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


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I remember catching fireflies, or as we call them here, lightning bugs, as a kid all the time. I still catch them on occasion because why not? They're such gentle insects.  

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25 minutes ago, LVG said:

I remember catching fireflies, or as we call them here, lightning bugs, as a kid all the time. I still catch them on occasion because why not? They're such gentle insects.  

We called them lightning bugs, also.:D

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Autumn Sunrise

I'm sure the gloaming is part of nature, @Tja, so not really off-topic at all! Anyway, thank you - I love it!

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Saw a squirrel crossing a busy road by using the telegraph wire overhead.  Never seen that before. :)

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2 hours ago, Mz Terry said:

Saw a squirrel crossing a busy road by using the telegraph wire overhead.  Never seen that before. :)

Wonder if I could talk the turtle into doing that. Much less dangerous for him.:P:lol:

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37 minutes ago, Tja said:

Wonder if I could talk the turtle into doing that. Much less dangerous for him.:P:lol:

The turtle might need a zipwire. :P

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1 hour ago, Mz Terry said:

The turtle might need a zipwire. :P

The big question is: You folks are still using telegraph, over there?:huh: Wouldn't it be better to start using telephones? :P

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18 minutes ago, Tja said:

The big question is: You folks are still using telegraph, over there?:huh: Wouldn't it be better to start using telephones? :P

That's what we call them here. :P  Telegraph poles and telegraph wires.

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Sat outside my hotel and four sparrows tried raiding my olives, they were totally fearless of humans, also I haven't seen a sparrow for a surprisingly long time 

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3 hours ago, Mz Terry said:
3 hours ago, Tja said:

The big question is: You folks are still using telegraph, over there?:huh: Wouldn't it be better to start using telephones? :P

That's what we call them here. :P  Telegraph poles and telegraph wires.

I noticed that, too. :D

 

This morning I went for an hour long walk in the woods/forest at a state park less than 10 miles from where I live. It was a bit warm and sunny, but most of the walk was in the shade. Lots of big old pine trees, deciduous trees, ferns, banana slugs, etc. It was really nice. And I worked up a sweat without getting over-exposed to the sun. :D

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My neighbors put up a bird house on a fence post and a pair of House Wrens took up residence.  But they haven't been seen lately, so this evening,  we opened it up to discover seven small round speckled eggs in the nest built of twigs and grass.  He said a cat was seen perched atop the birdhouse last week and they fear that perhaps the cat got the wren.  But we closed it back up anyway, in hopes that maybe something bad didn't happen after all.  I could tell my neighbors felt a sense of loss because they put up the birdhouse and had been awaiting the fledglings. 

 

I try not to get personally attached to wild animals and birds because nature is crewel and unpredictable.  Bad things do happen to all living things, but life, in general, continues through the ages.

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@MuledeerThere is a programme on the BBC here every June, Springwatch, which is excellent on native wildlife.  The predation suffered by birds is so high - it brings it home to you, when you have seen regular updates on a nest of young birds and then something takes them.  It certainly isn't just cats.  We have seen weasels and stoats, grass snakes and other birds, like magpies, spotted woodpeckers and jackdaws all taking eggs or nestlings.  Then there are the parent birds that can be caught as they are searching for food constantly for the young.  So sometimes it seems amazing that any survive.  But they do, and my garden has baby robins and blue tits visitng at the moment.  I hope the neighbours are wrong and the House Wrens are OK.

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Yesterday I was enjoying the afternoon sitting under a tree and cleaning some vegetables.  Elsa was sprawled out laying on her side in the grass.  She looked dead.  A large, black bird swooped in and hovered just above the tree tops for a few moments, made eye contact with me, and then left.  I think it was some kind raven or vulture looking at my dog thinking she was carrion! 

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Not birding, but weird enough: When I rode home tonight I saw 1 hedgehog on a pavement in the village on the other side of the road. A bit later another 2m from me vanishing in a garden near my backdoor. - Dunno if I have ever seen alive ones outside captivity before.

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Sunday I did a little road trip to almost west Texas.  I visited a cave in Sonora and South Llano River State Park.  The cave was neat but said a stupid college guy broke off part of a formation known as the butterfly.  The formation grew out from the wall in the shape of 2 butterfly wings.  I don't understand why people think it's a good idea to do stuff like that.  The birding at the park was great, but they make it easy with 4 blinds with water and morning feedings.  I saw some birds unique to SW Texas while I was there including a weird hybrid that is not officially documented any where.  It's supposedly a cross between a painted bunting and varied bunting.

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The hot weather has brought an abundance of butterflies - red admiral, small white, meadow brown, comma all feeding on flowers in the garden today.

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I saw a mama deer and her two fawns today. I tried to snap a pictures, but they ran across the street too fast. They were adorable. 

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5 hours ago, jehoshabeath said:

Just curious, but do any of you log your nature observations on websites like http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ or participate in citizen science projects like http://feederwatch.org/

@jehoshabeath I've logged couple of ebird counts for the park behind my house.  I think it's a neat tool and I hear from other birders they use it to locate birds they would like to see, especially unusual sightings.

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I caught a fleeting glance of an indigo bunting while I was driving back to the shop. I've seen them before, but they're so pretty I never get tired of seeing them. 

 

indigo_bunting_breeding_male3.jpg

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11 minutes ago, LVG said:

indigo bunting

Oh, pretty! I  like that dark blue (and black?) coloring. Steller's Jays are also dark and blue. :)

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Steller jays are pretty. They also mimic hawk screeches in order to scare away birds away from feeders so they can have it all to themselves. 

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2 hours ago, LVG said:

I caught a fleeting glance of an indigo bunting while I was driving back to the shop. I've seen them before, but they're so pretty I never get tired of seeing them. 

 

I saw my first indigo buntings on my July 3 state park adventure (same trip as the weird hybrid bird I mentioned earlier).  Very pretty birds!  

 

Here's the painted/varied bunting hybrid I saw (couldn't get the link to work earlier).

19732075_1583229218356888_18410786994910

 

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Went a walk the other day - it was sunny, but not too hot.  Saw a lot of butterflies, mainly Meadow Browns, and a Kestrel perched atop a lamp post. :)

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Guest Jetsun Milarepa

Going back up the thread a bit , gloaming is a Scots word for twilight , as in the old Harry Lauder song 'Roaming in the gloaming, on the bonny banks of Clyde...roaming in the gloaming with a lassie by my side.....' @Tja

 

A blue damselfly sat on the back door for a while. My Privet Hawk moth pupa hasn't hatched yet, ad he's been in there all winter, so I'm beginning to get worried, but he's alive and wriggling inside it, so maybe next year?

 

OOh! @LVG, what a beautiful bird! An Indigo bunting..that's a new one , pity we don't get them everywhere, certainly not in the UK.

the hedgehogs disappeared for a few weeks, but now they're back every night, and there are babies...:D

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I spotted a coopers hawk this morning. I could hear the all the other nearby birds belting out their warning and scolding calls. 

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SilverFlower

Since moving to Hawaii a few years ago, my dog has had to give up his favorite pastime of squirrel chasing in favor of mongoose chasing.  Only one problem.  Mongooses are really fast and he never gets to catch one.  There are also a lot of geckos around my house who are missing their tails which thankfully do grow back.

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Somehow I have lost the ability to post pictures.  I will try this but I don't think the link works.  Oh well, it was a pair of fawns.

I may keep trying  and coming back with new edits, I'm sorry if this post has nothing to do with nature - the good intention was there.

 

Edit - it looks like the link in the spoiler will work once it has been posted.  I wish the image would just appear like it should.

 

So, I was confused when I first viewed this image because these animals appear to have the bodies of adult deer with the coloration of fawns.  I have never seen a spotted adult mule deer.  I even googled spotted mule deer and all I got were fawn images or people posting about how they "spotted" a mule deer.  What do you think, if you can view the link, do these deer look like fawns or adults dancing with each other in the middle of the night? 

 

 

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