with part of the tail. (I believe that chipmunks tails are detachable for reasons like this?)

Anyway, the chipper hid itself away and I was finally able to get a bucket over it and let it free outside the enclosure.

But the cats have their souvenir.


http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0910a.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Some dumb bird refuses to leave my garage. It's small, about the size of a Chickadee, but gray, brown and black coloring. I'm afraid I'm not up on my birds.

I go out there and it fusses and futters in the rafters and in my stuff.

We'll see if it leaves. But I'll be closing the garage for the evening very soon and it will be stuck there until I open up again around 7:30am. If it doesn't leave by 7:45am, it will be stuck in there all day until I come home around 6pm.

[Ray Moscow]

Some dumb bird refuses to leave my garage. It's small, about the size of a Chickadee, but gray, brown and black coloring. I'm afraid I'm not up on my birds.

I go out there and it fusses and futters in the rafters and in my stuff.

We'll see if it leaves. But I'll be closing the garage for the evening very soon and it will be stuck there until I open up again around 7:30am. If it doesn't leave by 7:45am, it will be stuck in there all day until I come home around 6pm.

Probably a house sparrow, setting up a nest there.

Maybe it has another way in and out?

[crazyfingers]

Some dumb bird refuses to leave my garage. It's small, about the size of a Chickadee, but gray, brown and black coloring. I'm afraid I'm not up on my birds.

I go out there and it fusses and futters in the rafters and in my stuff.

We'll see if it leaves. But I'll be closing the garage for the evening very soon and it will be stuck there until I open up again around 7:30am. If it doesn't leave by 7:45am, it will be stuck in there all day until I come home around 6pm.

Probably a house sparrow, setting up a nest there.

Maybe it has another way in and out?

I think you're right. Looks likes the pictures I googled. Now I know one more bird :) Haven't seen him today by the way.

I have looked and I can't find a way in or out. But who knows... Would it squeeze under a door with a 1/2 inch opening?

Once I found a Robin nest up to of the automatic door opener.

And once there was a very large brown bird (about the size of a Robin) in the garage the morning that we were leaving for a two week vacation. Tried to get him out before we left but he wouldn't leave. Finally shut the door for two weeks. Never found a body.

[crazyfingers]

We went to the state park again today for a bike ride. The trail goes by a small dam and a stream where the kids always want to stop and play.

Today we found what I think is a juvenile Northern Water Snake. It was basking on top of the dam. A moment after I got this picture it jumped off the dam, fell about 2.5 feet onto the spillway and ducked under the dam.

Despite the photo, it was only about 7-8 inches long.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0939a.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

I have looked and I can't find a way in or out. But who knows... Would it squeeze under a door with a 1/2 inch opening?



I've seen them squeeze through some small spaces to make/reach a nest, so I suppose it's possible.

[rlogan]

Torque had a marmot cornered under the snow machine.

http://alaskafilippina.blogspot.com/

There has to be a way to have the pictures on the blog show here. I don't know how to do it, and with dial-up I don't like loading things multiple times.

This is the address when I click on properties for one of them.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jkOmmkqSAvs/Si2joNoW_4I/AAAAAAAAAF0/BeJX4rkhl_I/s320/marmot+torque.jpg

Maybe "hosting" is the only way to do this.

edit: nice snake!

[crazyfingers]

When I got home from work today I saw that the cat and the bunny were watching each other from either side of the cat enclosure. I took this from under the deck about 40 feet away. When I tried to get closer for a better shot the bunny scampered away.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0957a.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Torque had a marmot cornered under the snow machine.

http://alaskafilippina.blogspot.com/

There has to be a way to have the pictures on the blog show here. I don't know how to do it, and with dial-up I don't like loading things multiple times.

This is the address when I click on properties for one of them.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jkOmmkqSAvs/Si2joNoW_4I/AAAAAAAAAF0/BeJX4rkhl_I/s320/marmot+torque.jpg

Maybe "hosting" is the only way to do this.

edit: nice snake!

Those front teeth look pretty fearsome. When I first clicked on the link it looked like a beaver. Then I had to google to see what a marmot is.

[Mediancat]

The groundhog is the only example anywhere near the east coast.

Rob

[Ray Moscow]

We have fledging blackbirds in our garden now.

Since we're pretty fond of our resident adult blackbirds, we consider ourselves "grandparents".

I'll try to get a photo or two.

[rlogan]

heh. Must drive kitty a little batty to have a bunny so close yet so far...

[crazyfingers]

My neighbor reports that we have baby bunnies about. Hopefully I'll get a photo soon. Also hope that their parents don't let them go into the cat enclosure. That would suck a lot.

[Mediancat]

Saw one of these in the parking lot this morning. First time I've ever seen one of these things:

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/Insects/Eastern%20Hercules%20Beetle/img144.jpg

It's an Eastern Hercules Beetle, up to 2 1/2 inches long.


Not my picture, but we got a couple of pictures.

Rob

[crazyfingers]

Took this picture from a distance. A hawk of some kind. Haven't googled it yet. I see them around a lot but it's rare for them to sit still long enough to get the camera out.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/P3140011a.JPG

I was looking at the photo I posted a while back that I thought was a hawk of some kind.

Then today I was reading about Peregrine Falcons.

Could this be a Peregrine?

A few suspect web photos look pretty close.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/animals/images/primary/peregrine-falcon.jpg

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/photo_htm/Images/h3560pi.jpg

http://www.defenders.org/images/factsheets/peregrine_falcon.jpg

According to the map here (http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/species_info/nhfacts/falco_peregrinus.pdf) Peregrines are known to be nesting within about 5 miles of the park where I took the photo.

However it also notes that the most common misidentification is the Cooper's Hawk.

[Ray Moscow]

Peregrines are nearly everywhere.

I think your hawk is a buteo (probably a red tail) and not an accipiter (like the Cooper's hawk) as I guessed earlier.

How big was it? A red tail would be maybe twice as large as a peregrine (depending on the gender of either, as females are larger in both species).

[crazyfingers]

Bunny in the front yard.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0021a.jpg

New camera by the way. Upgraded to a Canon Powershot 890 IS from the old 800. 5x optical zoom for wildlife photos. This shot from about 50-60 feet away and cropped to size.

Some day I'd love to also have an SLR with big telephoto but you have to make choices and a pocket camera is what gets taken places. SLRs don't get taken places as much.

[crazyfingers]

How big was it?

Wild guess from that distance would be 10 inches top to bottom.

My parents are big birders and aren't sure but think that cooper's hawk is still most likely.

I don't know. Maybe I'll get a better photo at some point.

[Ray Moscow]

How big was it?

Wild guess from that distance would be 10 inches top to bottom.

My parents are big birders and aren't sure but think that cooper's hawk is still most likely.

I don't know. Maybe I'll get a better photo at some point.

Well, that's a bit small for a Cooper's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper's_Hawk) and definitely too small for a red tail, but then it's hard to judge size unless it's next to something of known size.

Maybe its smaller cousin, a Sharp-shinned Hawk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp-shinned_Hawk)?

[Arctish]

I'm betting it's a juvenile Red-tailed hawk (http://www.greglasley.net/Images/Red-tailed-Hawk-0019.jpg). The pattern of white patches and brown streaks on the breast feathers looks right, and so does the shape of the head and beak.

[Ray Moscow]

Yeah, the markings do look like one of the juvie pictures in the Wikipedia article on red-tail hawks. Size can be hard to estimate, too.

[Christina]

The only "wildlife" that I've seen lately when I have my camera at hand is this ladybug. I know, it doesn't really count.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g132/KGpictures/R-June19007.jpg

[Mediancat]

One of my best friends found one of these in her backyard yesterday morning:

http://www.naturescapes.net/102005/Bobwhite0026.jpg

And, after we had lunch, saw one of these in a stream in urban York, PA:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Oiseaux_marais-rochefort.jpg

Once again, neither picture mine.

Rob

[crazyfingers]

Yeah, the markings do look like one of the juvie pictures in the Wikipedia article on red-tail hawks. Size can be hard to estimate, too.

Size is real hard to judge from the distance that I took the photo. I had guessed 10 inches. I don't think that it could have been more than 12 inches.

I just hope to get a more hawk photos. Wonderful critters to photograph.


And now that I'm thinking about mystery birds, here is a photo that I took last summer from my kayak while paddling with my youngest son on the ocean in Frenchman Bay, off the coast of Maine. The two were clearly a pair. As I watched them they stuck together.

I'm thinking that these are likely American Bald Eagles as we know that they are around.

But I don't really know. I need to learn more about birds. They are beginning to really fascinate me.


http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_8669a.jpg

[A Dead Relative]

Cristina, insects are wildlife, too. Some insects are really awesome.

Speaking of which, a couple years ago we were walking around one of the lakes, in Des Moines, and saw a really unusual bug. I had to look it up, just to figure out what it was.

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/images/hellgramite_greg.jpg

Luckily there is a website just for that.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/

Turns out it was a Hellgrammite, which is the larvae of a Dobsonfly.

(This is a photo off the website)

[4321lynx]

Yeah, the markings do look like one of the juvie pictures in the Wikipedia article on red-tail hawks. Size can be hard to estimate, too.

Size is real hard to judge from the distance that I took the photo. I had guessed 10 inches. I don't think that it could have been more than 12 inches.

I just hope to get a more hawk photos. Wonderful critters to photograph.


And now that I'm thinking about mystery birds, here is a photo that I took last summer from my kayak while paddling with my youngest son on the ocean in Frenchman Bay, off the coast of Maine. The two were clearly a pair. As I watched them they stuck together.

I'm thinking that these are likely American Bald Eagles as we know that they are around.

But I don't really know. I need to learn more about birds. They are beginning to really fascinate me.


http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_8669a.jpg


The marked dihedral angle of the lower bird's wings makes it unlikely to be a bald eagle. Those soar & glide with wings nearly flat. Golden eagles do have a slight dihedral in those circumstances.
If they were over land I would guess they were turkey vultures, purely on the attitude of those wings of the lower bird, so typical of vultures soaring. But I've never seen vultures soaring over the sea!!!

If they were over a seashore marsh of any sort they could be northern harriers. Those run about 2/3rds the size of eagles, & they do fly like that.

[crazyfingers]

Yeah, the markings do look like one of the juvie pictures in the Wikipedia article on red-tail hawks. Size can be hard to estimate, too.

Size is real hard to judge from the distance that I took the photo. I had guessed 10 inches. I don't think that it could have been more than 12 inches.

I just hope to get a more hawk photos. Wonderful critters to photograph.


And now that I'm thinking about mystery birds, here is a photo that I took last summer from my kayak while paddling with my youngest son on the ocean in Frenchman Bay, off the coast of Maine. The two were clearly a pair. As I watched them they stuck together.

I'm thinking that these are likely American Bald Eagles as we know that they are around.

But I don't really know. I need to learn more about birds. They are beginning to really fascinate me.


http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_8669a.jpg


The marked dihedral angle of the lower bird's wings makes it unlikely to be a bald eagle. Those soar & glide with wings nearly flat. Golden eagles do have a slight dihedral in those circumstances.
If they were over land I would guess they were turkey vultures, purely on the attitude of those wings of the lower bird, so typical of vultures soaring. But I've never seen vultures soaring over the sea!!!

If they were over a seashore marsh of any sort they could be northern harriers. Those run about 2/3rds the size of eagles, & they do fly like that.

Do you have an educated guess? You know more about it than I do. My dad guessed an Osprey. Would that make sense? It was circling off of a small island surrounded by deep water.

[4321lynx]

Right place for ospreys, but again the appearance is not typical. But snapshots of birds in flight, as opposed to video or real time observation, often look atypical.
And then I'm not an expert birder by any means... :)

[crazyfingers]

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0065a.jpg

Best bunny photo yet. My side yard this morning.

[Ray Moscow]

Today we saw a peregrine falcon -- that flew by us, maybe 10 feet away, while we were in the mist on High Spy (in the UK Lake District).

And after getting back to ground level, we saw a sparrowhawk take a bird on the wing -- looked like a fledgling house martin. It was amazing.

[crazyfingers]

And after getting back to ground level, we saw a sparrowhawk take a bird on the wing -- looked like a fledgling house martin. It was amazing.

I have still never seen anything like that.

It's also been pretty boring here in Massachusetts for a few weeks. Rain and mist almost every day. Bluck!

But in a week we'll be going to Maine for two weeks and I hope to see a lot more wildlife than what you get in a suburban back yard.

[4321lynx]

And after getting back to ground level, we saw a sparrowhawk take a bird on the wing -- looked like a fledgling house martin. It was amazing.

I have still never seen anything like that.

It's also been pretty boring here in Massachusetts for a few weeks. Rain and mist almost every day. Bluck!

But in a week we'll be going to Maine for two weeks and I hope to see a lot more wildlife than what you get in a suburban back yard.

Month ago in St Andrews New Brunswick, on the border of Maine, saw a Swainson's Hawk patrolling the beach!
That's a prairie bird, but occasionally reported as "rare" on both the East & West coasts.

[crazyfingers]

Chipper in my driveway.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0071a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0070a.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Well I don't know if anyone cares about this thread any more but... Well I just got back from a 2 week vacation on the coast of Maine and have a bunch of wildlife photos.

In chronological order for the vacation.

A red squirrel in back of our barn.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0173a.jpg

On Route 1 in Hancock, ME, these ducks stopped the main east/west road to cross the street... almost. They got 70% the way across the road and then changed their minds and went back.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0305a.jpg

Our house has been in my wife's family for 150 years. There is a new addition and there are critters. We have flying squirrels living in the rafters. Here he is where the old and new house connect.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0306a.jpg

An ocean duck-like critters at Frasier Point, Acadia National Park close to Winter Harbor.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0447a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0451a.jpg

Flying Squirrel young ones. It appears that we have not one but 4 flying squirrels in the house. They are nocturnal critters and always became active in the house around fron 9pm - 11:00pm. These guys are looking at me as I lie in my bed upstairs watching a movie on my computer.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0636a.jpg


A crab down by the shore in front of the house.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0714a.jpg

While riding bikes on the Carriage Roads in Acadia, spotted this hawk of some kind.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0806a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0807a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0808a.jpg

Sea Gulls at Sand Beach, Acadia National Park.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0884a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0897a.jpg

More gulls. This time from my kayak in Frenchman Bay not far from our house.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1001a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1002a.jpg

More ocean birds. Not loons but look similar from a distance.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1016a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1018a.jpg

A flock of them flying off...
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1044a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1046a.jpg

Still kayaking. Finally a first successful (sort of) photo of the Bald Eagle that is nesting not far from our house. That Eagle is so hard to photo because it doesn't hang around. It swoops out of the trees and heads off for other places often too fast to get the camera out.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1072a.jpg

To be continued....

[crazyfingers]

A bunny, taken at twilight from a ways away. But it's big. Probably large cat sized. We saw several of them but only one photo sort of came out. They were real big.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1209a.jpg

At the shore of Eagle Lake, Acadia, some polliwogs.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1241a.jpg

A frog. Same place as the polliwogs.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1243a.jpg

A Loon, on Eagle Lake, Acadia. It's very rare for a Loon to get so close to shore with people around. I was very lucky to get this shot.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1324a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1326a.jpg

A Blue Heron, hunting for food a low tide. Photo taken across the street from the house.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1373a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1374a.jpg

A Crow actually sitting in a tree. They don't often do that. By Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1427a.jpg

That Bald Eagle again! I tried so hard to get a good photo of it. I was walking down the field from the house to the shore and he swooped down right in front of me. I was able to get a not so good photo. About 15 minutes later he flew over the house with a fish in his talons. I was a fraction of a second too slow with the camera to get that shot.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1504a.jpg

A White Tail Deer. Taken though the car window on Park Loop Road in Acadia.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1472a.jpg

I believe that these two photos are the Blue Heron in flight. Same bird taken a few seconds apart. It turned.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1505a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1506a%281%29.jpg

I'm happy with the photos so far. Some real nice ones I think. We are going back to Maine again for a week ending on Labor Day.

My main photo goal is to get a good photo of that Bald Eagle!

Also, I want a photo of the Red Fox. Saw it twice. Once I saw it looking out the bathroom window as it walked across the field by the ocean. Second I saw it crossing the road as we were driving towards it. Didn't get a photo either time.

[frazier]

Those are some great shots, CF.

[Ray Moscow]

We had what looked like a very young fledgling wood pigeon (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/woodpigeon/index.asp)hiding in our front garden yesterday evening. I didn't try to get a photo because the poor thing looked terrified.

We just left him alone, since some adults wood pigeon were around. No sign of him (or remains) this morning, so I think he made it out OK. That part of the garden was protected by a sonic anti-cat device, so he was relatively safe.

[Worldtraveller]

Yeah, the markings do look like one of the juvie pictures in the Wikipedia article on red-tail hawks. Size can be hard to estimate, too.

Size is real hard to judge from the distance that I took the photo. I had guessed 10 inches. I don't think that it could have been more than 12 inches.

I just hope to get a more hawk photos. Wonderful critters to photograph.


And now that I'm thinking about mystery birds, here is a photo that I took last summer from my kayak while paddling with my youngest son on the ocean in Frenchman Bay, off the coast of Maine. The two were clearly a pair. As I watched them they stuck together.

I'm thinking that these are likely American Bald Eagles as we know that they are around.

But I don't really know. I need to learn more about birds. They are beginning to really fascinate me.


http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_8669a.jpg


The marked dihedral angle of the lower bird's wings makes it unlikely to be a bald eagle. Those soar & glide with wings nearly flat. Golden eagles do have a slight dihedral in those circumstances.
If they were over land I would guess they were turkey vultures, purely on the attitude of those wings of the lower bird, so typical of vultures soaring. But I've never seen vultures soaring over the sea!!!

If they were over a seashore marsh of any sort they could be northern harriers. Those run about 2/3rds the size of eagles, & they do fly like that.

Do you have an educated guess? You know more about it than I do. My dad guessed an Osprey. Would that make sense? It was circling off of a small island surrounded by deep water.
The silhouette of those look much more like the northern harrier (or similar, like a Mississippi kite) to me. We get a lot of those in this part of the country.

[Worldtraveller]

Cedar Waxwing at Estes Lake (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Estes%20Lake%20-%20Birding/?action=view&current=P1010133.jpg).

American Goldfinch (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Estes%20Lake%20-%20Birding/?action=view&current=P1010131.jpg) Also at Estes lake.

Not a good pic, but the best one I got of this guy. At first I thought he was a warbler of some kind, or a rock wren. Not I'm not sure.
http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010170.jpg

Several (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010173.jpg) shots of (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010178.jpg) a flycatcher of some sort (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010177.jpg). I haen't positively identified him yet. This was in the Rockies, around 9500 feet or so if that helps.

Lesser chipmunk (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Fern%20Lake%20Hike/?action=view&current=LeastChipmink-01.jpg) (Least?) I forget the exact nomenclature.

A very cooperative Gray Squirrel (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Fern%20Lake%20Hike/?action=view&current=P1010028.jpg).

Golden bridled ground squirrel (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Fern%20Lake%20Hike/?action=view&current=P1010048.jpg), or something to that effect. (They changed the common name recently.)

Some probably non-native trout (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Fern%20Lake%20Hike/?action=view&current=P1010070.jpg) at Fern Lake.

[crazyfingers]

The silhouette of those look much more like the northern harrier (or similar, like a Mississippi kite) to me. We get a lot of those in this part of the country.

I guess that could be. It is real close.

http://www.peregrinefund.org/explore_raptors/hawks/media/nharier4.jpg

I'm finding it very hard to identify these birds of prey. I'm also getting very interested in them and identifying them.

For example this one from above. No idea what it is.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0807a.jpg

The back side of the wing has feathers that are separated but an information sign at the park has a photo of commonly seen birds of prey and none have that.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1108a.jpg

[Worldtraveller]

My first thought looking at that last pic is that it's a raven. They are ubiquitous, and can hold their wings in several different positions while soaring that often make them hard to identify. Their feathers aren't necessarily separated either. Most birds (at least the large ones) moult in late spring, I think. I know when we were in Colorado, almost all the ravens had random primary flight feathers missing.

[Ray Moscow]

I think it's probably a Mississippi Kite.

The National Geographic bird guide is really good for identification -- get a copy at your local bookstore.

[Ray Moscow]

Several (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010173.jpg) shots of (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010178.jpg) a flycatcher of some sort (http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c146/Wylann/Estes%20Park%202009/Gem%20Lake%20Trail/?action=view&current=P1010177.jpg). I haen't positively identified him yet. This was in the Rockies, around 9500 feet or so if that helps.



Maybe an olive-sided flycatcher (http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/170/_/Olive-sided_Flycatcher.aspx)? Or something closely related.

[Mediancat]

Well I don't know if anyone cares about this thread any more but... Well I just got back from a 2 week vacation on the coast of Maine and have a bunch of wildlife photos.

In chronological order for the vacation.

AAn ocean duck-like critters at Frasier Point, Acadia National Park close to Winter Harbor.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0447a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0451a.jpg

.

I've been trying and I cannot figure out what these things are. Anyone else have any ideas?

Rob

[Worldtraveller]

Well I don't know if anyone cares about this thread any more but... Well I just got back from a 2 week vacation on the coast of Maine and have a bunch of wildlife photos.

In chronological order for the vacation.

AAn ocean duck-like critters at Frasier Point, Acadia National Park close to Winter Harbor.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0447a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0451a.jpg

.

I've been trying and I cannot figure out what these things are. Anyone else have any ideas?

Rob
My best guess is a Common Eider (http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?source=&parkid=&searchText=&allSpecies=&shapeID=965&lshapeID=0&curAbbr=&lastView=default&lastGroup=1&lastRegion=&lastFilter=4&lastShapeName=&trackType=&curRegionID=&size=&habitat=&fruit=&color=&sortBy=family&curFamilyID=&regionSelect=All+regions&regionZIP=&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=65). It appears to be in a strange stage or maybe immature/not fully fledged, though. If you look at the female on that page, it is one of the few ducks that have a grey bill.

[Danhalen]

I got this shot of a Great Blue Heron in downtown Columbus Ohio this past Monday on the mighty (filthy) Scioto River.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e304/AgainsterPrime/Downtown%20Columbus%20and%20COSI/DSCN2174.jpg

[Danhalen]

While riding bikes on the Carriage Roads in Acadia, spotted this hawk of some kind.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0806a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0807a.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_0808a.jpgI do believe that's a turkey vulture. We call 'em buzzards around here and there's Buzzard Day, March 15th, in Hinckley Ohio (just north of me) when a bunch of people get together to watch them roost.

[crazyfingers]

So that's Ol' Mistah Buzzard?

[Ray Moscow]

The black vulture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Black_Vulture)has some white on its wings.

The turkey vulture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture)doesn't, but it as a different wing shape and spreads its feathers on the end like top picture. (Mature ones also have a red head, which gives it the name. Immature ones have a black head and are hard to distinguish from black vultures except in flight.)

You often see them together -- the black vultures will follow the turkey vultures to the food. Turkey vultures can find food by the smell, which is very unusual in birds.

And both are often called "buzzards" in the US.

[loose cannon]

This cheeky dingo wandered into my camp the other day. No babies were killed in the taking of this pic.:)

http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv218/loose9/IMG_1985.jpg

[premjan]

Handsome

[rlogan]

suddenly it seems so warm looking at the pictures down there.

Water you can swim in!

[Danhalen]

suddenly it seems so warm looking at the pictures down there.

Water you can swim in!If you don't mind the glowing that comes from all of the pollution.

[crazyfingers]

Nice dingo photo. Didn't know about them. Formerly domesticated dogs that have gone back to nature.

[Ray Moscow]

I saw some ravens on the Swedish coast yesterday.

[crazyfingers]

My Sister in law is visiting and she had been up to the house in Maine (see previous page) earlier this week. She reports seeing a mother white tail deer and 2 children actually swimming in the ocean from the island off shore back to the mainland in front of the house. She actually heard the mother vocalizing to the children to follow.

There are mud flats from the island to the mainland at very low tide. We speculate that they went out and had to swim back.

When they got to shore they were exhausted.

No photo :(

[David B]

Privet Hawk Moth caterpillar

http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp275/dble_photo/Augustnaturepics018.jpg

David

[crazyfingers]

Just got home from our second vacation on the coast of Maine. Got several photos and an unidentified bird to post but for the moment I though that I would post the successful shots of the bald eagle. I don't know if it's the same one. I took the photos from the east side of park road in the Schoodic section of Acadia National Park. That's about 7.5 miles from where I took the photo before, mostly across open bay. I don't know if Bald eagles maintain territories. I suppose I could look that up.

But in the meantime...

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2305a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2303a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2299a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2298a.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Here is the unidentified bird. It's a big one. It's at the top of a mature spruce tree (100 feet up?) and about 100 feet from the ocean shore. An eagle would be only a bit larger from that distance.

It's the beak that gets me. That's no eagle or hawk beak.

Any ideas? It sort of resembles a black-crowned night heron but not close enough. Tail feathers are too long for a start.

Could it be some freaking huge woodpecker?

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2420a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2421a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2425a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2427a.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Other fun critters from the vacation.

Great Blue Heron at Schoodic area of Acadia.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2312a.jpg

Chipmunk by the barn

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2822a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2416a.jpg

Spider!!!! on the roof of the front deck

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2431a.jpg

Herring Gull on a bombing mission at Schoodic Point

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2261a.jpg

Wild Turkey(s) on the carriage roads.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2537a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2539a.jpg

[Mediancat]

Try this site (http://www.whatbird.com/) to try to figure out that bird, cf. I've tried based on the picture and got nowhere, but you saw it directly so maybe you'll have better luck.

Rob

[Ray Moscow]

Here is the unidentified bird. It's a big one. It's at the top of a mature spruce tree (100 feet up?) and about 100 feet from the ocean shore. An eagle would be only a bit larger from that distance.

It's the beak that gets me. That's no eagle or hawk beak.

Any ideas? It sort of resembles a black-crowned night heron but not close enough. Tail feathers are too long for a start.

Could it be some freaking huge woodpecker?

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2420a.jpg

SNIP



Well, it looks like a Clark's nutcracker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark's_Nutcracker)to me. How big was it?

[crazyfingers]

Well, it looks like a Clark's nutcracker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark's_Nutcracker)to me. How big was it?

At least as large as a herring gull. I'd say the body would have been at least 9 inches and that long white thing that appears to be tail feathers another 8 inches.

[nygreenguy]

Here is the unidentified bird. It's a big one. It's at the top of a mature spruce tree (100 feet up?) and about 100 feet from the ocean shore. An eagle would be only a bit larger from that distance.

It's the beak that gets me. That's no eagle or hawk beak.

Any ideas? It sort of resembles a black-crowned night heron but not close enough. Tail feathers are too long for a start.

Could it be some freaking huge woodpecker?

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_2420a.jpg



The overwhelming consensus of my ornithologist colleagues and me is that its a blue jay. Most likely a female of juvenile.

[crazyfingers]

The overwhelming consensus of my ornithologist colleagues and me is that its a blue jay. Most likely a female of juvenile.

It does look like one from that distance but the trouble is that it's huge. While I was on max zoom and have also cropped the photo down, I'd say that the live bird was about the size of a herring gull.

From that distance, a blue jay would appear about 1/4 the size.

[Ray Moscow]

It still looks like a corvid -- jay or crow family -- to me. You were on the Maine coast? If so, a Clark's nutcracker is not likely since they are out west (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Clarks_Nutcracker/id).

It is the right range for a blue jay, but they are much smaller than what you describe (as you already said).

The long tail you describe also excludes night herons (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-crowned_Night-Heron/id).

None of the woodpeckers (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax.aspx?family=45)are that big, either, except the piliated.

[crazyfingers]

It still looks like a corvid -- jay or crow family -- to me. You were on the Maine coast? If so, a Clark's nutcracker is not likely since they are out west (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Clarks_Nutcracker/id).

It is the right range for a blue jay, but they are much smaller than what you describe (as you already said).

The long tail you describe also excludes night herons (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-crowned_Night-Heron/id).

None of the woodpeckers (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax.aspx?family=45)are that big, either, except the piliated.

Ya I noted the issue with the tail for the night heron and ya I looked at the range of the Clark's Nutcracker and it's out west.

I agree it sure looks like a blue jay. I just have a great deal of trouble reconciling the size of the thing as I was watching it.

I was a real shame that I didn't watch the bird for another minute. I went into the house to get the video recorder because it has a far greater zoom than my camera. It took me all of 30 seconds to get the video but the bird had flown off in that time.

[crazyfingers]

We'll be up at the house to clean for the winter two weekends from now. I think that I'll take a photo of the whole tree and where I was standing to provide some perspective on the size.

[4321lynx]

I'm sure it's a bluejay. Size at a distance is very subjective, & even more so through binoculars or a camera's zoom, but in relation to the cones on the white spruce, which are usu 1- 2", it looks OK for a bluejay - overall length usu 11 -12". Also consider that the spruce needle length, clearly visible in the pic, is 3/8-3/4".

[Worldtraveller]

Yeah, that's definitely a bluejay. I think the size was deceptive. No other bird has a color pattern like that.

[Mediancat]

Particularly the ring around the neck, I think, confirms it. None of theh erring gull-sized birds I found in that area had a dark ring around the neck.

Rob

[Cath B]

Delighted to see a red squirrel near Crieff, Perthshire, one of its remaining strongholds in the UK, on Saturday.

And I've just found a link outlining a red squirrel project in the area.
(http://www.pkc.gov.uk/Planning+and+the+environment/Countryside+and+Wildlife/Countryside+Management+and+Conservation/Red+Squirrel+Project+at+the+Knock+of+Crieff.htm)

[nygreenguy]

Kingfisher

These guys are awesome. They hover above the water and then WOOSH dive in and snag a fish.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/DSC_3470.jpg


Dragonfly
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb138/nygreenguy/bug.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Nice kingfisher shot.

Dragonflies are just amazing. I recall once on a canoe-camping trip in Canada it was very buggy. Black flies mainly. On a layover day to get away from the bugs we spent the day at the end of a long rock peninsula were the bugs were fewer and there were at least 100 dragonflies swooping around all about us. Never before was it so clear that dragonflies our our friends.

I remember watching as a black fly was headed right at my face. And then it seemed like 3 inches from my nose a dragonfly came in from the side and snatched away in front of my eyes.

It was after that trip that I got the bug suit that was featured in my yellow jacket thread.

[nygreenguy]

Nice kingfisher shot.

Dragonflies are just amazing. I recall once on a canoe-camping trip in Canada it was very buggy. Black flies mainly. On a layover day to get away from the bugs we spent the day at the end of a long rock peninsula were the bugs were fewer and there were at least 100 dragonflies swooping around all about us. Never before was it so clear that dragonflies our our friends.

I remember watching as a black fly was headed right at my face. And then it seemed like 3 inches from my nose a dragonfly came in from the side and snatched away in front of my eyes.

It was after that trip that I got the bug suit that was featured in my yellow jacket thread.

Oh yes, at cranberry lake its amazing to watch the bugs scatter when the dragons come out. Same thing at night with the bats.

[Ray Moscow]

Delighted to see a red squirrel near Crieff, Perthshire, one of its remaining strongholds in the UK, on Saturday.

And I've just found a link outlining a red squirrel project in the area.
(http://www.pkc.gov.uk/Planning+and+the+environment/Countryside+and+Wildlife/Countryside+Management+and+Conservation/Red+Squirrel+Project+at+the+Knock+of+Crieff.htm)

I saw a red squirrel yesterday in the Lake District, too. (Didn't get a photo, though.)

Also, we saw a perregrine falcon earlier in the week (no photo, either).

[crazyfingers]

The Bald Eagle

We are up at the place in Maine to clean out the perishables and the stuff that will freeze and break (read soda and beer) and I was out in the driveway talking with my wife and two cousin-in-laws. I looked up and saw what I thought were three crows. I watched them for a while. There are lots of crows around. They were flying in circles and doing their best to soar in the updrafts from the ocean. Then my cousin-in-law says, "hey, one is an eagle."

He was right. I got a glimpse of the white head and tail. A bald eagle was being tailed by two crows. I could kick myself for not recognizing it sooner. My camera was right in my pocket. I didn't get it out in time.

But I did get a nice shot of a great blue heron flying off.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3103a.jpg


And a for my "unidentified bird" two weeks back in this thread that I admit looks a lot like a blue jay, here is a photo of the whole tree from where I took the photos. If I get to it I might try to do a perspective composite.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3048a.jpg

The bird was at the top of the tallest tree in the photo and sure did look big to me.

The ocean is about 50 yards beyond the tree.

[crazyfingers]

Here is a fun one. Let the photo load before looking at it. Time yourself on how long it takes you to find the animal in this photo.

Let it load.....


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http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_1829.jpg

[Jobar]

Pretty neat. Took me on the order of 5 seconds to spot it.

[Worldtraveller]

Pretty neat. Took me on the order of 5 seconds to spot it.
About the same. Nice shot. :)

[B.H.]

Pretty neat. Took me on the order of 5 seconds to spot it.
About the same. Nice shot. :)


Are you talking about the snake or the lady bug on the leaf?

[4321lynx]

Pretty neat. Took me on the order of 5 seconds to spot it.
About the same. Nice shot. :)


Are you talking about the snake or the lady bug on the leaf?

I believe the "snake" is not even a bird, but a Leopard frog. :)

[Mediancat]

I saw it immediately -- but then I maximized the size as soon as it was done loading.

Rob

[Jobar]

Don't see any lady bugs, even after going over the full size pic.

[crazyfingers]

Me either. But it sure would be a hoot if there was a snake too :)

[4321lynx]

Me either. But it sure would be a hoot if there was a snake too :)

If there was a hoot, it would most likely be an owl.;)

Sorry, couldn't resist that.....:cool:

[Arctish]

Last Monday I encountered a flock of the only birds that migrate into the Interior of Alaska during the winter months - the Hoary Redpoll (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hoary_Redpoll/lifehistory). The other Redpoll sightings I have posted about involved Common Redpolls. The Hoary Redpolls nest in the extreme north above the Brooks Range. They migrate into my area in the late autumn and usually leave at the first sign of spring. Their calls are somewhat different from the Common Redpoll so I was able to make a positive identification even though the birds were in the uppermost branches of some cottonwood trees.

[Ray Moscow]

Yesterday I saw a couple of American alligators in the wild.

Plus some good birds: anhingua, northern flicker, red-tailed hawks, cooper hawk, great egrets, wood thrush, and lots more.

[crazyfingers]

I set up the birdie vision for the cats today... Actually, that would be the bird feeder outside the big window where they lie in the sun inside on a blanket on the shelf right there.

It's been a long time since we had our bird feeder working in the winter. But today I trimmed the shrubs away so that we can see it out the window got thistle feeder too and got some seed.

It will be good to have birdie vision on again and the cats will love it. Buy the way, don't worry about the birds. The cats can't go to that side of the house outside.

[Worldtraveller]

I have the last of the robins (they are usually gone from here by mid-late October), bluejays, slate junkos (a variety of the yellow eyed), and the resident cardinals on my feeder these days.

I need to get out and do some more birding with the digital camera soon so I can contribute to the thread.

Don't think I've posted this here, but if you fast forward to about 4:45 minutes in, there's a herd of bighorn sheep in the video. http://www.webbikeworld.magnify.net/video/EP02-070209-wmv

This was along the highway between Estes Park and Loveland, Co. That's a slightly compressed, smaller version of the original. I'll see if I can get some larger stills of the sheep from the raw footage.

[Ray Moscow]

We saw a bald eagle on our walk this morning.

That made our day.

[crazyfingers]

I was out back bringing firewood up to the house for the winter today and had, unfortunately, to make homeless some mice who had made a home in the wood piles.

They ran away quickly. This one unfortunately the camera focused on the wood and not the mouse.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3841a.jpg

Making ready for the getaway.
http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3843a.jpg

Not great photos. It was a super rush job. They run away too fast.

[Arctish]

You had to have been pretty quick with your camera to get the shots you did. Mice don't loiter when big scary things are destroying their nests.

Those are some seriously cute mice BTW.

[crazyfingers]

They definitely don't loiter. This is actually the first shot that I got. Really not good but they were a pair. Maybe I'll read up on the family habits of mice. I think that these are wood mice but maybe field mice. Not sure yet. But they were a pair in their little nest when I took the log off.

It makes me sad to destroy their home but.. I needed the wood and that was the seasoned pile. I hope that they have moved into the newer wood pile 4 feet away. I won't be taking that down until next fall.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3842a.jpg

[nygreenguy]

We saw a bald eagle on our walk this morning.

That made our day.


We saw a bald eagle snatch a duck a couple weeks ago at Montezuma.

[4321lynx]

They definitely don't loiter. This is actually the first shot that I got. Really not good but they were a pair. Maybe I'll read up on the family habits of mice. I think that these are wood mice but maybe field mice. Not sure yet. But they were a pair in their little nest when I took the log off.

It makes me sad to destroy their home but.. I needed the wood and that was the seasoned pile. I hope that they have moved into the newer wood pile 4 feet away. I won't be taking that down until next fall.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3842a.jpg

You're in Mass. They look like deermice. Bet they're deermice.:) Any whitetailed deer around? So how's the Lyme Disease thereabouts? Hantavirus? Bubonic plague? (just kidding on that last one in Mass., but they (mice, not deer) do carry it.)

Question: Why is this site x2 as wide as my screen? I have no problem elsewhere on the 'net. How can I shrink it?:dunno::dunno::dunno:

edit Someone just shrunk the site. Was that you Crazyfingers? Thank you!!!!

btw that's a horrible article on deermice in Wiki, and the foto is misleading, there is a brown variety, but in the East grey is the normal colour.

[crazyfingers]

http://www.bear-tracker.com/deermous.html

Ya it does look like a deer mouse.

I think that the screen size thing was post 227 loading before VB resized it.

[crazyfingers]

Today in the parking lot where I work, on my way out to get some lunch, I took these photos of a robin looking over his lunch.

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3910a.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mjdude/pwpimages/IMG_3911a.jpg

[Ray Moscow]

Here's one we got a couple of weeks ago in Louisiana: a young (maybe 3 ft) alligator sunning itself.
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/2215/alligatora.jpg
There was a much larger one swimming about 200 yards away, but I never got a decent picture of it.

Also, here's a great egret:
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/9574/greategret.jpg

and a northern flicker:
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/7925/northernflicker.jpg

[crazyfingers]

Where's the alligator? I can't spot it.

[Ray Moscow]

Where's the alligator? I can't spot it.

On the log, near centre screen.

It was a little guy, maybe 3 ft long -- and well camouflaged.