Today I had two roseate spoonbills swoop right over the hood of my car as I was traveling down the road.
My commute takes me down a divided street with huge power transmission towers down the middle. It’s a wide median, about 60 feet across with bushes and shrubs in the middle. This year, I noticed groundhogs or, if you like, woodchucks. I spotted four adults one morning last week, pretty big animals. This is not at all rural; it’s a suburb that borders O’Hare airport.
Oooh, I’ve got a couple of good ones from the last week.
I had an encounter with a curious bear. He got within 20 feet of me, before I stood up to full height and started yelling full strength. It wasn’t really his fault that the pit toilet in North Cascades National Park was in the middle of hundreds of ripe huckleberry bushes, nor was it really my fault that I didn’t see him amongst the bushes. He was a gorgeous young bear- I was more worried that he had a parent nearby.
I also saw elk, mountain goats, and bighorns. But the bear was definitely the highlight of recent nature encounters.
Nice!
I saw a couple of Anna’s hummingbirds buzzing each other.
Really vivid colors means the raindrops were large and uniform in size. Because of diffraction, smaller raindrops produce paler colors.
I’ve only seen one really vivid rainbow, which was in fact not a full 180° arc, just a very short segment. That was against the dark clouds of a severe thunderstorm.
Well this morning a large Mama spider exploded gazillions of babies in my near vicinity. It was awfully scary, gross and amazing all at the same time.
No Bigfoot sightings yet this week.
This morning I went around with my gf as she was filling bird feeders, putting out feed for the deer and turkeys, etc. She’d been telling me about three crows that meet&greet her each morning. She specifically gives them a treat, she calls them The Three Amigcrows.
Sure enough, they showed up, carried on, and got some special treats. Additionally, there was a fourth crow, a fledgling. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops over time. My gf dropped a piece of bread as she tossed the crows food. The fledgling hopped over and took the bread, startling us.
Last night, while grilling and chatting with my neighbor next door, I saw squirrels, rabbits (including a couple very skittish young ones), a possum, and two skunks at the same time. Not bad for a yard in the big city.
The adult rabbits are not too scared and let people get to within 8-10 feet. The skunks didn’t seem to even notice me, though I didn’t test the limit. They’re really cute animals and move very gracefully.
Well my baby duck stress was at an all time high last evening. I was walking one of the dogs down the sidewalk about a half block from the duck pond. The dog happened to look up into a big red pine. So naturally, I looked up too. There was a crow with something in its beak. I first thought it was a squirrel or a chipmunk…then I saw the little flappy webbed feet. 
I don’t think I’ve reported the pair of pileated woodpeckers.
3 bodacious Buzzards have taken up stalking my side yard. They just give the creeps.
They have the most awesome stink eye.
I need to have my tarot cards read. @Spoons where are you?
Right here, Beck. Let me get my deck, and I’ll inform you.
Okay, Beck, I did a basic three-card reading. Past, present, and future. I thought about you and your question all the while. I shuffled the cards thoroughly while thinking about your question, then cut them into three piles. Leftmost is Past, middle is Present, and rightmost is Future. Ready?
Past: Two of pentacles, reversed. You are overwhelmed, and overextending yourself. Your messages here recently have indicated that. Beck, you need to stop feeling as if you are under pressure, take a break and relax. I’m sure that you can lay certain tasks in the hands of Big Wrek, the Little Wrekkers, and the Grand Wreks, and they will be taken care of capably. In short, Beck, the card says, slow down and delegate tasks.
Present: Strength, upright. This card typically represents inner strength, and Beck, you have certainly shown that in your posts. You are courageous and daring, but are strong enough to know how to pick your battles. You could have easily picked up your shotgun and blown those buzzards away–but you didn’t, because you’re strong enough to just deal, until they go away. You may not like them, you may find them creepy, but you are strong enough to let them be as long as they’re not bothering you.
Future: The Wheel of Fortune, upright. Change is coming, and it’s going to be good. It may not be easy, but this card indicates that you need not worry about today’s buzzards; rather, you need to look forward to tomorrow’s good fortune. Don’t chance things though; stay true to yourself, deal with the change as it occurs, and all will be well.
Hope this is useful and helpful, Beck. I did the best that I and the cards could.
Some sandhill cranes in our pasture, hanging out with the pony and the donkey. Muscling in on the cowbirds’ territory.
Turkeys. We have turkeys. Lots of them, and a lot of young ones this year. They scratch at the bark-covered suburban landscape and leave a mess. Still, I like seeing them around.
We get turkeys here too! I like to see them walking through the tall grass, and then the tall grass just goes on moving and moving behind them because the chicks who are following them are too short to see. 
I ride my bike early, and I get to see some nature. This morning, I saw two bunnies and a fox, all of whom I wished a good morning, as one does.
I surprised Reynard, and he may have thought I was chasing him, as he ran along the sidewalk just ahead of me for about a hundred yards.
Turkeys here as well, they show up en masse after the deer have left. We feed shelled corn, five pounds every morning. It’s kind of cool how the deer only eat about half of it, leaving exactly what the turkeys, ducks, crows, etc need. It’s all gone by noon, but at 11:30 there’s still a bit.