Wild-life photos

[kallililly1973]

Florida this past week!

Brown in the upper right is an anole, the left looks like a skink of some kind.

I was thinking some sort of fence lizard. It has the shape, but the very very very good pattern adaptations to its environment was throwing me lol I'm used to brown ones.
Edit: That is a really pretty color morph.

 

[chromedome52]

The grey one appears to be a Southern Fence Lizard. Not usually grouped with the skinks. Heavier body and short head. It is native.

img-3015 has characteristics of a Cuban Anole, but I haven't been into lizards for many, many years. If Cuban, yes, it is an invasive species.

 

[86 ssinit]

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Bottom pic "Howdy ho neighbor, how's the garden?"


It's using the hide I put in for when I eventually would add a frog / snake lizard for a bit lol

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Shore birds

 

[86 ssinit]

Saw this norther harrier today

 

[Lucy]

This is one of my favorite threads!

86 ssinit I totally missed the fox pictures. I was in awe of the deer spy in the last picture!

 

[Mermegan]

A cute hermit crab my family and I found while camping on the coast of ME (we love to search the rock pools at low tide)

 

[BPSabelhaus]

This is Stumpy. Invasive Eastern fox squirrel. Missing part of its tail and unlike the other ones it doesn't stand up to the endemic Douglas fir squirrels, it runs. So I take pity on it and don't run it off like the others. I leave it food instead.
It's like the neighborhood cats. Not my pet, but I love on em anyway.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

They're native where I live. We had one in the neighborhood with a short tail that lived a long time for a squirrel. My theory was that it was better at dodging cars as it spent more time on the ground.

Gardeners I know have tried and tried but could never run them off.

Gotta team up with a Douglas squirrel and Stellers Jay. Then you're basically just running alongside the action and should be operating the camera lol But yeah, they are very very persistent. I thought I was being nice using fir cones in a slingshot. Nope, didn't care. So I upped it to a piece of lava rock. Hit it right in the hip. Looked at me then went right back to raiding the bird feeder lol They will even threaten the dogs lol
Edit: Guess I have a soft spot hidden somewhere lol


Well, if you're in South Carolina watch out. They're either doing a live version of 12 Monkeys or another Planet of the apes movie down there. Apparently 40 monkeys escaped a research center.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Here's one of our squirrels. I put out a few peanuts on the porch, and he stood up and posed for me, lol!!!!

 

[Lakefish]

It's salmon spawning time again. The most wonderful and smelly time of the year. Unfortunately I don't have anything better than the phone camera, so I took a short video instead. They are chum.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Here's one of our squirrels. I put out a few peanuts on the porch, and he stood up and posed for me, lol!!!!

I left a little pile of walnuts and dried berries for Stumpy yesterday while the dogs were in. Well for him, the Doug's and the Jays anyway.

It's salmon spawning time again. The most wonderful and smelly time of the year. Unfortunately I don't have anything better than the phone camera, so I took a short video instead. They are chum.

Nice,
I'll be attending a welcoming ceremony for them in a couple weeks down in the valley at an old Homestead along a stream that was recently restored (working turn of the century farm /museum) I'll definitely have pictures.
It's the first official run in almost a century since other construction works cut it off. It's finally reconnected with Mill Creek and the green River

Had another visit last night. Genius dog somehow ended up in the two foot gap between fences filled with invasive partially carnivorous blackberries lol

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Downy male woodpecker with his little red spot showing....I love these little birds! The females don't have the red spot, but do look just like the males in every other way.

Any idea what type of spider is making these webs? They are all over the yard. We've never had these before, and I can't seem to catch a spider in the web. Between these things and the massive ants mounds, we are being overrun right now.



Good catch!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Gary is doing well

After Gary gets evicted / released from a nice prison, I think I want a garter snake. I have spare heat lamps etc... and there's always a juvenile with a stumpy tail or other weed whacking / mowing damage slithering about for a tasty snail, slug or nice dubia roach.

 

[chromedome52]

I had a female Garter Snake get into my basement a few years ago, probably following mouse scent. She then proceeded to have babies there (they are livebearers). I found her pretty quickly, but I was catching the tiny ones for the rest of the summer. Lots of spiders in my basement, and a few other bugs, so they didn't bother the fish tanks. I think she may have eaten my tree frog before I caught her, though. The frog had been there for several years, also eating spiders and bugs.

 

[86 ssinit]

Some pics from today

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Stumpy running off with some walnuts I left out With a missing tail tip, they don't do jumping well across trees. Good vertical though lol

Cutworm moth caterpillar that appears to have been eating very well in the snail tank lol

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Young male ruby throated hummingbird. Keeps flying back to the lilac tree when I try to catch him by the feeder. Took a poop as I was focusing lol

 

[BPSabelhaus]

We get a few different kinds here as they migrate. Some come up from CA others South from Alaska. The Ruby's seem to spend the most time here, but we get Anna's and some other type too.

Watching a Thrush take a bath at the pond. That's a first and not sure it's a good thing. A Salishan creation story starts with Thrush washing his face so he can marry a woman he loves. He warns his new family that if he washes his face the world will flood. Looks like his new family was insistent lol Good thing I'm already on a hill away from the river

OTOH the pond is full, one more rain and it overflows....


Good morning Stumpy
There's another squirrel that keeps peeping over the fence watching lol

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Little puff ball...Carolina Wren when it was cold a few days ago (it's now 78 degrees and feels like early summer and yes, I'm gonna say it...I miss the cold! ) and a little titmouse with a peanut

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Who wants to play count the Juncos?
Probably 30 of them hunting through the grass like raptors in Jurassic Park

Obligatory blurry hummingbird pic


Not blurry aside from the wings pics

 

[DoubleDutch]

Some birds found in The Netherlands and Germany

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Taking a lot of pictures of Stumpy right now, just got photo bombed by the juvenile male Calliope lol
Just before battling the other squirrel.

STAY OFF MY LAWN!!!

Victory snack lol

Actually got it to come up on the porch to the glass where Hobbes was chittering like crazy lol

 

[Rose of Sharon]

All eating a good Christmas meal!

I'm a bit worried about the little junco though...it is not looking well. It can fly, but it doesn't move as fast as it should, and we do have a couple of cats in the neighborhood.

 

[86 ssinit]

Went to the beach today and saw this guy

Long Island NY.

 

[Lucy]

I thought the bullfrogs were gone from my pool. Didn't hear or see much of them over the summer, much to my SIL's delight. He's been wanting to tear the pool down for years.

So we go out yesterday to take a look.
And find these


My daughter snapped this. (Really bad picture)
But, Salamanders?? Really?? It's December!! There are A LOT of them

(I will try to get better pictures)

The temp has dropped about 30 degrees. I'm afraid they may not have fared well

 

[Rose of Sharon]

Took a trip yesterday to a state park. It was a nice sunny day. And we made a detour to my friend's family home where her dad keeps animals. The donkeys were so sweet! First pic was a pond in the state park. The big steer is an Angus. The longhorn is actually very friendly. She will actually come up and rub on you wanting you to pet her, which is not very safe, lol! The last pic was a cow/bull that was tied up to some type of contraption by a chain in a front yard of a house...

 

[Rose of Sharon]

The gold finches show up a little at a time in winter. You might start out with 8 or 9, and then a few days later, there are 100! They were being so obnoxious I had to take down the glass feeder. Notice the dude that is hanging upside down in the 4th pic. They usually leave around Mardi Gras. There will be a hundred there one day, and the next day, all are gone, just like that!

The 2nd pic is a lone pine warbler.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Brought home an alder log inoculated with oyster mushrooms from the nature park

As I am the steward.... I'm going to move the logs along the trail and out of the blackberry patch (native not invasive) so they can be harvested and seen by visitors easier. Probably pack my chain fall just in case I need to use another tree to drag it out. Hopefully I can just lift and drag / cut to draggable size. Don't need to move them far. Pretty sure the city cut it up and moved it when it fell and the only large equipment they use back there is a field mower annually. Usually about the time the native prairie plants I planted are trying to bloom...

 

[FishDin]

Saw this Barred Owl on my daily walk. It was about 10' overhead sitting on a limb directly over the trail.

 

[DoubleDutch]

Some birdpics again

A rare sighting : Albino Oystercatcher

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Ducky ducks swimming in puget sound eating seaweed. Watched a sea lion tail slap the water to scare seagulls away from where it wanted to feed




Collected some nice nootka rose hips that went through a frost. They get sweeter and turn a more vibrant red. Not something you want to just pop in the mouth though lol Full of stinging hairs. But they pop easily in the fingers then you can nibble the flesh. I only taste them for sweetness. They get dried for tea. But sweetness and red color indicates vitamin content. Before they're frost bit they're a darker red. Problem is late season has mostly been picked over by animals already. The larger harvest was months ago. These are reserved for medicine / flu season. The regular harvest is mixed in with field mint and nettle.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I collected some of those for seed The Nootkas have really nice hips lol The pear shaped field rose are tiny and the common wild round ones not much bigger. Hoping to get a rose garden going for the wife. She loves roses, I hate trying to remove domesticated roses from a garden lol But wild I'll happily have.



Well then. No wonder the dogs are going insane.


Couple small farms in the area with goats and horses. Had a couple cows visit a few years back. That was weird. Jingling bells, mooing, small herd of cows in the street lol

 

[KingOscar]

Coyote taking a bunny out for breakfast in our backyard yesterday.

My wife once watched a rabbit get carried off by a hawk or owl. It was very early morning and still dark so not identifiable. It takes some distance for them to get fully airborne with all the weight. Later I noticed some foot dragging marks in the snow.

Good information on avoiding issues with coyotes.

How to Avoid Conflicts with Coyotes | Urban Coyote Research.

we're on the far west edge of cook county, not what most would consider truly urban. Our backyard wetlands attaches to vast forrest preserve land so we get all the wildlife. Most mind their own business and stay clear of humans. We do hear the coyotes yelpin' it up at night and don't allow our dog to be unattended.

 

[86 ssinit]

The gold finches show up a little at a time in winter. You might start out with 8 or 9, and then a few days later, there are 100! They were being so obnoxious I had to take down the glass feeder. Notice the dude that is hanging upside down in the 4th pic. They usually leave around Mardi Gras. There will be a hundred there one day, and the next day, all are gone, just like that!

The 2nd pic is a lone pine warbler.

lol no finches here but the sparrows love that bird feeder! No clue why? I dislike it because of the way to fill it but it’s the bird favorite!

Good information on avoiding issues with coyotes.

lol didn’t read through it. First warning got me. Don’t feed coyotes!!! Living in New York the morons think they need to feed all the wildlife. I’ve got a woman who feeds the raccoons. There may be 40 raccoons around her and on her! We’ve had about 6 rabies infected raccoons this year. Doesn’t stop her! We’ve got almost 60 mute swans on a small lake cause everybody feeds them bread. Bread is not a good food for swans,ducks or geese. Here you advise someone not to feed something and they grab whatever food they can and go looking for it. Already have read the remarks of the don’t feed coyotes. Yes we have coyotes on Long Island. So many believe they are beautiful animals and feeding them is not a problem. They don’t get the fact that they are an apex predator. Where there’s one there’s usually 6 more. They’ll start with the bunnies,squirrels and such and when there gone move right into cats and dogs. Whatever they can get. Upstate they are shot. No hunting season! Shot whenever seen.

 

[Rose of Sharon]

These guys are like piranha! I put out large cups of sunflower seeds, and it is gone in minutes! NOTHING LEFT for the poor cardinals, house finches, chickadees, or titmice! Even the squirrels can't find a morsel...

 

[86 ssinit]

Some pics from today

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Possum pal

 

[DoubleDutch]

Dutch birds once more

 

[DoubleDutch]

There I am again hahaha

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Stumpy says "Got any more of those peanuts and cranberries?"

 

[86 ssinit]

Some pics from today

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Stellar Stellars Jay


Stumpy just approached me within a few feet when I went out to toss some nuts

 

[86 ssinit]

Yes it’s a great egret. They usually migrate but a few stick around. Thats Finn he comes with me on most hikes. Been out there a lot this week!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Got Stumpy in close again, this time with some dried cranberries. Not looking to pet it or anything, but being comfortable allows good pictures This time was about 5 ft approaching me. Grabbed a cranberry then climbed up into a branch and sat about 7-8 ft away just munching
I wish the Jays were a bit curious

 

[DoubleDutch]

End of winter in The Netherlands. The first birds are arriving back from Africa !!!!! Let the summer begin.

A summerbird now arriving (allready) in Icy conditions.

 

[KingOscar]

A week and a half ago our dog Magee alerted my wife that someone/something was going on in front of our house. She found a young boy in destress over an injured bird. "Chirpy the second" was pretty beat up and it didn't seem likely he would survive. She took him in and the first night we actually thought he died, but in the morning he was still alive! At first he had trouble sitting up or perching. Any attempts to fly was pretty much just flopping around and falling. Day by day his condition improved and he got stronger.

Soon, he was effortlessly flying around the cage, perching, and looking like a strong and normal bird. Today the temps were above freezing so Chirpy got to join his buddies in the wild. Go Chirpy!

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Stumpy munching on some cranberries

 

[Fishladyforlife]

Here is what I believe is a western fence lizard that I saw on a hike the other day.