# 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:** 194
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2025, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3864 "2025-09-08T12:45:31Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > far too dark to get any landscape in the photo No, no! I _lurve_ the trees in silhouette, at the bottom. And yes, that is one supremely fluffy tail. ---
**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:** [September 8, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3865 "2025-09-08T15:29:01Z")
The fox was very bold. He walked up to me, and I yelled at him to get him to move along. I like foxes, and think they are cute, but I worry about wild animals that are overly friendly and unafraid of humans. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2025, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3866 "2025-09-09T23:37:31Z")
Looked out my window to see this spectacular cloud: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/TrUOCY7.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/TrUOCY7) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3867 "2025-09-10T15:56:38Z")
Hummingbird Thunderdome is in full force this morning. I counted five of them fighting over the feeder. The victor had driven the rest away before I could get my phone out to snap a photo. He’s now guarding his prize, but I can hear the other contestants squeaking at him. Them birds are vicious. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3868 "2025-09-10T20:51:17Z")
Less spectacular, but with a little story. I was on my allotment the other day, working in my polytunnel, when I felt something on my hand. I looked down and this little fella, who had managed to trap him/herself in the polytunnel, had landed on me. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczPynTd8y-ZaZYRjmEhUSA-Y32s_qxeoMoWfEkUEIPrMPN0Vl28rrd-WiW0C8n3AHmMyYCc_-f5g17DKdhULzlIqpvOsNK65Gi6S5r8Vgiq1bTt4_cY=w600-h315-p-k "New photo · Wednesday, Sep 10 📸") ](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPu1tHkJYiP6_zu988lnzXc084OqGYTsyxWhZn3zXlkPknzFU4BNLD4rUdX-tWLMw?key=dklxNUtoYUhWVnhOblRCYnZiQnRZWWg4TWd4NEpn) Allotments are noted as the last resting place for useful things, like, oh, I dunno, the bottom half of a soda bottle. That’s what I used to rescue it. My phone photo app tells me that it’s a Speckled Wood. Pretty. 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:** [September 13, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3869 "2025-09-13T22:32:44Z")
So apparently it is coyote month for me. Vastly lucky enough to run into a full-throttle, life-or-death, go-for-broke race the other day. Pictures snapped towards the end of the run when they had stopped chaotically zigzagging through tall grass. They are miserably out of focus, but I think they are still cool. At least to me 🙂: [![](https://i.imgur.com/J9Qdysh.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/J9Qdysh.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/5IlZAKl.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/5IlZAKl.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/pWmsqAt.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/pWmsqAt.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/QIHhCYL.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/QIHhCYL.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/430Ui7e.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/430Ui7e.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/LM6Xie5.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/LM6Xie5.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/wgGQhg1.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/wgGQhg1.jpeg) I missed the actual denouement in the distance behind a huge, dense blackberry bramble. But I got to witness the loser trudging back the other way. They looked very tired: [![](https://i.imgur.com/a2SZjXv.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/a2SZjXv.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/P4jBHqJ.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/P4jBHqJ.jpeg) ---
**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:** [September 13, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3870 "2025-09-13T23:24:18Z")
Great pictures! I know coyotes gotta eat, but I’m glad the prey in this case escaped. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3871 "2025-09-14T15:24:15Z")
I saw a huge flock of birds wheeling in the sky. By the time I was able to get my camera and come back, it was almost dusk, and the birds were mostly roosting, but I found out where they are hanging out. Must have been almost 100 Turkey vultures. [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/85pLbNt.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/85pLbNt) ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3872 "2025-09-15T14:47:57Z")
These birds are amazing! There is a trail in our area that leads up to a rocky ridge that looks over the city and the Lake Superior bay. One day, around this time of year we were up there and saw many, many turkey vultures soaring through the air, riding on the wind currents. Sometimes they were so close, we could almost touch them. It was such a peaceful feeling watching them. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3873 "2025-09-15T15:02:35Z")
You can get some idea of how many there were by playing “count the vulture.” This was only one of two trees they were roosting in, and only a small part of the tree: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/71HmqSr.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/71HmqSr) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3874 "2025-09-15T18:30:44Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > full-throttle, life-or-death, go-for-broke race Those are great photos. You can see in both animals how hard they’re running. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > the loser trudging back the other way That pic is the embodiment of “Aw, _dammit_.” > [@beowulff](#): > > playing “count the vulture.” Vultures get such a bad rep. One of my favorite stuffed animals as a child was a vulture. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3875 "2025-09-15T19:05:47Z")
Yeah, fantastic photos @Tamerlane ! This is much more sedate. Around this time last year I noted that it was a remarkable year for wild hops. Well, this year too, it seems. [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczM0C11GEI54YALb_Y2e9FD6Bl2dxwkMUBPFfWBUFmzKgIgog8e9nQYhyrr_2dvANoNTkMCLXDl0L9q6tlo9ERoQtOOJzkdD6CTo9D3_lXfLzHldAJs=w600-h315-p-k "New photo · Friday, Sep 12 📸") ](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPbOuYRbHpOU3vRZQWNeN0px2uScxArVOrNYvLqXBcaFRirzAvSAWBqpCwLC5Y-Ag?key=VDZlWnEwWTV5aXhtN3FwcFFEWGloZzJCajhWa1hR) But here’s the thing: the two summers could hardly have been more different. Last year was cold, miserable and rainy; this year hot and really, really dry. Go (as they used to say) figure. j ---
**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:** [September 16, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3876 "2025-09-16T02:54:51Z")
X marks the Deer: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/imtSD4y.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/imtSD4y) ---
**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:** [September 16, 2025, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3877 "2025-09-16T12:07:34Z")
That looks very …meaningful, somehow! 🤔 ---
**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:** [September 16, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3878 "2025-09-16T18:18:57Z")
[![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54792103628_81bdf120b9_b.jpg "S1") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/54792103628/) This is me, wearing a wee squirrel. Someone took it away from the stray cat that we feed at our office. It’s hard to say if it was hurt, but it had a bare spot on its back and didn’t seem inclined to move about much. So we put it up in the crook of a tree and were going to leave it there, but a while later I walked by and the cat was after it again! So I retrieved it and we called a rehab. Hopefully there will be a happy ending. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3879 "2025-09-16T21:28:49Z")
Cute squirkle. Hope he’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3880 "2025-09-16T22:20:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > This is me, wearing a wee squirrel. Calls to mind one of @Darren_Garrison 's classic AI images: > [@Digital art creator algorithm website](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/digital-art-creator-algorithm-website/962081/2047): > > Revisiting “Girl with squirrel earring” (which was brought up in May of 22). The squirrel didn’t have a right (screen left) rear leg and I shopped one in, and I outpainted the square inage, but otherwise it is as Bing created it. [[image] ](https://i.postimg.cc/JzLTFTBf/girl-squirrel-earring-de3.jpg) Prompt was “Vermeer’s girl with a novelty squirrel earring. She has a grey squirrel on her ear.” and was my 6th try. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2025, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3881 "2025-09-16T23:40:33Z")
😄 He seemed to fancy himself more of a brooch! ---
**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:** [September 17, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3882 "2025-09-17T00:54:23Z")
Not a pterodactyl? ---
**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:** [September 17, 2025, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/3883 "2025-09-17T01:08:08Z")
Maybe he’ll make something of himself one day. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=193) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=195)