# 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:** 27
**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:** [April 10, 2021, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/522 "2021-04-10T19:11:36Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Crustaceans, really? > [@Crane](#): > > How about nematodes and copepods Just in case this was unclear [copepods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod) and [isopods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopoda) ARE crustaceans. So next time you see a wee [pillbug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillidium_vulgare) just think of it as a land lobster šŸ˜‰ . ---
**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:** [April 10, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/523 "2021-04-10T23:08:13Z")
First hummingbird of the season! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/524 "2021-04-10T23:13:16Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > land lobster Iā€™m going with that term from here on out. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2021, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/525 "2021-04-11T02:02:20Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > This is Martha in full voice: That was an amazing video! Thanks for sharing it with us. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/526 "2021-04-11T02:38:57Z")
No problem. You might have noticed Martha has this peculiar thing of tending to close her left eye when singing. When I first saw her, I thought she must be missing one eye, but nope. Seems to be just a habit. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/527 "2021-04-11T05:52:57Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > weā€™ve had swallowtails already - both the Tiger Swallowtail and the Black Swallowtail. When I saw the second picture I thought the coneflower was part of the butterfly. Never saw one like that before! > [@Princhester](#): > > Wildlife have an amazingly acute ability to know when they are about to be photographed, and take evasive action. So true. Even wildlife that will normally tap dance right in front of you will disappear as soon as the camera comes out. > [@romansperson](#): > > First hummingbird of the season! Iā€™m jealous! I have at least a month before mine show up. I have plenty of robins who I feed raisins on my patio. As soon as they return in the spring they come right up to the French doors and peer into the house until I toss out raisins. Also, cardinals are back and my red breasted nuthatches have doubled in numbers. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/528 "2021-04-11T09:38:31Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > When I saw the second picture I thought the coneflower was part of the butterfly. Me, too! ---
**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:** [April 11, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/529 "2021-04-11T18:56:34Z")
On my lunch break at the moment, having the pleasure of watching a downy woodpecker & a multiplicity of robins. One robin has softly muted colors - where the others have a dark, almost black head, one is pale dove-grey, with a pinkish belly instead of brick orange. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/530 "2021-04-11T19:13:10Z")
My friend does that, and it is kinda cute. And a little weird, true. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/531 "2021-04-11T19:13:52Z")
Great picture! The use of color is truly artistic. I am glad that is not life sized tho! ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/532 "2021-04-12T01:44:07Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I have plenty of robins who I feed raisins on my patio. As soon as they return in the spring they come right up to the French doors and peer into the house until I toss out raisins. I did not know that robins like raisins! They always seem to be looking for worms here. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/533 "2021-04-12T04:49:14Z")
Itā€™s funny because they eat the raisins right up until they teach their young where to come for them. Then the adults disappear, unless itā€™s a two brood year. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/534 "2021-04-12T13:32:51Z")
Between Saturday morning and Sunday evening, two pairs of my husbandā€™s shoes that were left in the garage became birdie nesting boxes. šŸ˜ Fortunately there arenā€™t any tiny eggs yet. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51111433043_1fbd38a562_b.jpg "Nests") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/51111433043/) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/535 "2021-04-14T19:39:11Z")
Saw three river otters playing in the water this morning. Itā€™s not unheard of around here (Western Puget Sound) but still pretty unusual. They sure do look like theyā€™re having fun. ---
**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:** [April 15, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/536 "2021-04-15T18:45:52Z")
Buzzard Watch Update! Just to be clear, this is the bird weā€™re talking about - _big_ old raptor: > **[Buzzard Bird Facts | Buteo Buteo - The RSPB](https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/buzzard/)** > > Now the commonest and most widespread UK bird of prey. It is quite large with broad, rounded wings, and a short neck and tail. Find out more Out on the bike today on a quiet country road, woods to the left of me, open fields to the right, a buzzard appeared from over the fields, opening its wings to air-brake in, as it crossed the road and drifted into the trees. Great, I thought, I should get a fine view - there are not many leaves yet, and the bird had only been ten or twelve feet up. I just had to slide round a bend in the road to the left to see where he had landed andā€¦ ā€¦ he had landed on top of another buzzard. Aha. Well, it is spring, I guess. But not big on foreplay, buzzards, it seems\*. This video confirms that theyā€™re not birds for standing on ceremony (as it were). [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sIxkYuXqtiY/hqdefault.jpg "Buzzards Mating") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIxkYuXqtiY) j \* - well, they mate for life. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/537 "2021-04-15T19:06:03Z")
I get the oddest birds at my feeder. [![](https://i.imgur.com/aFlXOdc.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/aFlXOdc.jpeg) ---
**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:** [April 15, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/538 "2021-04-15T19:23:34Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Buzzard Watch Update! > > Just to be clear, this is the bird weā€™re talking about - _big_ old raptor: Used to confuse me as a kid reading stories set in the UK. This is the [ā€œbuzzardā€](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_vulture) I grew up with. Absolutely and by far the most ubiquitous raptor where I live. A lot of birders wonā€™t give them a second glance theyā€™re so common, but Iā€™m always on the lookout for the rare (in CA) [mimic](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Zone-tailed_Hawk/overview). ---
**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:** [April 15, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/539 "2021-04-15T19:30:31Z")
Yeah, @Beckdawrek and I got mutually confused over buzzards in the US and UK - it taught me to be very specific about the use of birdsā€™ names (particularly as Iā€™m telling British stories on a US board). j ETA - I can see why youā€™d be on the lookout for that mimic - cool! ---
**Author:** ![Limmin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f04885/32.png) [@Limmin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Limmin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2021, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/540 "2021-04-16T16:04:20Z")
A few days ago, a hawk flew over the road I was driving on and landed near a group of other hawks in an empty field. Two were facing a third, who was standing there with wings outstretched, sort of like a threat display? Or maybe a mating display? Weā€™ve definitely had juvenile hawks cruising around lately; one burst into our screened-in porch (as described in a different thread). Yesterday, a large, boxy beetle (like a stinkbug) flew loudly past my headā€“it sounded like a little helicopterā€“and landed on my desk. He started crawling up the power cord to my tower PC. I went into another room to fetch the handheld vacuum. When I returned, he had vanished. After a brief search, I gave up and returned to my PC. An hour later, he emerged from under the tower, turned toward me, and reared up onto his back legs! Then he flipped over onto his back and started waving his legs pathetically. I scooped him up in a tissue and put him into the wastebasket. Last seen, he had vigorously thrown the tissue aside and was crawling around in the wastebasket. ---
**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:** [April 19, 2021, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/541 "2021-04-19T14:55:27Z")
> [@Limmin](#): > > Yesterday, a large, boxy beetle (like a stinkbug) flew loudly past my headā€“it sounded like a little helicopterā€“and landed on my desk. My brother! šŸŽµ ā€œLet my people goā€¦ā€ A new crop of baby alligators swimming near the culvert under our road. There are four in this picture, the top one being hardest to see. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51126416775_88ece330aa_b.jpg "Gator babies") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/51126416775/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=28)