Wildlife, living next to nature

[xoxoxoBruce]

Carruthers talked about torn up lawns from, I think, hedgehogs. These folks have birds tearing up theirs.

Householders of Solihull in the West Midlands are at their wits' end over attacks on their lawns by starlings. Some plots, Yewhurst Road is a particular hotspot, have been totally ripped up as the flocks search for two starling delicacies: leatherjackets and chafer grubs. The result is desirable properties with gardens that resemble a muddy battlefield. Yewhurst Road resident Jean Stenson said: “Both our front and back lawns have been attacked by the birds in recent months.

“They have torn up the grass to leave large patches of soil. Each time we have replaced the patches with fresh grass the same thing has happened.” Pete Swingler, who lives in the same road, said: “Our garden is covered in bald patches. The birds descend in huge numbers and literally rip up the turf.” Buryfield Road has also been blitzed by hundreds of the little sods. And the turf times look set to be endured for some time to come.

[Gravdigr]

Photo safari, Sunday:







All maximum telephoto, handheld, just after sundown.

[Gravdigr]

My camera has no provision for manual focus:

[Gravdigr]

Dis m'squrl:



Dis a different squrl:

[Griff]

What is that green stuff on your ground?

[glatt]

Nice pictures. I don't see deer that often around these parts.

[Snakeadelic]

I'll have to do some serious archive surfing for pics I have of wildlife, but here in MT I have seen the following:

All 3 species of eagle native to North America--baldie, golden, and osprey, all seen from my balcony, and most photo'd at least once. I have photographed a female Northern Harrier hawk at least once, and a peregrine in one of my first favorite trees to get cut down not 2 months later . The tree where a baldie let me walk right up to the other side of the dirt road and take pics is now gone too, along with the trees where our kestrels and flickers used to nest. And we have a large owl in the neighborhood, but I haven't spotted it in daylight so I'm not sure if it's a barn or a great horned, the 2 most common locally.

Snow and Canada geese on migration, plus the occasional sandhill cranes and every few years we get swans flying by in October. Can't begin to ID the ducks. Oh, and cormorants! 700+ miles inland, and we have a breeding population of double-crested cormorants, normally a bird of coastlines and estuaries. Also American white pelicans, tho' I usually see those around about Kennewick, WA. I got a pic of the wild turkey hen that roamed through a couple of summers ago. I've seen and photographed brown pelicans on the Oregon coast, along with the highly localized Northwestern crow, smaller than the inland species. And we have ravens. They're camera-shy, but they don't know about the FujiFilm my dad just gave me, which has 32x zoom! And magpies...magpies will TOTALLY mess with you for fun.

I've seen foxes and heard coyotes. None of the something like 16 PACKS of wolves come in close to town so far. And I photographed bear cub tracks half a block from my front door.

We have whitetail deer, which certain factions of hunters are sure are being wiped out by our wolves. Funny thing, a fella not too far from where I live has been doing his own independent study of roadkill deer and found 2/3rds of the bucks have deformed boy bits in some way or another. Wolves do NOT cause birth defects in deer. I got a photo of my first wild elk, a female grazing summer pasture, up in Lost Trail Pass. Haven't seen a moose yet, dangit.

The pic I am including is from year before last if memory serves and is one of the more exotic animal shots I've gotten at home! Most years around October a Little Brown bat (the actual species name) will take a breather under the wooden planks that make up our front porch. The photo is quite a bit larger than life; I think the bolt in the foregrounds is a 3/8ths inch! If they hang around too long, I will often catch them (a lifetime watching nature documentaries taught me how to do so safely) and if a couple hours warming up is all they need I let them go when I hear them rustle in the dedicated container I keep. Otherwise I hand them off to the local wildlife rehabber, who has repeatedly complimented me on my handling of bat rescue. The management here knows to call me if someone finds a bat they want moved .

[xoxoxoBruce]

If you have a dearth of Eagles, build one.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Cute little bunnies, huh?

[xoxoxoBruce]

God damn...

[BigV]

xob, I think the ibex is thinking, "whew, I'll never get eaten here."

grav, you must be kidding about no manual focus on your camera. what is the make/model?

[BigV]

I don't think we have one of these critters yet. Now that seakdivers doesn't post anymore, I think I'm the only one of us who might see one regularly. I saw him from the deck of the ferrey while crossing to Seattle.

Harbor seal.

[Griff]

There is something real about a seal.

[Sundae]

Not to belittle your gorgeous seal pic, BigV, but for full pedantry, I've seen seals in the wild in three places in the UK:
Two of those places were in Scotland.
In one of those places, I saw them multiple times.
That was the Isle of Arran.
Where our lovely Limey lives.

Get yourself to Arran! Eagles, hare, deer, seals, otters. You'd be right at home you Seattelite (and you have far better photo skills than me)

[xoxoxoBruce]

Cape Cod is lousy with the damn things, they've ruined the fishing and shellfish industry, and they're what's bringing the great Whites.