We had a jay in the garden today, Eurasian variety and a very handsome individual -
It ducked below the patio and reappeared with something in its beak - probably an acorn scatter-hoarded by a squirrel - at which point, and out of the blue, a magpie dive-bombed it and drove it off. I assume that was about stealing the already once-stolen acorn, but all’s fair in love and feeding, I guess. We’ve seen jays in the garden a couple of times recently, which is always a pleasure.
Yesterday, out on the bike, I had a young deer cross the road in front of me in a surprisingly urban environment (junction straight into a new housing development). I have the feeling I’m seeing a lot of urbanization of wildlife at the moment.
Two nights ago, my wife and one of the dogs were out in the yard when a big hootie-owl let loose 30 feet up in the tree they were both standing right next to. She said it startled the heck out of her and the crap out of the K9 (literally). Thanks, owl, much appreciated!
[She said she knew owls were loud, but Holey Underwear!]
Confirmed that the den dug in our barn is a groundhog. Caught him in a havahart trap and relocated him into the woods. When I opened the trap he waddled out and climbed a tree!
TIL that groundhogs can climb trees.
Beavers are bigger. And they have that huge freaking paddle/tail.
Weird trivia: I know of a situation that happened In Pennsylvania where a rabid beaver attacked a guy who was fly fishing, wading in a stream. The beaver repeatedly tried to bite, but the rubber waders protected him. He got his hands around the animal’s neck and strangled/drowned it over a long period of time.
I’ve met the guy and he’s just some dude. He wears glasses!
USGS says it wasn’t an earthquake, but no explosions/crashes/sonic booms were reported, so for now I’m going with an Earth fart, cuz I got nothing else.
Huh! The update on that story now says it was a 2.2 magnitude earthquake. I may have lived too close to an Air Force base and national laboratory that does top-secret work, but my first thought was “secret military testing.” I didn’t think about an earthquake making a sound.
These three deer are in our yard every day. Husband took this shot of them through our kitchen window. They’re at the edge of the driveway, just feet away from the house. I think if it weren’t for the dogs, we’d come home one day and find them sitting on the couch!
Our oldest dog Loki wakes me somewhere between 1 and 4 am to go out to pee. I take her out on a leash because otherwise she might chase rabbits/raccoons/etc. Over the weekend she was looking at “something” but not pulling. So I took out my phone and took a picture.
They were watching us.
The yellow-rumped warbler is probably North America’s most common and widespread warbler (and most easily identified to boot) and I’ve taken a number of pictures of them. But for whatever reason I usually don’t usually get that tell-tale rump with the rest of the bird except from behind. So while this one may not be the most handsome individual I’ve seen, I was happy to get the shot.
Also, can’t blame her for the dirty beak. She was doing the Lord’s work, messily stuffing her face with aphids.
Having recently seen (for the first time) a magpie eat an acorn, yesterday, in a park in Worthing, we watched a carrion crow eat one. Who knew? (They seem to prefer bits of sandwich; I like crows but, hey, that was my lunch).
And last night I heard a tawny owl being very loud - first time I’ve heard one for a while. Late autumn and through winter is, apparently, the time to listen out.
Very cool, @Dung_Beetle. It snowed here yesterday and the only wildlife I’m seeing are the voles that sneak into the my new work building. Keep posting cool stuff, please.
