Birding / nature / photography ~ Older Asexuals for light walking and hiking nature adventures ~

[teatree]

Was up very early this morning so decided on the spur of the moment to load my kayak in the car and head off to one of my favorite local ponds. I got there just at sunrise and no one else was there. (There is occasionally someone out in a boat fishing.) I paddled around and saw a heron, ducks, and a beaver. The beaver was NOT happy I was in its area and kept swimming back and forth in front of me, then would slap its tail loudly and submerge. It kept repeating this, so after watching a little while I moved to a different area. I wished I had brought gloves, as it was cold--in the 40s. The water was much warmer than the air and so a mist was rising off the surface. Next time I need to dress a bit more warmly, though, as my teeth were chattering when I got off the pond and my fingers were so cold that I had trouble tying my laces!

[Myssterry]

Another bird watching expedition led to seeing a large gathering of avocets. The avocet is such a lovely bird. :)

Not my photo, just copied it for folk who are not familiar with the avocets we get here.

[fissiparity]

I've always enjoyed wandering coastal reaches exploring rock pools.

[Muledeer]

A baby moose! Moose calf? Too bad my camera malfunctioned the colors.

He looks a lot smaller behind his mother!

And finally came along his young father, older brother, or maybe even Uncle Moose....

[Qutenkuddly]

MEESES!!! (The plural of moose is meese, right? :P )

Meanwhile, a couple of weeks back, the girlfriend and I took a walk out at the Bouctouche Dune. Got to see some sandpipers doing their sandpiper thing:





Those weren't the only birds enjoying the surf:



The herons chose the marsh on the other side of the sand spit, though:

[daveb]

magenta Martian meeses!

I didn't get any photos, but I have seen a fair bit of wildlife, literally on my doorstep, the last few days. Various songbirds, lizards, and a bit further afield, a pair of raccoons. :)

[Autumn Sunrise]

We've had a lot of rain here over the past week, and the resident King parrot pair have been hanging around for handouts. They wait on the smoke bush outside the dining room, and if they don't get enough attention they fly across and perch on the lintel over the sliding glass doors of the living room - very cute! We're going through rather a lot of sunflower seeds :P

Meanwhile, the swallows have a new nest under the eaves of the living room (the old one was outside the kitchen), so I'm hoping for new family soon. if I'm lucky I may get to see them fledge later on :)

[daveb]

I almost had a fatal close encounter with a crow yesterday. That is, it was almost fatal for the crow. It suddenly flew down right in front of my car as I was pulling into my street. Luckily I wasn't going fast and was able to stop in time. It barely touched the ground very close to the front of my car before it flew back up into the trees. I was glad I didn't hit it! :)

[Muledeer]

DaveB, I thought crows were smarter than that! Sounds like it had his eye on some food in the road.

The elk have began bugling. It is a unique sound in nature, I describe it as sounding like elephants in the woods. They bugle in the middle of the night and the sound carries for hundreds of meters. My dog Elsa responded by barking after each bugle - so I was awakened several times through the night. The river has risen with recent rains so I can hear the water cascading over the rocks better now. The hummingbirds have all migrated out so no more morning buzzing sounds to the feeder outside my window. I took today off work becauese it is so incredibly beautiful here in the mountains this time of the year and I plan to enjoy the day in the sun.

[Myssterry]

I had a lovely bird watching outing today, in bright autumn sunshine. We were lucky enough to see a firecrest being ringed at the bird observatory, along with gold crests, a robin and a redwing.

There were lovely views of kestrels - a male kestrel perched on a gate post, another flew past and one was hovering in the sky.

The autumn colours are really developing now.

[Tanwen]

Autumn has really arrived all of a sudden. Only a couple of weeks ago the trees were still green, now they're gold, brown, red...I still love to go kicking through the leaves :lol:

Oh, and clocks go back on Sunday - an extra hour in bed :lol:

[Autumn Sunrise]

Spring here - and the birds are busy. We've seen another duck family - seven babies, I think, and there are lots of magpie babies. I haven't seen any yet, but I keep hearing them whinging (a loud and unmistakeable sound) to be fed.

The fairy wrens are back, and they seem to be becoming less afraid of us: I've been hearing little tapping noises on the windows, and seeing a wren flying upward to catch tiny insects that gather on the glass. A few days ago I saw a little female carrying a large, fluffy white feather in her beak so I guess she has a nest somewhere near :)

I got dive-bombed by several swallows yesterday when I walked out the front door. Why do swallows build their nests and raise their young near frequently-used doorways, if they don't want anyone to go near their nests? ;)

Autumn has really arrived all of a sudden. Only a couple of weeks ago the trees were still green, now they're gold, brown, red...I still love to go kicking through the leaves :lol:

Oh, and clocks go back on Sunday - an extra hour in bed :lol:

Frankentan, some years ago, when I was staying in Stow-on-the-Wold, I walked along one side of the town square (which is more of a triangle, I think :D ) kicking through the piles of brown rustling leaves that were almost knee deep. That's a novel experience for an Australian, but I think the locals thought I was slightly mad :lol: It's nice to know you enjoy doing that too!

[Myssterry]

Lovely to hear of your spring, Sunrise. Very into autumn here. This is a picture I took today in the local park.

[Myssterry]

Adding a haiku I just wrote to the above picture.

Autumn moves on fast

Leaves make patterns at our feet

Flutter down like birds.

[Muledeer]

Elk and Deer Viewing

At first light in the morning, I saw these images of big white-butted animals crossing the river just below my window. I got out the binoculars and saw six elk just slowly drinking and crossing the Bear River and a few more were going up the hill on the other side of the the river. Then, out of the trees came another ten or so elk... this large herd of cows, calves and 2 bulls all crossing the river and moving on. A bull even vocalized with a bugle loud enough to make the dog bark. They didn't take the easy way across the river either but they are big, strong, surefooted animals. From my observations, elk usually herd up in groups of about 20 animals. Driving home later in the evening, I saw at least three groups of mule deer grazing by the road. Mule deer usually herd up in groups of about six animals. Also saw a pair of mule deer grazing the hillside across the road from my trailer house in the mountains. The social structure and behavior of these magnificent big game animals is fascinating.

The weather this fall has been spectacular here. It should be the cold mud season but it is still warm and sunny with frosty, long nights.

What a great wildlife weekend! I can't wait to check my trail cameras.

[daveb]

WOw! Your elk and muledeer sightings sounds awesome!

I can't compare, but I saw my first live in the wild banana slug the other day. It wasn't a bright yellow one, rather a muddy yellow with some black patches that made it blend in pretty well with the leaf litter.

[Autumn Sunrise]

Elk and Deer Viewing

At first light in the morning, I saw these images of big white-butted animals crossing the river just below my window. I got out the binoculars and saw six elk just slowly drinking and crossing the Bear River and a few more were going up the hill on the other side of the the river. Then, out of the trees came another ten or so elk... this large herd of cows, calves and 2 bulls all crossing the river and moving on. A bull even vocalized with a bugle loud enough to make the dog bark. They didn't take the easy way across the river either but they are big, strong, surefooted animals. From my observations, elk usually herd up in groups of about 20 animals. Driving home later in the evening, I saw at least three groups of mule deer grazing by the road. Mule deer usually herd up in groups of about six animals. Also saw a pair of mule deer grazing the hillside across the road from my trailer house in the mountains. The social structure and behavior of these magnificent big game animals is fascinating.

The weather this fall has been spectacular here. It should be the cold mud season but it is still warm and sunny with frosty, long nights.

What a great wildlife weekend! I can't wait to check my trail cameras.

Awesome, muledeer - what a fascinating, beautiful place to live in!

I can't match elk and muleteer (sigh!), but I'm enjoying more bird sightings every day: superb fairy wrens, eastern spine bills, eastern and crimson rosellas, magpies (including babies), sulphur-crested cockatoos (could do without them - destructive bullies :o ), an occasional heron, and a pair of wood ducks with a family of "teenage" young (sadly, they don't usually survive to that stage). And of course, there's our resident King parrot. He turns up regularly, morning and evening, and perches on the door lintel until a handful of sunflower seeds is scattered for him. I'm hoping to be able to hand feed him soon :D

[Muledeer]

[Muledeer]

The image above is a mule deer fawn selfie. There is a group of four orphan fawns living around here this weekend. They need to migrate out of the mountains before the snow settles in!

[Autumn Sunrise]

Very cute picture, muledeer :D

Our resident King parrot is so tame now that he'll perch close to where I'm working in the garden. A couple of days ago he perched on my son's wrist to eat a handful of sunflower seeds, and yesterday he brought a friend with him - another mature male. They looked so pretty together!

A few days ago I heard and saw a spotted pardalote on the house roof. I'd never seen one before, but I managed to identify it from one of my bird books - very exciting for me! It's a tiny bird: with a stumpy tail and short beak, it's not spectacular to look at, but it has a lovely melodious call :)

[Tja]

Can't post photos

Oh...OK

[Tja]

The view from my hotel room

Really...I was standing in the doorway of my room when I took this.

 

[Tja]

At the same hotel. The birds were up early and the swimming bird at bottom left has caught a fish

[Autumn Sunrise]

What fabulous views, Tja - did you spend a lot of time standing in that doorway? 

[Tja]

5 minutes ago, Autumn Sunrise said:

What fabulous views, Tja - did you spend a lot of time standing in that doorway? 

Far too busy working It was more of a "stop and smell the roses" moment

[daveb]

Cool, @Tja!

 

So, how did you post the pics? I assume you still need to host them somewhere so you can get a url? Would be nice if they would allow attachments. I see the "Insert other media" button has a choice to "Insert existing attachment", but not a new one.

[Tja]

8 hours ago, daveb said:

Cool, @Tja!

 

So, how did you post the pics? I assume you still need to host them somewhere so you can get a url? Would be nice if they would allow attachments. I see the "Insert other media" button has a choice to "Insert existing attachment", but not a new one.

From my photobucket, I tapped that same "insert other media", hit "url", then "pasted".

It works for image searches, also. "Right click" on photo, click on "view image source", copy "http" line, then paste into "insert url".

[teatree]

Was on a walk on some wooded trails yesterday when something large swooped in front of me and landed in a nearby tree. It was an owl--large (at least 18 inches), grayish brown with brown eyes, markings on the chest and belly, no ear tufts, Looked in my guidebook when I got home and found out it was a barred owl. I haven't seen an owl in ages, so was very excited to have had the opportunity!

[Tja]

On 11/23/2016 at 6:54 AM, Tja said:

From my photobucket, I tapped that same "insert other media", hit "url", then "pasted".

It works for image searches, also. "Right click" on photo, click on "view image source", copy "http" line, then paste into "insert url".

Update: Some photos allow me to copy "http" line, then paste directly in reply box.

[Myssterry]

Colder weather here is bringing more birds to the garden.  I have seen wrens, robins, blue tits, great tits, long tailed tits, coal tits, great spotted woodpecker, jay, magpie, chaffinch  and blackbird over the past few days.  I have a feeder that attaches to the window now, so am hoping some birds will visit it as soon as they get used to it being there.