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

[teatree]

I haven't seen a raccoon in my neighborhood in ages, and they used to be quite common. Wonder what happened? Now all I see is the occasional possum or skunk. And this year I have had an influx of rabbits in my yard.

Yesterday morning I went on a short hike on a small "mountain" that I hike a couple times a month--grumbled to myself about going, but felt like I should be doing something. So glad I went! The weather had cooled off and the blueberries were ripe! I found myself a shady spot and it was so blissfully quiet except for the birds. No other hikers except one, and he kept on going. It took me 45 minutes of picking to get one Ziploc bag of berries; I could have happily stayed up there all day if I hadn't other obligations to get home to....

[Autumn Sunrise]

I've had a few interesting visitors lately.

About a week ago I went into the chicken house to check for eggs. As I entered I heard sounds like a bird trying to find its way out, but before I could do anything it flew past me, out the door, and out the gate of the run. I only got a fleeting glimpse, but I'm sure it was a female satin bower bird (we used to get them quite a lot at one of our previous homes, but I've never seen them here before). They're rather pretty birds (although the males are showier) - speckled in light and dark brown, with a subtle iridescent sheen. Only thing is - they're quite destructive in the garden. I once had bower birds completely strip a netted peach tree; they got in through a tiny gap near the ground, then jumped upwards from branch to branch. The peaches were small, hard and green, but they ate every last one, and we never did get to find out whether they were nice when ripe :(

Lately we've had regular visits from a pair (i.e. a male and a female) of King parrots. They found a stash of pumpkins we have on the dining room verandah, and . . . I guess they like pumpkin :lol: They each chose one, pecked a hole through the skin then had a leisurely feast. Since then, they've been back each day: each one goes to the same pumpkin, and eats its way a little further around :D It's actually quite entertaining, and I don't grudge them a share of our fruit, especially since they're only eating from one pumpkin each, and we have more than we can possibly eat. But . . . who would have guessed that they'd like such a thing?

Finally, this morning we had a little mob of wallabies grazing on the slope just below our house. One of them had a young one beside it: too big, now, for her pouch, but unwilling to give up the extra benefits, so he kept following her and thrusting his head into her pouch for a drink. Very cute to watch, but I think she was finding him ever-so-slightly annoying :lol: While I was watching, a little furry head popped up from below the bank outside our house, and started eating the grass there. I guess it knew I was watching, but it didn't seem to mind, so I had a chance to observe it quite closely, and I'm pretty sure it was a black glove wallaby - very pretty, with cream stripes either side of its muzzle, black feet and a rufous neck and rump :)

Oh, and I saw a magnificent fox running across our property a few days ago. Fortunately - for the sake of the chickens - it kept running!

[Skycaptain]

Glad you're enjoying the wildlife, Autumn Sunrise.

[daveb]

Those King parrots sound cool they way they are each eating from only one pumpkin. The wallabies sound cool, too. Are the bower birds the ones that make very elaborate nests?

I saw a small hawk or falcon pretty closely yesterday (and it even ended up in a tree in my front yard last I saw of it). :)

[Tja]

Wow, Sunny! To have all that gorgeous nature on your doorstep! Lovely. :)

[Autumn Sunrise]

Those King parrots sound cool they way they are each eating from only one pumpkin. The wallabies sound cool, too. Are the bower birds the ones that make very elaborate nests?

I saw a small hawk or falcon pretty closely yesterday (and it even ended up in a tree in my front yard last I saw of it). :)

Yes, dave - the male bower bird (which is black, with an iridescent sheen, and has violet-blue eyes) makes a bower and adorns it with dozens of found (or stolen ) blue objects. He also creates a nest in the bower, and puts on a courtship display for any females that take his fancy. The female chooses her mate, and her choice is as much to do with how much she likes the bower as with how much she likes him :lol:

The Kingies are still around, cadging sunflower seeds and enjoying the pumpkins :D

Wow - I can't believe a hawk (or falcon) in a tree near your house - how lucky were you! :D

Tja, you don't know how almost literally true is "on your doorstep". The pair of Kingies we've been watching have developed a habit of perching on the lintel of the front door and watching us when we're in the living room :lol:

[Muledeer]

Autumn Sunrise, your posts made me think of an exhibit at our county fair going on this week. It features Australian wildlife - like kangaroos, wallabies, dingo dogs, and several birds and reptiles. It is like a little zoo and they had educational programs a few times per day. I learned so much about your animals and I thought of you several times during the show. Baby kangaroos are called joeys and they even had an albino kangaroo. The best part of it - totally free!

[Autumn Sunrise]

That albino kangaroo must have been a pretty sight, muledeer - I think they're pretty rare! At any rate, I don't remember ever seeing one. Aren't the joeys just the cutest things? :)

[Myssterry]

Not good photos as they are through the kitchen window. I was amused to see these little guys sharing the bird bath for their morning ablutions. A robin and a juvenile or female blackcap.

[Qutenkuddly]

Apparently we have a new neighbour; there's a groundhog that's taken up residence near or in the backyard. We've had to chase it out from under the fire pot a couple of times. (Wouldn't want to accidentally cook the little bugger.)

[Qutenkuddly]

Some photos from our recent vacation along the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada:

Our first day, we visited the Alexander Graham Bell Museum.

Here's Teddy beside a replica of the first telephone device:

I can understand why Bell loved this part of the country:

This is a replica of the Silver Wing, the first airplane to fly in Canada:

From the museum, we made our way to the west coast of the island, passing north through Cheticamp and onwards to Pleasant Bay:

There was some concern about making it to our hotel before the office close (because of frequent stopping for photos), but we made it in time! This was our base camp for the next few days:

The boys were pretty knackered after a long day of driving and touring about:

[Autumn Sunrise]

Our first daffodils are out! Three little golden miniatures, in the garden next to the front door. And there are heaps coming up, all over the property. A couple of years ago, I planted three daffodil bulbs around each of the pear trees lining the drive, and now each one is a good-sized clump, most with five or six flower heads . . . I can't wait to see them all out (and I kind of hope the first of the pear blossom will be out as well :) ) Hopefully, next year will be even better, because we've just planted dozens of new bulbs on the slope down by the dam.

There've been lots of birds around lately; I saw a noisy miner enjoying a bath in the stone water bowl outside the dining room (and I have to say, that water was anything but clean, but the bird was having an absolute ball :lol: ). This morning I spotted a pair of ducks with six tiny ducklings, down by the dam. They can swim well already - I just hope they manage to survive the predators.

It's still pretty cold overnight (it was -4 Celsius last night, and we had a fairly severe frost) but we've had a run of nice sunny days - a bit windy, though ;) and we've been busy planting spring veg, and netting them against the birds.

[Muledeer]

Here is an experience to add to my "never seen that before" list:

The hummingbird feeder outside my window has been very busy lately. I have watched the birds and bees dance around the feeder cups several times. But yesterday, there was one agressive bee (a hornet?) that ruled the feeder all afternoon. He would go from cup to cup eating the nectar drippings from where the birds were feeding, chasing the birds away so he could harvest their drips. The feeder's holes are too small for a bee to enter. Not only would this bee chase away feeding birds, but approaching birds as well. He would actively chase the birds away and the birds responded with absolute compliance!

While I was typing this post, I had a bird strike my window. I think it was a juvenile woodpecker - grey and black stripes like a Barred Rock chicken. Looks like it broke its neck and he is laying on the grass upside down taking shallow breaths so I will need to go put him down humanely and dispose of the carcass :( . Wait! I just looked out again and he was sitting upright catching his breath. I will keep the dog inside this morning and hope for a full recovery......No need for that now - he just flew up into a tree! All is well but I am sure he has a terrible headache.

Did anyone catch the meteor shower last night? I had some friends come by and we had an outdoor fire and enjoyed nature's fireworks until 1 AM.

[daveb]

I bet it was a wasp or hornet - those guys are b*st*rds! :P

Wow, I hope that bird is doing well! They do sometimes crash into windows and don't incur any permanent or major injuries.

I have never been up to see a meteor shower, and I don't know if I could see them from my yard anyway. Sounds cool though.

[Autumn Sunrise]

muledeer, that was one feisty bee! And how lucky were you to witness its performance? :D I'm glad to know the woodpecker recovered - tough little things, aren't they? (I didn't know juvenile woodpeckers looked like that - I have a Barred Plymouth Rock chicken, and she's a very handsome bird.)

I haven't seen the meteor shower; apparently, it's below the horizon where I live, but I have a link to the NASA live feed and I'm hoping to see it tonight. (The website said that the 13th, i.e. today, should give the best show. ) Watching it sitting around an outdoor fire would be amazing, though :)

[Qutenkuddly]

muledeer: I'm glad the woodpecker pulled through. I'm not all that surprised, though; woodpeckers have evolved a pretty tough neck and head to handle pecking wood.

[Muledeer]

muledeer: I'm glad the woodpecker pulled through. I'm not all that surprised, though; woodpeckers have evolved a pretty tough neck and head to handle pecking wood.

For some reason, woodpeckers crash into that window. It is a big 4x5 foot window. Every year, I find at least one woodpecker dead with a broken neck beneath that window. A few years ago, I had a hummingbird strike ...and the outcome was similar to today's woodpecker crash.

[Skycaptain]

Missed the meteor shower, I forgot all about it. Glad Woody Woodpecker survived.

It reminds me of an incident when I was a kid. Everyone was walking back to their cars after a junior rugby match when there was a crash of breaking glass. Obviously everyone looked at all the parked cars, ground floor windows etc, and it took some little while to realise that a herring gull had flown through a fifth floor window in a tower block. Sadly it proved fatal to the gull as well as the window

[Skycaptain]

Yesterday I was golfing at Seaford Head, lots of butterflies around, including a Clouded Yellow, lots of Red Admirals, Painted Lady's and Common Blues to name a few

[Autumn Sunrise]

It seems that spring is almost here - warmer days (but still frosty mornings), daffodils coming out, and most exciting, I heard a cuckoo yesterday (never heard one here before!). The swallows are back . . . I didn't realise how much I'd missed them swooping around the house. We've had lots of kangaroos and wallabies around lately, and this evening I saw one quite close, with a joey peeping out of her pouch. Even the hens seem to have got the feeling of spring, and we're starting to get more eggs :)

The orchard is starting to blossom - thankfully, I managed to get the pruning finished first :) It should be a picture before long, especially since we have daffodils and hyacinths planted around the trees.

When I lived in the city I never really understood the fuss over spring, but here, in the country - what a difference! And on the other side of the coin, I'm beginning to understand why spring is such a busy time for farmers - so much to prep, and plant . . . but it's exciting, all the same :)

[Muledeer]

Autumn Sunrise,

What kind of fruit trees are in your orchard, and what is the elevation where you live? I am just facinated hearing about the Australian countryside in early spring. Even more so now that I know what a wallaby looks like and what a joey is (thanks to you).

[Autumn Sunrise]

muledeer, we have several apple trees (with varieties chosen to give each tree a pollinating partner, as well as staggering the ripening times), a couple of peaches, three pears, an apricot, a plum, a cherry and an almond. We live about 800 metres above sea level, and we get enough cold days in winter to give the necessary "chill factor" for stone fruits. I'm not sure, though, how much this is likely to be affected by global warming ;) Our earliest fruit usually comes from the apricot, which is an "Early Moorpark", and it's already in blossom. After that, we get plums and peaches, usually before Christmas. The apples are later, and spread out well into autumn. Since the cherry and the almond are still very young I'm not sure where they'll fit in, and the pears haven't done much so far, owing to the dreaded "pear and cherry slug" :evil:

I was a bit "ho hum" about the kangaroos and wallabies when we first moved here, but they seem to be becoming tamer and easier to observe, so I'm starting to recognise different types and even individuals, and I'm becoming very fond of them :) They're generally pretty gentle, although you don't want to get in the way of a pair of fighting males - their back legs are enormous and powerful, with long, sharp claws.

Oh, time to go - our resident tame King parrot is sitting on the lintel of the front door and eyeing me reproachfully - something to do with sunflower seeds, I believe :lol:

[Myssterry]

I was clearing some overgrown stuff in the garden and disturbed a large frog. I love to find wildlife in the garden and know they share my garden with me.

[Skycaptain]

Not the world's most exciting picture, but the subject did kindly pose for me at Jevington on the south downs

[daveb]

Autumn Sunrise, a guy I knew years ago who lived in a town called Moorpark, near Los Angeles, pointed out what that town name sounded/looked like when read backwards. Also, always reminds me of Ankh-Morpork. :P

[Autumn Sunrise]

Lol, dave :D

That's a great picture, Sky!

[Qutenkuddly]

Yesterday, we took a little road trip to the port town of Alma, NB.

At the beach, some sand pipers and I mutually startled each other. (You may have to look closely to spot the three in the following photo.)

[Autumn Sunrise]

Another freezing morning - it was supposed to get down to -3 last night and I could believe that - we had a severe frost and it was so cold when I got up at 6 that I went back to bed :lol:

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I'd seen a pair of ducks with six tiny ducklings (turned out there were actually seven :D ) I saw them again this morning - still seven babies - working their way downhill from the dam and grazing as they went. When I went up to lock the chooks in for the night I saw them again, on the edge of the dam. They obviously knew I was there, and they just hung around until I disappeared into the chicken house. When I came out again they'd gone; clearly the parents don't want anyone to know exactly where their hidey hole is, and no doubt that's a good part of the reason why the ducklings have all survived so far :) Fingers crossed they stay safe - such good parenting deserves a reward!

Over the past few days we've had several visits from a little Eastern Spinebill. It's a pretty bird, with a light golden breast, white throat and grey-brown upper parts. It's a nectar feeder, and the grevilleas near the house are starting to flower so I guess that's the attraction :P

I may be a bird lover, but there are some I could do without. We have lots of beautiful daffodils at the moment, but some of them have fallen victim to sulphur-crested cockatoos - they just tear off the flowers (and sometimes the leaves) then throw them on the ground. Vandals! :twisted:

[Myssterry]

I went birdwatching at the coast today. There were flocks of yellow wagtails, linnets, curlew sandpipers and wheatears amongst many others. It was a hot day but with a cool sea breeze making things bearable. The ice cream from the kiosk at the car park helped too.

[Autumn Sunrise]

Beautiful picture, Mz Terry - makes me want to be there. I can almost smell the water and hear the birds calling :)