No egrets
Ba dum tssss
We’ve had a bumper crop of buns this year. There are 5 or 6 in the backyard every evening. They range in size from adults to teeny little bun puffs. It’s been like this all summer - a variety of ages at all times. So they must be mating like crazy. I know there are coyotes out back so I’m surprised the population has been so consistent. The bunnies entertain the dogs every evening. The dogs are behind a fence and the bunnies must know they’re safe so they just continue to eat even though they’re being barked at.
I will henceforth forever call a very small rabbit a “bun puff.” So it has been written; so shall it be.
I was walking my Great Dane at 6am this morning so it was still pretty dark. We were walking up a sidewalk that goes past a swamp (the swamp is on both sides of the road). The dog suddenly turned around to look at something. I looked (I wear a headlamp) too. About a half block away a black bear was crossing the street. We stood and watched when a moment later not 1, not 2 but 3 cubs came running behind her! Thank God the dog just watched because he could have easily dragged me right down the sidewalk and into the swamp. I would have had to let go of the leash. I don’t think the mama bear would have been too happy with a dog chasing her babies. She did stop and look at us.
We had an unseasonably early rain storm the other day, followed by a warm sunny morning. And around here rain followed by warm sunny day often = termite eruption!
They were all over the place in my local park and the fly-catching birds were having a field day. Mostly resident black phoebes and western bluebirds, which I would expect. But more interestingly to me there were a pair of fall migrant yellow warblers actively fly-catching from the treetops. Which I guess they do occasionally, but I’ve never seen it.
Haven’t seen a gator in a while, but our neighbor texted us this photo last night, with the caption, “Outside your fence”. Hope it stays that way!
Fall slammed the door on Summer two days ago and I am reaping the questionable reward. My home is being invaded by box elder bugs.
Oh HELL no.
I’m so glad I live in the middle of North America, half way between crocs and polar bears, both far, far away.
You and me both.
A real surprise in our backyard. Noticed the dogs all looking at something.
A tiny snapping turtle! About 100 yards from our pond.
Wow, so cute!
Very cute. We let him run around a bit, then took him to Leaky Pond, a 15 minute walk from our house. Named Leaky Pond by our friends because of the very muddy bank. Perfect spot for hibernation, he began frantically digging the moment we set him down.
He’s not hardly enough to snap a green pea!
Actually they don’t seem to. When I posted my pic in post 1833, I used the link to the jpeg when I opened the pic in Imgur into a new tab. Clicking on my picture would bring you to a full sized jpeg of my image. Now, a week later, it takes you to the imgur page of my image, with my image surrounded by Imgur UI.
Meanwhile, my post in #1833 still takes you to a full sized jpeg if you click. Let’s see that lasts.
Driving from NSW back to Melbourne on Saturday, about 2kn north of Numurkah I saw around 30 camels in a paddock. After a WTF moment, I took a second look. About 30 of them, all looking like young ones, single humpers, happily lazing around and grazing.
Sheep, Cows and Roos are standard viewing, Alpaccas less common but still their around Yaroweah, but Camels?
This morning a pair of wrens checked out our back porch as a potential nesting site. Interesting to see how thorough they were. Probably spent ten minutes in the ceiling lamp fixture and on the screens. Dined on a few bugs and then flew off. Guess we didn’t qualify.
I’ve been walking Simi on the nearby trail at Roaring Run.. He absolutely loves the one-on-one time.
Yesterday we were walking when I saw someone walking toward us about 50 yards away. She did the “OMG A SNAKE” dance. Sure enough, she suggested I turn around because there was a rattlesnake on the trail. I thanked her for the heads-up and continued walking, leaving her sputtering about what a fool I was.
I was actually hoping it was a rattlesnake, but no. I was 100% certain it was not one of the venomous species found In Pennsylvania. I was 98% certain of the genus/species and a herpetologist confirmed it was indeed: Nerodia siperdon aka common watersnake aka Northern watersnake. Simi was very good with the snake, I told him “leave it” and he did. I encouraged the snake to leave the trail and we finished our walk.
