A beautiful visitor!
I always use the phrase I learned from David Attenborough (sp?): Red next to black is a friend to Jack: red next to yellow can kill a fellow.
Re: toads. Before the La Ballona Creek was converted to concrete, we used to have regular small toad invasions. We lived about two blocks away, but neighbor kids used to grab bunches of them and bring them back in boxes to dump in the neighborhood. Our dachshund went crazy chasing them.
That mnemonic works in the United States 
. It does not work in Latin America 
. Take this handsome little devil for example.
Damn! I knew it had to be too easy.
One sign that it’s the end of breeding season here is that I went out after dark last night to water the flowers in my hanging baskets and scared the snot out of a wren that was roosting in one. It’s time to remember to do that before it gets dark.
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I have local squirrels who will - for some reason - leave partially eaten fruit all over my decks.
I can’t even see fruit trees from my house, they must bring them from quite a ways. Not sure what this is - peach? it’s a green husk with orange flesh - but I’ve seen apples and persimmon left in weird places, half eaten. I find this stuff a couple of times a week. Thanks squirrels?
I just love skunks - when I can’t smell them. They are beautiful, inquisitive, and can be friendly.
Here is a picture of the thrasher that lives in my cholla cactus with its family.
A couple weeks ago our local cooper’s hawk almost got it but it ducked back into the cholla in time.
Smart. I wouldn’t go into cholla for any meal.
Man, I’m jealous. Thrashers in general are my nemesis (well, among a number of nemeses). I hear them from time to time, but I only occasionally ever see them clearly and never in focus on a camera. Skulky little bastards. We get big California thrashers out here and I 
their funky bills.
Back in post 1548 (May of this year) I talked about being on a reserve on the Cotentan peninsula in northern France. They charged us five euros for an annual ticket to get in. You know what? You do that to me, I’ll be back.
Hey, today on the Marais (marshland) - hell of a day. Barely through the gate we saw a kingfisher - sixth time in my life. You just have to have a touch of dumb luck for that.
The storks have migrated already, apparently. Surprisingly early I would have thought. But from the hide we watched great white egrets hunting cattle egrets doing their thing, a ridiculously close kestrel hunting. Cormorants, herons - and two lazy, largish white birds which were a bit of a mystery. I asked a French guy that we met, had he identified them.
“Des spatules.”
Holy crap, spoonbills! I watched them for ten solid minutes til they moved and yes, stone me, spoonbills! First ever.
Great stuff.
j
Yesterday I was patrolling our yard with a bucket and a pooper scooper. The neighbor waved me over, as he does when one of our dogs defecates on his property. It happens rarely, and he’s cool about it. I walked over and asked where the poop was.
He walked around behind his house, which surprised me because my dogs wouldn’t go around to that area. Then he pointed to the offending pile. It was interesting. I explained that it wasn’t from Kizzy, hers is much larger diameter and total amount. It also wasn’t Simi’s, hers is much softer, plus she would never go to this area. That leaves Loki. It could pass as Loki’s but as I pushed it with my scooper I could see rabbit hair. Loki wouldn’t eat a rabbit unless I skinned and cooked it for her.
I was 95% certain that the pile of shit was from a coyote. My neighbor told me he owed his wife an apology. A few nights prior she was getting a drink of water at 3 am and the motion detecting lights had gone on. She claimed to have seen a coyote. He’d been teasing her about needing an eye exam, but it turns out she was correct.
I scooped the coyote poop up, even though my neighbor said I didn’t have to.
I’m laughing because you’re so familiar with each individual’s poop, but I totally understand! My husband and I will have completely sober and heartfelt discussions about the quality of our dogs’ output.
@Treppenwitz, I’m always thrilled to see a spoonbill too!
Our dog has Cushings and an intestinal issue. We’re always discussing his poop.
I think if you are a dog owner for long enough you end up becoming a poopologist.
You can tell a lot by looking at poop, indeed.
I don’t mind the smell of a skunk (hell, given my digestive system, it’s not certain that they are the more offensive of us) but would be terrified to see one in real life - lest I be the one to cause it to discharge.
Oh, they’re actually quite inoffensive if you don’t mess with them. I’ve encountered skunks scores of times, sometimes at distances of less than 10 feet, without any issue. The rabies thing is worth being wary of and you ABSOLUTELY do not want to scare or provoke them. But they know very well they can mess you up, so they tend to be bold often to the point of being blasé. Example:
OMG, they are so cute running together like that! It’s like a drill team routine