The same tracks but different turkeys across my friend’s driveway. She lives in a woodsy enclave of townhomes. Lots of turkeys and deer there.
Local black squirrel. And by “local” I mean less than 10 feet from my side door.
I heard something scratching at one of my upstairs windows which is in my office. I looked, but saw nothing. Moments later, more scratching. This time I saw a gray squirrel. (This window has part of my roof under it.) I tried to shoo it away. At first it wouldn’t go, but then it left, only to return a minute later.
Okay, time for tougher measures. I put a teddy bear in the window as a “scare-squirrel”. Just to make sure, I put a toy dragon on its head. No scratching since, although I did see a squirrel (not necessarily the same one) near that window later on.
Finally. I’ve been trying to get a picture of an American Bittern (or a Least Bittern for that matter) in the open for years. It’s not quite a white whale, but it is something I look for every time I’m in one of a couple of marshes. The American Bitterns are resident on most of the Pacific coast, but it doesn’t make finding one in the open any easier. They’re superbly camouflaged, love hanging deep in the reeds and are less active in full daylight generally. Previous pictures have been basically been heavily obscured glimpses.
Got some decent shots of breeding Least Bitterns last summer (they are migrants here and very uncommon ones at that):
Finally got an American Bittern today:
Too late to add:
I don’t have that greatest of pictures of it, because it was chaotic and a lot of undergrowth was in the way. But a trio of young River Otters were hunting right on the rocky edge of a pond, methodically working their way all the way around the shore. They were followed closely by a mob of a half-dozen Snowy Egrets and one Great Egret that were taking advantage of the minnows they were stirring up to have a moveable feast. Pretty fascinating to watch. Neither otters nor egrets seemed to mind each other. One otter hauled out for a few seconds to groom right in the middle of the pack of egrets.
Chaos, fish flying through the air:
Sower of chaos:
This one is pretty great
Gosh, I wish I could take such substandard pictures! They’re amazing to me.
Hey, everybody, look at me, I’m Jaws! Bum-bum, Bum-bum, Bum-bum, Bum-bum.
A beach friend. Some sort of skink, I think.
I wanted to get an egret and otter in frame together (and at least one of them sorta in focus) as a witness to the scramble, but I just could not make it work. Lots and lots of completely blurry shots. But that’s just the way of it sometimes 
.
Fantastic photos. And one of the otters appears to be swimming backstroke!
j
Hah! It does look like he is at a swim meet.
These are great! I’m still trying to get pictures of kinglets here. So frenetic - they move before you can draw a good bead on 'em.
Was this in the US? It’s not triggering my US herpetometer (I’d think whiptail, but I’d expect a little more of a pattern on the back in the US), though granted I am out of practice . But it looks a bit like some sort of Teiid (if it’s New World).
Skinks usually (but not always) have proportionally smaller legs and a more “neckless” appearance. Also they often (but not always) look a little “shiny” or smoothly armored with glossy, circular scales. This is a good photo for a very general example of the average differences between the two. But they can absolutely be confusing - i.e. skink vs whiptail.
Ruby-crowned or Golden-crowned? I’ve never gotten a “good” shot of a Golden-crowned either 
. They always seem to be bouncing around high oak trees in the shade on the rare occasions I run across them.
I’ve had better luck with Ruby-crowned Kinglets, which can be pretty common migrants in season around here. I find chasing them in trees and high, dense brush to be a little frustrating as well - as you said, small, fast and frenetic. Doesn’t stop me from chasing them (because compulsion), but I don’t often fare well.
The key with those for me is to A.) find them near eye-level or lower and B.) anticipate and get in front of them as they’re feeding towards you, which of course can be easier said than done. Around here I find in open scrubby areas they like gleaning aphids off stuff like wild anise or other stubby bushes. The nice thing about certain tiny birds like kinglets is that you are so much larger than any predator of them that they can be pretty bold and oblivious of you if you stay still. If you can get into that situation, they are actually one my all time favorite little birds to shoot.
Just don’t mistake them for the dreaded Hutton’s Vireo, that loves to confuse birders!
We are currently vacationing in Sint Maarten. The picture was taken on the beach at Little Bay near Phillipsburg.
One year we rented kayaks and paddled out to Pinel island instead of taking the ferry. On the way we stopped at a teeny-tiny land mass (about an acre).
There were lizards. Many. We had some cheese for snacking and they’d walk right up and take little pieces from your hand. My gf called them puppy lizards.
Will this do?
Not today, but this lil’ ball of fluff bonked its head on a window last year or so.
I held it in my hand to warm it, then put it in an open box to recover. Still there a few minutes later but moving around, and gone a while later.
Holding it was a magical experience. Se light I felt no weight at all, just the faintest scritchy sensation from its minute claws.
Scroll down, there’s 3 pics on this link:
Aha! Found it!.
Fantastic! They’re ridiculously adorable little birds.
I remember you posting about this when it happened, poor little dude.
Ruby-crowned. They’re easy enough to find, as they come to our mealworm feeder at this time of year. But they will Not.Hold.Still!
Oh, that’s right; I did. Sorry, crap memory.
I saw something partly wildlife, partly pet life, but it was funny.
Our Ring camera caught a skunk walking across our driveway. On its heels quickly came a black and white cat. I don’t think it was stalking the skunk; it looked like it was trying to be friendly. The skunk stopped and stamped its feet and raised its tail in the cat’s direction, and the cat stopped. The skunk proceeded, and the cat again followed, this time at a more discreet distance.
I don’t know what was going on there. Did the black and white cat feel like the skunk was a kindred spirit? I do know that I was glad that the skunk didn’t let fly. The incident was right underneath my second story bedroom window.