https://i.imgur.com/Z4CyZ4i.gif
― ☮ (peace, man), Wednesday, 9 October 2019 19:19 (four years ago) link
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7u5xEJWkAEs77s?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
some yummy caviar spider's eggs I spotted on my hedge this summer.
― calzino, Wednesday, 9 October 2019 19:53 (four years ago) link
“Hi we live in your yard” is also a good thred for this
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 9 October 2019 20:17 (four years ago) link
I saw a white morph squirrel in a cemetery last month:
https://i.imgur.com/NMmLFCZ.jpg
Although these squirrels are commonly referred to as "albinos", most of them are likely non-albino squirrels that exhibit a rare white fur coloration known as leucism that is as a result of a recessive gene found within certain eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) populations, and so technically they ought to be referred to as white squirrels, instead of albino.
It was the first time I'd ever seen one, but I dutifully reported my sighting to Untamed Science's white squirrel project. apparently there are towns where residents make an extra effort to feed and shelter white squirrels (even going so far as to trap and release grey ones outside of town to eliminate the competition), which boosts their population over time in what amounts to a sort of selective breeding program. Marionville, Montana is the white squirrel capital of the USA, though theirs tend to be true albinos.
― chips moomin (unregistered), Thursday, 10 October 2019 02:58 (four years ago) link
it looks like Andover, Massachusetts (where my squirrel lives) is a known WS enclave:
https://www.eagletribune.com/news/merrimack_valley/white-wonders-andover-is-home-to-a-colony-of-white/article_47009119-03a5-5f6c-b441-420ff3fc12ec.html
― chips moomin (unregistered), Thursday, 10 October 2019 03:09 (four years ago) link
That's great! I was just looking up albino squirrels recently after listening to Weird Al Yankovic's The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota.
The scenery was just so pretty, boy I wish the kids could've seen itBut you can't see out of the side of the carBecause the windows are completely coveredWith the decals from all the places where we've already beenLike Elvis-O-Rama, the Tupperware MuseumThe Boll Weevil Monument and Cranberry WorldThe Shuffleboard Hall Of Fame, Poodle Dog RockAnd The Mecca of Albino Squirrels
― ☮ (peace, man), Thursday, 10 October 2019 08:49 (four years ago) link
somewhere out there is the captain ahab of squirrels, running the untamed science project
these are all gr8, mad props to that camouflage bark bug and of course our universal friend the dark dinosaur
― imago, Thursday, 10 October 2019 08:52 (four years ago) link
pretty sure that was a coyote that ran in front of my car this evening. don't think i've seen one in an urban area like that before!
― circles, Friday, 11 October 2019 03:09 (four years ago) link
Where are you/near what city?There's a tract of "state trust" undeveloped land behind my house so I often hear a whole pack of coyotes going berserk in the middle of the night
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 11 October 2019 04:47 (four years ago) link
i don't see unexpected creatures very often but i hear them, especially at night
mostly i don't know what they are sadly, they can't all be horrible geese or urban vixens in heat
― mark s, Friday, 11 October 2019 13:41 (four years ago) link
Heraclitus: 'Nature loves to hide.'
― pomenitul, Friday, 11 October 2019 13:44 (four years ago) link
Coyote was in a semi industrial area in Kansas City. It is near a creek with railroad tracks that parallel it, so that might provide a good corridor for coyote movement.
― circles, Friday, 11 October 2019 17:16 (four years ago) link
this afternoon I spotted a trio of white-tailed deer in the woods at the border of a condo complex:
https://i.imgur.com/nKKFmP0.jpg
they ran off when a lady with a dog walked by, only to reappear with seven of their friends in an adjacent field about 15 minutes later. I got a few more shots of them just before they raced around the perimeter of the field and back into the woods.
https://i.imgur.com/EDLzoJQ.jpg
― nothing in the dialog (unregistered), Thursday, 13 February 2020 23:30 (four years ago) link
A couple of days ago a bunny darted away from me as I came out our basement door. It flashed away so fast I thought it was just one of our neighborhood squirrels, except it ran into our garage, which is where I was going. When I came through the garage door I saw it hunkered by some flower pots, trembling, so I spoke to it reassuringly and left quietly.
I often see them in our yard, because they live in the empty woodlot across a dead-end one lane road that adjoins our yard. They come over to eat the dandelions. It's rare to see one this early in the year, though.
― A is for (Aimless), Friday, 14 February 2020 02:11 (four years ago) link
Saw what I’m pretty sure were three turkey vultures sitting in a tree this morning while I was driving to work
― circles, Tuesday, 31 March 2020 03:18 (three years ago) link
Was it a dead tree?
― ☮️ (peace, man), Tuesday, 31 March 2020 10:39 (three years ago) link
Probably not, but none of the trees have leaves yet, so it’s hard to tell at a glance
― circles, Tuesday, 31 March 2020 20:45 (three years ago) link
Sorry, that was an obscure campfire song joke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW77-qleewM
― ☮️ (peace, man), Wednesday, 1 April 2020 10:58 (three years ago) link
Took a walk with my daughter down to the river on Saturday and the gorgeous weather this weekend brought out all kinds of animal life, most of which I wasn't able to take a picture of.
― 🔫 (peace, man), Monday, 4 May 2020 11:39 (three years ago) link
In a smallish park (about 200 x 800m) in the middle of suburbia (though linked to other open spaces) a muntjac deer dashing not particularly quickly across the grass between two wooded areas. Then a heron flying overhead and landing in a stream about 20m away, later standing and watching while we were about 10m away, before flying off. Also cabbage whites, a speckled wood, orange tip, and brimstone.
― a slice of greater pastry (ledge), Wednesday, 6 May 2020 18:33 (three years ago) link
very grand!
― Its big ball chunky time (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Wednesday, 6 May 2020 19:51 (three years ago) link
I've found a couple of monster stag beetles in the garden over the last few days. We've got railway sleepers in a few places, a couple of which have rotted, so I wonder if they've been nesting in there. One is easily the biggest I've seen and christ he was strong - was properly trying to have me through my gardening gloves. Awesome. The downside is my idiot cat who keeps hassling them: he's tried to bring two in, in the last two nights, and I don't really know what else to do - 'they're endangered, you hairy idiot!' isn't working.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Monday, 25 May 2020 19:46 (three years ago) link
Just to follow this up, I'm sat outside tonight (amazing stitch of a new moon just above the horizon) and there's a symphony of stag beetles buzzing and clattering across the purpling sky - maybe 4 or 5 different specimens and they're such awful fliers, like helicopters in a hurricane. They keep crashing into the back door, or landing in the hosters - each time throttling the wings and sounding entirely confused about the whole endeavour. What a daft, magnificent creature.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Monday, 25 May 2020 20:57 (three years ago) link
brings me back to my youth scampering about nature reserves :) i didn't know they were that endangered! but like greenfinches or frogs i guess there's a reason i rarely see them nowadays
― imago, Tuesday, 26 May 2020 10:24 (three years ago) link
today i saw a couple turkeys in a park where i had never seen them before. they were running too fast to get pictures, and one of them took flight before i lost sight of it. they definitely seem more like small dinosaurs than most birds do.
― circles, Saturday, 1 May 2021 23:54 (two years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/b9ccrWY.jpg
Mottled Tortoise Beetle
Does anyone fuck with the iNaturalist app? I just started in the last week or so and haven't totally got the hang of it. But it's like having a Pokedex in your pocket - does automated lookups of pictures that you upload. It isn't always correct, but then there's a social component where other users can check out your pics and suggest identifications.
― peace, man, Sunday, 6 June 2021 18:21 (two years ago) link
This little guy, a northern water snake. They are common around here and frequently confused with copperheads, but are totally harmless.
Also, learned that "totally harmless" isn't the best descriptor for northern water snakes, since they are pretty aggressive and will bite if you fuck with them. But they are non-venomous.
― peace, man, Sunday, 6 June 2021 18:24 (two years ago) link
hummingbird hawk moth yesterday
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/styles/node_hero_default/public/2018-01/Hummingbird%20Hawkmoth%202%20%28c%29%20Derek%20Moore.jpg
(not my pic)
― At Easter I had a fall. I don't know whether to laugh or cry (ledge), Tuesday, 20 July 2021 09:09 (two years ago) link
Sweet! I saw one of those once - was very confusing, like looking at a platypus.
― peace, man, Tuesday, 20 July 2021 10:42 (two years ago) link
Jealous of you both, having just learned of the existence of hummingbird moths a few weeks ago.
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Tuesday, 20 July 2021 14:00 (two years ago) link
Ha saw hummingbird moth for first time ever few weeks ago. In Creed CO. Got a great "live" pic of it feeding on flowers. Didn't know that's what it was til now.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 13 October 2021 17:48 (two years ago) link
Creede
1st one came and drank and fed on spilled bird seed and left. 1/2 hour later came back with a friend!https://imgur.com/a/SLtB6ViPeccaries aka javelinas
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 13 October 2021 17:50 (two years ago) link
Cool! I saw a snowberry clearwing this summer (on a trip to Six Flags, of all places).
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/150726474/original.jpeg?1628965535
― peace, man, Wednesday, 13 October 2021 18:10 (two years ago) link
Hacking away at some neighbours bamboo that was encroaching on our property, I was alarmed by a rather agitated and forceful flapping. I looked up to see I'd exposed a wood pigeon and her large adult son or daughter sitting in their nest. Not the most expressive of birds, they carried on sitting there mutely while i showed them to my daughter. Then we saw two ladybirds having sex on the slide.
― buffalo tomozzarella (ledge), Monday, 9 May 2022 14:37 (one year ago) link
nature dogging
― Ste, Monday, 9 May 2022 14:57 (one year ago) link
not a sighting, because lol nocturnal, but i heard great horned owls in my neighborhood last week!! and also back in march! in march there were 2 hooting to each other, this last time just 1 i think. did you know that the pointy bits on top of their heads are called PLUMICORNS and their eyes are CONICAL instead of spheres like ours?!?! so much love 4 owls, the loveliest fowls
― Society for the Preservation of (cat), Sunday, 15 May 2022 01:44 (one year ago) link
I did not know that owls had conical eyes! Last week I learned that - for tawny owls at least - the females go 'twit' and the males go 'to-woo'.
On the basis that mundane back garden nature sightings are better than none:
Saw the mum and baby fat teenage pigeon from above sitting on our fence. The mum flew off to another bit of fence and her child followed her, nuzzling up and presumably saying 'gimme some food'. The mum flew off again, got followed again. And again. And again. Very much like the current relationship between my wife and our youngest daughter. At one point, intentionally or otherwise, the baby flapped her wing over mum's back so it looked like she was giving her a cuddle.
A month or so ago we got a garden pond - v small, 50cm across. Finally saw a frog! And some tiny - barely 2mm long - fish or fish-like creatures. My question is, how did they get there? Where did they come from and how did they travel?
― buffalo tomozzarella (ledge), Friday, 20 May 2022 07:47 (one year ago) link
Have you put plants in the pond? maybe eggs attached to the plants?
― Ste, Friday, 20 May 2022 12:07 (one year ago) link
Could they be tadpoles?
― Vaguely Threatening CAPTCHAs, Friday, 20 May 2022 12:19 (one year ago) link
Way too small for tadpoles - I think they might be gnat or midge or mosquito larvae :( will see if I can get a closer look at some. (Yes there are plants in the pond.)
― buffalo tomozzarella (ledge), Friday, 20 May 2022 12:30 (one year ago) link
Saw a Heron fly between me and a Swan's nest in town.Saw loads of overgrown undergrowth I fought my way through to get to a part of the woods i hadn't been in. Thought about the local woods non well trodden areas versus a place in the forestry wood plantations in mayo I saw 10 years ago and wondered if I was remembering clearly or if the situation was significantly different that different things would be growing. I just got knocked out by that stuff in Mayo and was less surprised by the local stuff. May be more traffic in the area. Not sure if that's an influence.
Anyway seeing trees that have been allowed to grow for years and in weird forms. Undergrowth, and fun things like that.
― Stevolende, Friday, 20 May 2022 12:59 (one year ago) link
mosquito larvae are pretty distinctive ledge. They hang upside down just below the surface and come up regularly to get air from a breathing tube at the end of the abdomen
midge larvae basically look like little worms (often red) and typically stick to the bottom of ponds
signed, someone with a container pond who has disposed of untold numbers of the tenacious little feckers
― Number None, Saturday, 21 May 2022 13:18 (one year ago) link
Definitely mosquito larvae. how much of a problem are they? I found one site which said you just need to wait for something bigger that will eat them to come along.We went pond dipping in a bigger pond this morning, I caught a newt and two tadpoles. Then in a stream we found lots of freshwater shrimp, water slaters and mayfly larvae, and flatworms and/or leeches - all identified thanks to an educational sheet someone had.
― buffalo tomozzarella (ledge), Saturday, 21 May 2022 13:35 (one year ago) link
"Come on up, and I'll show you my caligraphy..."
https://i.imgur.com/srtKhUF.jpg
Margined caligrapher flies
― peace, man, Friday, 10 June 2022 18:36 (one year ago) link
𝑜𝒽 𝓁𝒶 𝓁𝒶
― (ʇɐɔ) o (cat), Saturday, 11 June 2022 03:59 (one year ago) link
I highly recommend the Seek app for plant/bug/bird/ identification (if you can get the bugs or birds to stay still long enough). It can pinpoint a species almost instantly if you can get a good shot of it. Only downside is that I have been meaning to take my phone out less, not more, especially outdoors & with the kids around.
― dear confusion the catastrophe waitress (ledge), Monday, 13 June 2022 09:08 (one year ago) link
Ooh, that'd prove handy for bugs and plants. I prefer to flex my skillz for birds (but I could probably do with a call identification app, of which there are many)
― imago, Monday, 13 June 2022 09:11 (one year ago) link
BirdNet is the call ID app I've been using for the past few years
At this point I can pretty much identify anything you're likely to hear in a Dublin garden by ear. It really is one of the most satisfying things you can learn
― Number None, Monday, 13 June 2022 10:18 (one year ago) link
I'll definitely give that a try.
― dear confusion the catastrophe waitress (ledge), Monday, 13 June 2022 11:15 (one year ago) link
the frog orgy has run its course, barring a few lonelyheart holdouts, so last night it was quiet enough to hear a pack of coyotes whooping it up! once i'd made sure they were coyotes and not people howling (omg do you remember the early covid howl-alongs?!) i went out hoping to get a better earful, but no joy. the crickets had a lot to say, though, and there was a recurrent fluttering flutey hoot like that of a screech owl, and creeks trickling silver in the moonlight, etc.
― Normal Jean (cat), Tuesday, 30 May 2023 12:04 (nine months ago) link
I'm jealous of the cricket noise and have been all my life, you'd have to go the snake food section of Pets At Home to hear them where I live and that isn't a very pleasant way to hear them.
― calzino, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 12:37 (nine months ago) link
I usually see about one snapping turtle a year in my neighborhood. This lady, however, chose a local playground as a less-than-ideal spot to lay her eggs. After several frantic early morning calls to wildlife rehabilitation experts, we just let her finish her egg-laying (as is required by law in MD). Then a neighbor and I hauled her back to the river. Apparently, they lay the eggs really deep (one rehabber described the egg hole as "like a Pringles can") so there's a chance the turtles will be okay. I'm to keep an eye on the spot in early August to see if any hatchlings need help making their way to water.
https://i.imgur.com/qMaBcFb.jpghttps://i.imgur.com/irjZnVd.jpg
― peace, man, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 13:06 (nine months ago) link
Also saw my first pileated woodpecker last week, at the same playground! I've wanted to see one of those since I was a little kid watching Woody Woodpecker. It was a majestic bird, but I frightened it off by pursuing it too eagerly in hopes of a photo.
― peace, man, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 17:52 (nine months ago) link
Saw some good pelicans yesterday. I usually see them once a summer and assumed they were migrating, but apparently they hang out in Wisconsin more than I thought.
― Random Restaurateur (Jordan), Tuesday, 30 May 2023 18:41 (nine months ago) link
Played with the kids in a river in wales where otters and kingfishers have been seen, obviously didn't see those with kids around but did see and catch (and return) some crayfish, up to 12cm long! Probably not that impressive to those more familiar with these things but it was a shock to me that you can find crustaceans as big as that in our rivers. It was only last year that I saw tiny (1cm) freshwater shrimp for the first time.
― ledge, Wednesday, 31 May 2023 10:55 (nine months ago) link
goslings!
https://i.ibb.co/Pzyd9qV/IMG-20230602-142458274.jpg
― carthage marine park (Deflatormouse), Sunday, 4 June 2023 19:53 (nine months ago) link
Was sitting on a bench today and saw a barn swallow perched on a hanging cable directly under the eaves of a building. He was keeping a close eye on my wife and me, kind of stepping to left and right but never flying away. Then I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and realized there was a nest at the top of one of the building's columns about five feet from where he was perched. He was guarding his family. So we got up and left. Didn't want to disturb him any further.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Sunday, 4 June 2023 20:15 (nine months ago) link
Stag beetle action in the Chinaski garden, pt 1
https://i.imgur.com/o1v5ILR.jpg
― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Friday, 16 June 2023 22:04 (nine months ago) link
Pt 2: I didn't know where to look
https://i.imgur.com/ZAMcTIk.jpg
Awesome!
― peace, man, Monday, 19 June 2023 00:50 (nine months ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/XIyaX1H.jpg
Came across this luna moth just before sunset yesterday.
― peace, man, Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:39 (seven months ago) link
I saw a turtle by a path this morning. In an odd coincidence, I was listening to Supertramp, who have a song called "Hide in Your Shell".
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 27 July 2023 17:43 (seven months ago) link
the turtles in Central Park eat hotdogs. fishermen buy franks from vendors in the park and use them to lure turtles in the Lake away from their lines. i was surprised to learn they're not vegetarians.
― all this time I thought you were British (Deflatormouse), Thursday, 27 July 2023 18:32 (seven months ago) link
walking down the high street i saw a guy crouched down trying to coax a remarkable looking golden hairy caterpillar onto a shopping back, though it was more intent on crossing the road. i managed to coax it onto a bit of paper and we put it on the only bi of scrubby green space near by. at one point my app identified it as a dagger moth but now it's not so sure.
https://i.imgur.com/s29gJWi.jpg
― a holistic digital egosystem (ledge), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 12:52 (seven months ago) link
further searching reveals it to be a sycamore moth caterpillar.
― a holistic digital egosystem (ledge), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 13:08 (seven months ago) link
So orange! I have also been coaxing caterpillars onto pieces of paper.
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/305429330/large.jpeg
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/305504763/large.jpeg
This one was an American dagger moth.
― peace, man, Wednesday, 9 August 2023 14:18 (seven months ago) link
why are they so hairy
oh i also finally achieved my ambition of seeing a kingfisher - just the typical flash of blue across a river from about 30 metres away, so ambition updated to a better sighting.
― a holistic digital egosystem (ledge), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 14:40 (seven months ago) link
In some species, the hairs are a protection against predators. On this guy, the long black hairs contain venom and can sting you. On other species, like the sycamore moth above, their fuzz breaks off in your skin if you try to grab it, leading to irritation. But then you have others like wooly bear caterpillars (from the Isabella tiger moth), where the fuzz doesn't seem to cause any harm at all.
― peace, man, Wednesday, 9 August 2023 15:17 (seven months ago) link
yes protection against predators was my first thought, immediately followed by 'why are the non hairy ones so non hairy then' :)
neither of us caterpillar rescuers wanted to touch it so job done anyway.
― crutch of england (ledge), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 15:57 (seven months ago) link
around 2 a.m. i bumped into a trio of raccoons coming toward me on the path. two were lagging behind, pouncing on and grooming each other, while the third, the smallest, rabbit-sized, ambled up to me with frank interest until he was about a foot away. then he seemed to realize i was a human and slowly backed up, confused. one in the back noticed us and stood up like a little bear to get a look at me, and then they all faded into the shadows.
i bet if i'd had a snack with me i could have knelt and offered it to them, and we could have become great friends.
― sleepy bee (cat), Friday, 1 September 2023 19:40 (six months ago) link
basically i want this
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2PWm13NnlJw/TsGT2s_bFEI/AAAAAAAALEM/MUgrwutDsXU/s400/raccoon-duct-tape-food-to-her.jpg
― sleepy bee (cat), Friday, 1 September 2023 21:28 (six months ago) link
They're so adorable. I wish they didn't have such a problem with rabies.
Several years ago, I was chaperoning a group of 1st graders to a nature center field trip. I had a few braggadocious boys in my group who were claiming to have seen all sorts of animals. "I saw a bald eagle!" "I saw a deer!" "I saw a rattlesnake!" I'm 100% sure the wildest thing they saw was a squirrel. I know because we all stopped to look at it for like, 3 minutes.
After we sat down to lunch at some picnic tables, a girl told me in the quietest little voice "I saw a raccoon." And, absentmindedly passing out the lunch bags, I'm like "Oh where did you see it?" And she points, and quietly says "over there." And sure enough, the biggest chonker of a raccoon I've ever seen was popping out of a dumpster next to the picnic pavilion! So I gathered all my kids and we all hurried over to get a slightly closer look at this wildlife before it clambered up a tree. Her observation was the highlight of the field trip for all of us.
― peace, man, Saturday, 2 September 2023 15:02 (six months ago) link
Anyway, here's a crappy cell phone pic of a bald eagle I did see (ha! ha! first-grade boys) while kayaking the other day.
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/316077341/original.jpeg
― peace, man, Saturday, 2 September 2023 15:17 (six months ago) link
wild turkey family
https://i.ibb.co/VpWf5s2/IMG-20230823-131146111-HDR-2.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/XSXfj4p/IMG-20230823-131152079-HDR-3.jpg
raccoons near 108th st in riverside park emerge from a crack in the wall every evening approx 5:30pm before an adoring audience bearing scraps. they are celebrities.
a racoon licked my shin once while i was drinking a glass of wine in my friend's backyard in the middle of the night. i was startled by it's sweet kiss and jumped, then looked under the table expecting to find a puppy.
― Deflatormouse, Saturday, 2 September 2023 18:03 (six months ago) link
A herd of between 12 and 20 deer, depending on the night, shows up in the field behind my apartment building pretty much every night. It's been a few weeks, maybe two months, so I've been able to watch them grow, which is pretty amazing.
― read-only (unperson), Saturday, 2 September 2023 18:35 (six months ago) link
heard squealing out the front and went to have a look and there were two urban foxes going through the binbags (only recycling so slim pickings). one wandered off, the other just curled up in the middle of the road (it's 02:30 and the end of the road's closed for water works so no traffic)
― koogs, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 01:40 (six months ago) link
Speaking of foxes and the middle of the road, we have had foxes in our neighborhood for years. It's been fun to catch an occasional glimpse of them at night dashing into someone's yard late at night. But this year, for some reason, they've started shitting in the street. You can tell it's fox scat rather than someone's dog because there are usually some visible berry seeds or the occasional tuft of fur.
― peace, man, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 09:01 (six months ago) link
Used to walking past foxes in the middle of the day now as they gingerly wait between two parked cars for you to pass by on the pavement just a couple of metres away so they can get back to that tasty binload.
― nashwan, Tuesday, 5 September 2023 09:10 (six months ago) link
a deer, less than ten metres away, watching us over a fence for a couple of minutes. I'm no deer expert but I think maybe it was a young roe, not a muntjac.also I've been hearing an owl at night, haven't seen it yet but someone on the street took a photo of it on sitting on a television aerial.
― lurch of england (ledge), Sunday, 24 September 2023 07:21 (five months ago) link