# Today in nature I saw **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854 "2020-07-20T18:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 145
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2884 "2024-02-12T20:30:57Z")
We have an owl that nests close to the house. I see her at dusk. If you sit at the picnic table she’ll swoop down. It’s a warning to stay away from her tree. I hope. I think she hunts around the pond. It’s ripe with frogs. We think it’s an Eastern Screech owl. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2885 "2024-02-12T21:29:40Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > …But they actually tend towards the crepuscular and are often active at dawn/dusk… Thank you, as always, for your wisdom. Quick question - because I just realized I don’t know this - crepuscular I get, but do owls also hunt by moonlight? And by extension, streetlight? We’re on a lit street, and our owls were making a racket six or seven hours after dusk and (though I didn’t check) I guess there was no moonlight to speak of last night, new moon and cloudy and all. j ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2886 "2024-02-12T23:52:07Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > but do owls also hunt by moonlight? Whiter barn owls [weaponize moonlight](https://www.science.org/content/article/white-barn-owls-feathers-reflect-moonlight-stun-prey) 😀. At least certain birds can adapt in surprisingly flexible ways sometimes. Years ago I mentioned elsewhere on these boards that I had discovered working nights and evenings that normally diurnal [Black Phoebes](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe/overview) will stay up and hunt until late in the evening in well-lit truck bays. Perching on bollards to sally up and pick off insects attracted to the bright sodium-vapor lamps. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2887 "2024-02-13T00:39:21Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I’m surprised you haven’t seen them, it seems like you get all the other critters My gf hears them hooting (she’s only seen one). My hearing sucks, so I don’t hear them. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2024, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2888 "2024-02-14T03:40:58Z")
Every once in awhile we get lucky and see a barred owl here. We hear them more often than see them. My husband took a picture of one in a tree in our backyard during daylight a few years ago. Mostly I’ve seen them very early in the morning. What I saw in nature today was a turkey vulture checking out a dead opossum on the side of the road while I was on my walk. Yum. I’m hoping to see some American white pelicans in a couple of days - they are reported to be hanging around near a dam about an hour and a half west of where I live. This would be the first time I’ve seen a truly wild pelican inland if I get lucky (the Great White pelicans at St. James’s Park don’t count since they’re really just glorified pets). ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2889 "2024-02-16T04:11:56Z")
And we saw 'em! [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ABLVV86SqU5PSr2oKm8CGp80rqbPlMeW93ht0UQKtumFFHsHOeQXe3emYmzNcueMkv1UhW0Hb61s4s2fTWNEcIRFBgx45KShBerk6_lYmxgF7PIC20D0bNNh=w600-h315-p-k "New item by Romansperson") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/pRtgS2G3AuegjmYk9) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2890 "2024-02-16T12:58:35Z")
Cool! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2891 "2024-02-16T13:16:23Z")
Yeah, nice action shot! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2892 "2024-02-16T19:28:37Z")
Yeah - I’d be getting that one framed! j ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2893 "2024-02-17T03:50:02Z")
Thanks for the compliments. I love pelicans and will take a chance to take pictures of them whenever I can. The brown pelicans are the most challenging - they blend in very well with their environments. I love watching them fish and fly together. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2894 "2024-02-17T08:19:44Z")
I’m Batman! ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2895 "2024-02-19T17:47:35Z")
Yesterday, the birds were quite active at Wheaton Regional Park, just north of Washington DC. Here’s a downy woodpecker enjoying the feeders and ignoring me: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53539518963_92f379a600_b.jpg "PXL\_20240218\_213427791") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/31573076@N00/53539518963/) Also saw a tufted titmouse and heard some red-winged blackbirds. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2896 "2024-02-19T17:49:05Z")
I spent many pleasant days there as a kid, fishing for Bluegills with my best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2897 "2024-02-22T20:43:12Z")
[![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/fkkUj04.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/fkkUj04) As I was driving home Monday afternoon, 12 or 13 of this elk herd came across the road in front of me, the whole group ended up in my pasture, about 25 head or so, including 3 branch bulls. Had I put in for my elk tag for my area, could have taken one in my pasture, driven out with the tractor, and hauled it back up to the barn. On the way to work this morning, they were in the old filbert orchard about 2 miles down from my house. Sorry for poor picture quality, cell phone camera + low light make it difficult to get a good shot. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2898 "2024-02-22T20:44:46Z")
Neato. Not something I see every day! Or ever, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2899 "2024-02-22T20:48:38Z")
Back in late September/early October I was surprised by them one early morning when I took the house dog out for his potty run - the boss bull bugling like crazy, the two younger bulls sparring and getting all the cows wound up. Just 140 yards from my shooting bench. Was quite the show they put on, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2900 "2024-02-23T03:47:34Z")
I was very surprised to find out there are elk in western North Carolina. Maybe someday I will get lucky and actually see one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2901 "2024-02-23T13:11:15Z")
There is a small elk herd in north western Pennsylvania (Elk county). I spent a weekend at a rental home there with a group of friends. Amazing animals. My buddy Gil nearly got killed when he tried getting close to a calf for a photo opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2902 "2024-02-23T17:09:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My buddy Gil nearly got killed when he tried getting close to a calf for a photo opportunity. 🤦 I’ve seen similar a couple of times over the years with the tule elk in Pt. Reyes, only with someone trying to angle closer to a bugling male in full rut. It’s a life lesson most won’t soon forget, but it is most certainly not one worth experiencing. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/2903 "2024-02-23T17:20:58Z")
The Elk herd in north Yellowstone is so used to being around humans that they actually sit right outside of the visitor area. There are not enough park rangers to remind people to keep away from them all. I walked out of the gift shop and there was a huge bull just chilling out near the door. Scary but cool at the same time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=144) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=146)