Backyard Wildlife

[Solfe]

My dog smelled something in the bushes and managed to bury herself tail deep in them. In the meantime, a fox casually wandered down the sidewalk. The dog was so busy with whatever she found, she didn't even notice the fox.

I've only seen a few in the area, mostly in fields from a great distance so it was kind of cool.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Here is a short video of a Blue Heron flying by the boat yesterday, Tried to get a picture but it did not turn out well.
https://twitter.com/DavidLPFairweat/...443988992?s=20

[The Backroad Astronomer]

Last night watched a doc on the Nature of Things where a Moose desperate for salt in the winter was licking it off the car of the filmmaker.

[Trebuchet]

I was grooming a kitty in the guest room this morning when she suddenly sat up and looked out the window to the front yard. Two bucks were passing by!

[Jim]

We get several kinds of birds at our feeders, and the different species display fairly consistent traits. Which surprised me when I saw a dove (skittish, ground forager) on the lander filled with peanuts. Its presence actually spooked the jays (aggressive, love the peanuts) into staying away. And I was further surprised to see a cardinal (skittish, seed lover) join it.

[Solfe]

I bought my wife a unicorn statue. She wanted to put it in the backyard in the lilac bushes, where there is a natural arch in the bushes. There is a tint rose bush in the middle of that arch, which is kind of surprising.


No problem, I though. I cleared a patch of ground, cut back some limbs for the poor rose bush and everyone was happy.

Well, not any more. Lilacs have very stiff leaves and they make all kinds of noises when you move them. Or when two or three deer get in there and try to nest down for the night. What you can't see in the image is our two bedroom windows behind the bushes. I've tried to get a picture of them, but the camera can't see much from our window and when I go back there, they run away.

It's kind of ridiculous, because our bedroom windows are those thin rectangular swing out windows, about 5 feet from floor level. We have to stand on a chest to see out and down where the deer sleep.

The first night it was all cute and Disney like. But now that they have moved in, it's a loud racket every night. At first, they'd run when I opened the window and told them to knock it off but now they just ignore all me. Sometimes they knock over the little unicorn statue. The dog ignores it for the most part. She simply sniffs the air when she hears them and goes back to sleep.

[PetersCreek]

I was behind in getting this one uploaded but we had another black bear pay us a visit a few days ago:

[The Backroad Astronomer]

This morning was out getting an early start to splitting wood and noticed a woodpecker in a tree.
https://twitter.com/DavidLPFairweat/...643305984?s=20

[Swift]

I was behind in getting this one uploaded but we had another black bear pay us a visit a few days ago:

Speaking of trail cameras, does anyone have any recommendations for one?

I have a Bushnell in my backyard that I'm very disappointed with. I got it as a present, it worked fine for a couple of months, and then I started having problems with it. It will no longer hold any of the settings I put into it, including setting the date and time, but just defaults to the default values (so all my photos are time-stamped 1/1/1999 00:00). I contacted Bushnell, got an automated email (we'll get back to you real soon) and never heard from them again.

But now I'm hooked and want to get a new camera, but I'm never getting a Bushnell again.

Anyone have any recommendations?

[PetersCreek]

Speaking of trail cameras, does anyone have any recommendations for one?

My old SpyPoint lasted less than a year, so no to that one.

So far, I like my new Browning Patriot cam. 24MP stills, 1080p video, dual cameras for day/night.

[ozduck]

I was talking to my Niece's husband - called Peter - today. He is a keen surfer and just over a month ago he was surfing with a group of friends near his house in the south west of the state. One of the group was attacked by a Great White Shark about 20 metres away from where Peter was surfing. When he started to paddle over to help the victim the shark actually swam under his board. He helped get the victim onshore and then also helped carry him up to help. Luckily the victim survived with only leg injuries.

There was an article in today's paper about the injured surfer going back into the water for the first time since his attack. When I was discussing this with Peter he said that he had only surfed once in his local waters since the attack. His wife had encouraged him to go out so as to not drop something he loved but he said he could only last a little while. He has surfed again in the north of the state where the Great White Sharks are not normally seen but he is very reluctant to go back into his local surf breaks. The proximity of surfing beaches had helped them choose where to live.

[The Backroad Astronomer]

This is what Mike Brown saw in his pool this morning.
https://twitter.com/plutokiller/stat...769833984?s=20

[PetersCreek]

More bears here, too —

[ozduck]

More bears here, too —

These bears appear to be very shy and have decided to fade to black.

[PetersCreek]

Yep. Had to replace the video. Should be good now.

[ozduck]

Yep. Had to replace the video. Should be good now.

Thank you now works fine. If you have a BBQ in the backyard do the bears drop by for a chat and a nibble?

[PetersCreek]

If you have a BBQ in the backyard do the bears drop by for a chat and a nibble?

One would think so, right? The aroma of a grill certainly draws my attention but we haven't seen any signs of such interest from the bears. The bird feeder, on the other hand...but it's hung off the end of the deck, just out of claws reach.

To explain what the foreground cub was apparently focused on: our cat had decided that he was no longer interested in shrimp-flavored kitty treats. So, The Wife tossed the remainder of the bag into the backyard, thinking that the snowshoe hare might like them. Nope. A video captured prior to the family clip show that he's not a seafood fan.

[Trebuchet]

Peters Creek Bears: The Next Generation!

[ozduck]

One would think so, right? The aroma of a grill certainly draws my attention but we haven't seen any signs of such interest from the bears. The bird feeder, on the other hand...but it's hung off the end of the deck, just out of claws reach.

To explain what the foreground cub was apparently focused on: our cat had decided that he was no longer interested in shrimp-flavored kitty treats. So, The Wife tossed the remainder of the bag into the backyard, thinking that the snowshoe hare might like them. Nope. A video captured prior to the family clip show that he's not a seafood fan.

I suppose the smell of cooking meat is not something that they have 'evolved' to be interested in. Like you it certainly catches my attention.

[ozduck]

I can't offer anything as interesting as a bear or deer. But "spring has sprung" here, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming and ---my relatives have started to pay me visits again. These seem to be Pacific Black Ducks - which despite the name thrive all over Australia even close to the Indian Ocean. (The photos also show that I have been too lazy to vacuum the bottom of the pool over winter. I promise to do it once swimming weather is here - over 30 C.)

[PetersCreek]

As I posted in the "Happy" thread, our Stellar's jay has returned for its annual visit...at least we think it's the same one. It acts like it knows us and the peanut routine.

[PetersCreek]

Another from today but closer.

[Trebuchet]

Steller!

[Jens]

Steller!

[ozduck]

Riding our bikes back from the park my Grand-daughter and I ran across a group of Carnaby's black cockatoo's that were having fun demolishing a few Bottlebrush trees along the bike path. These cockatoo's fly around in small flocks and behave like the bikers from the Marlon Brando film "the Wild One". They yell and scream, fight with each other and destroy the flowers or fruit on a tree and then move onto their next victim. My brother used to have a Almond tree and they would wait until the nuts were almost ripe and then arrive in a group and take a bite out of every almond and then drop it to the ground. Despite this they are sort of lovable rogues.







You can get an idea of the mess they make from this photo - all the flowers on the ground are from their efforts.

[Swift]

Even the White House has problems with wildlife in their backyard.

LINK

[Jim]

So I'm sitting in the backyard swing the other evening with my dog, just enjoying the mild weather. Of a sudden I hear a screech that I recognize as coming from a squirrel, but a very agitated one. Then a large bird came rocketing into my vision, flies through the crepe myrtle and disappears.

I looked around and saw the squirrel sitting on the fence, motionless. It sat there without moving - not even a tail twitch - for 2-3 minutes before hurrying off.

It occurred to me that the "large bird" was a small hawk and the squirrel was almost dinner.

[ozduck]

On our bike ride this morning there was a turkey by the path. Now this would not surprise me if I lived in parts of North America but turkeys are definitely not seen 'in the wild' around here. (There is an Australian brush turkey which looks very different to a 'normal' turkey and whose habitat is far away from here.) The bird seemed fairly unconcerned by us. There is a largish property by this part of the path - about 4 or 5,000 m2 - so I think it may be a 'pet' that has gone for a bit of a wander.

[Van Rijn]

Hopefully not an invasive species there.

I didn’t used to see turkeys here near Sacramento. The first time was a few years ago with a group walking down my street. Another was a very large one walking around my doctor’s office on a busy street when I went there for a visit. Another time at home I heard one but couldn’t find it. I have also heard from others about encountering them on golf courses or on their street - some can be fairly aggressive.

[DaveC426913]

Sitting here on my backyard deck in the middle of my megalopolis. I heard the sound of a critter I've never heard before. Like a tiny horse winnowing.

I recorded it. (Yes, it's quiet. No, it's not a prank.)





So I Googled 'what creature sounds like a tiny horse winnowing'.