# 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:** 31
**Author:** ![Fhari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Fhari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fhari)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/602 "2021-05-05T03:34:39Z")
Where do you live? In ND I have seen them nesting in the summer, but they get wild in August. Once we were eating a pizza outside and one landed on the pizza and buzzed of carrying a good sized piece of sausage. ---
**Author:** ![Fhari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Fhari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fhari)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/603 "2021-05-05T03:41:48Z")
A few years ago I had my dog out to a river area we used to hit regularly (sadly he died last fall) and saw a huge number of crows mobbing a great horned owl, This went on for a long time, the owl would fly to distant trees, the crows would swoop over there. I was not familiar with this but found stuff on google about it when I got home. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/604 "2021-05-05T17:33:14Z")
Welcome, @Fhari! Today in my husband’s shoe I saw nature. 😁 [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51159124392_7c47472570_b.jpg "shoe") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/51159124392/) ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/605 "2021-05-05T17:36:17Z")
Cool! Wrens? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/606 "2021-05-05T17:40:48Z")
Possibly. They’re slightly pink eggs with dark blotches on them. I’ll have to watch for their mother. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/607 "2021-05-05T19:01:52Z")
Note the [shoe on this Carolina wren page](http://sialis.org/nestscarolinawren.htm) 😃 . Almost certainly wrens, but could be a [house wren](http://sialis.org/nestshowr.htm). But spotting and placement looks more like the Carolina wren. I was just out shooting marsh wrens (among other stuff) the other day: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51161045465_dba3f42906_b.jpg "P5040958a") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/28283886@N00/51161045465/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/608 "2021-05-05T19:13:36Z")
Yep, I bet that’s it. We see a lot of wee little birds going in and out of the garage (we leave it open when we’re home). ---
**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:** [May 5, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/609 "2021-05-05T22:16:24Z")
Minneapolis St Paul metro. I live in a condo and the caretaker spends a good part of his summer hunting down and removing starter hives. I spoke to him about attracting bumblebees to cut down on our yellow jacket numbers but the HOA is against it all (because they know little about bees and apparently don’t want to learn). I should clarify, these are European paper wasps. They look very similar to yellow jackets but nest above ground while yellow jackets nest underground. Locally, we tend to call both of them yellow jackets. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/610 "2021-05-06T03:16:23Z")
Today I saw a bald eagle. I thought that I must be wrong but I found someone’s pictures online tonight and we have at least one nesting pair in town. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2021, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/611 "2021-05-06T10:39:37Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > We see a lot of wee little birds going in and out of the garage We have to watch our garage closely, otherwise wrens nest and we then have to leave it open. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2021, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/612 "2021-05-06T12:12:51Z")
Mom was home this morning…looks like @kayaker was right! [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51161491658_387cb37a22_z.jpg "Wren again") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45215582@N06/51161491658/) ---
**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:** [May 6, 2021, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/613 "2021-05-06T12:21:48Z")
That’s an absolutely adorable photo! 😍 _Yesterday_ in nature, I watched a starling hunt down a worm/caterpillar thing, then fly up into a hollow knot of a nearby skinny little tree, barely bigger than a sapling … that promptly started emitting cheeping noises. Starling disappeared briefly into the noisy hole, then flew off like a bat out of hell. (Cheeping in hole reached crescendo.) Off to find the next worm/caterpillar thingie, or perhaps just to get away from the pandemonium. Cheeping noises continued briefly, then tapered off. (Starlings are notorious, invasive birds that kick other birds out of established nesting holes - I’ve personally witnessed this, it’s heartbreaking - and are responsible for declining native bird populations from bluebirds to woodpeckers. That said, they’re entertaining as hell to observe.) > **[Common starling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_starling)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > > The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European starling in North America and simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browne... ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/614 "2021-05-06T22:22:27Z")
Yesterday I saw what from a distance looked like a pair of goslings chasing each other down a path, but as I got closer, realized they were actually baby roadrunners. They were surprisingly quick, but eventually I got ahead of them and tried to get them to turn back, as they were likely running away from their nest and were exposed to predators. They hopped into the bushes before I could get a pic, and I felt that at least they were hidden from hawks and so forth. It was really cool, and of course, I thought of this thread, which I had seen but never had a reason to add to until this unusual (to me) sight. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/615 "2021-05-06T22:53:01Z")
Fruit trees have been blooming since Saturday and today I saw two bumblebees giving them a workover. And the daffodil plants that suddenly appeared amongst the rocks surrounding my condo (surprise! 😉) are about to bloom. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/616 "2021-05-06T23:49:58Z")
We have hawk wars here. There is a hawk pair that have a nest somewhere down our street - not sure exactly where, but I see them hanging out together in a tree several houses over from where I live. Today we were out in the yard and heard them screaming - at another hawk pair that was screaming back. Not sure if this was an invading pair or grown babies and parents squalling back and forth, but I’d guess the former. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/617 "2021-05-06T23:54:31Z")
My sweet dog killed a chipmunk. I wasn’t happy, but recognize that it’s her instinct. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/618 "2021-05-07T00:16:00Z")
Orioles are back in western Pennsylvania (Baltimore orioles). I began putting out oranges the other day. They ate heartily today. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/619 "2021-05-07T12:18:10Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > Yesterday I saw what from a distance looked like a pair of goslings chasing each other down a path, but as I got closer, realized they were actually baby roadrunners. Cool! I’ve never seen a roadrunner that wasn’t animated. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/620 "2021-05-07T14:16:09Z")
One of the predators I feared would get them was in fact a coyote. Also, “meep meep” isn’t far off the actual sound they make. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2021, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854/621 "2021-05-07T14:38:14Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > One of the predators I feared would get them was in fact a coyote. Just be sure not to leave an Acme catalog lying around where a coyote can find it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=30) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-nature-i-saw/915854.md?page=32)