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

[Guest]

Some people hate grey squirrels but I quite like them.

 

Grey Squirrel by Guybrush Threepwood, on Flickr

[daveb]

That is some great wildlife photography!

[Frogster]

Alas, no picture. There are 3 very young western tanagers out in the yard with their mom. They are so brightly colored and fluffy! Whenever I go out and wait quietly for them they don't come close enough to photograph with my phone. 

[Sleepy Otter]

There are baby Phoebes in the nest on the back of my porch. Also no pictures because I don’t want to bother them and the angle is pretty crummy.

[AlsoKnownAs]

To compare to Guybrush Threepwood's European goldfinch, this is an American goldfinch I got a couple of years ago:



AKA

[daveb]

1 hour ago, AlsoKnownAs said:

American goldfinch

That's a great photo, too!

And always interesting to see how different birds with same or similar names from either side of the pond can look. I know that at least in some cases it's because they are from different bird groups, but still. Like someone decided, close enough, we'll give it this name we already know from over there.  

[AlsoKnownAs]

4 hours ago, daveb said:

That's a great photo, too!

And always interesting to see how different birds with same or similar names from either side of the pond can look. I know that at least in some cases it's because they are from different bird groups, but still. Like someone decided, close enough, we'll give it this name we already know from over there.  

Like with robins, I know, where there's one critter called that in North Anerica, one in Europe, and  a group of them in Australia. I think the goldfinches are more closely related than most.

AKA

[daveb]

4 minutes ago, AlsoKnownAs said:

Like with robins, I know, where there's one critter called that in North America, one in Europe, and  a group of them in Australia.

Yep. A prime example.  

[pickles.]

A friend sent me this pic this morning of a male Western Tanager.  Friend lives a bit south of Salt Lake (Utah), and the bird had smacked into his window and fallen. It composed itself for a moment before flying off; I hope it was okay.

 

[daveb]

2 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

I hope it was okay

Cool bird. Yeah, hopefully since it flew off that bodes well.  

[AlsoKnownAs]

Not a bird this time. This pretty critter is a six-spotted green tiger beetle.

[pickles.]

What a beautiful beetle.  Beetles are cool. 🐞

[pickles.]

A little wild hawthorn I’ve been keeping my eye on the past four years, growing by a seasonal pond on Powell Butte.  It hasn’t grown the expected 1-2 feet a year typical of hawthorns, likely due to the aridness of the top of the butte for most of the summer.  Still, it seems healthy and happy, and is one of my favorite living things in my valley.

 

[pickles.]

Cottontail, at the Foster Floodplain.

 

[daveb]

6 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

hawthorn

There is an almost Monet-esque quality about that pic. Great bunny pic, too!  

[pickles.]

12 hours ago, daveb said:

There is an almost Monet-esque quality about that pic. Great bunny pic, too!  

Thanks, daveb!

 

I missed my chance to get some snake pics on Saturday.  Was hiking with my daughter but had forgotten my water bottle in the car, and both coming and going to retrieve it I passed a beautiful garter snake.  A different snake each time (one much smaller than the other), and one even posed for me, but I still could not get my camera out in time.  Ah, well.

[daveb]

1 hour ago, pickles mcgee said:

I still could not get my camera out in time

That's part of my problem with photographing wildlife. The other main issue I have is I seem to be good at tiny dots or blurs, not so good at recognizable critters.  

[Myssterry]

Putting this observation here as it seems relevant.  I saw a woman along the road walking round the corner to her house.  She stooped and pulled a dandelion flower and a bit of long grass from the grass verge outside her house with her mouth open and a look of distress, horror and shock on her face, and tottered off indoors.  Why are people terrified of native wildflowers that support our pollinators?  Do they realise in China crops are pollinated by hand now as they have lost so many of their pollinators?  We seem to have bred people who are almost literally terrified of the circle of life, how the earth works and how to let the planet survive for future generations. Dirt is good, mess is good, insects are vital, grass is good, flowers are good, plastic grass is bad.  Embrace nature or there will be nothing left. 

 

Another neighbour was wasting his time on a hot day sitting on the tarmac scraping the edge of the grass verge and complaining about weeds.  People care about weeds in the grass verges outside their houses?  Why?  I just laughed and said "they (weeds) are everywhere!".

 

End of rant.

[Sleepy Otter]

That’s terrible @Myssterry. I love dandelions and consume dandelion tea on a regular basis. I always feel bad mowing over them and the little johhny jump ups when my grass is 8” tall…but I am the scourge of my neighborhood what with my weeds and tall grass…

[Guest]

This young bird flew into my window this afternoon. It did fly off after recovering so seems to be fine.

 

Young Bird by Guybrush Threepwood, on Flickr

[Guest]

A random flower picture I took recently. I do actually have a macro lens but took this with my 55-250mm lens.

 

Random Flower by Guybrush Threepwood, on Flickr

[Muledeer]

3 hours ago, Guybrush Threepwood said:

This young bird flew into my window this afternoon. It did fly off after recovering so seems to be fine.

I hope he learned his lesson!

I had multiple drunk robins fly into my windows after feasting on fermented fruit from my flowering pear tree last winter. 

[pickles.]

@Guybrush Threepwood, I am sure enjoying your photos. 🥰

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

@Guybrush Threepwood, I am sure enjoying your photos. 🥰

Thank you! I don’t get my camera out as much as I used to but I’m trying to get back into it.

 

Sometimes I’d like to get a longer lens for wildlife shots and then remind myself of the cost. 😆

[pickles.]

17 hours ago, Myssterry said:

Dirt is good, mess is good, insects are vital, grass is good, flowers are good

I want all this on a t-shirt.

 

Speaking of plants that keep pollinators happy, the borage reseeds itself in my front yard each year.  Makes me and the bees so happy; it is one of our very favorite plants. 💛🐝🖤🐝💛
 

[Myssterry]

Saw a damselfly nymph in my container pond and also an adult damselfly flying around near the river.  The adult was a female "beautiful demoiselle" - fancy having such a lovely name.  She is a metallic green bronze with translucent pale brown wings.  Pic from the internet.

 

[Skycaptain]

Lots of Red Admirals around yesterday, plus a few dark blue dragonflies near the river (species unknown)

[Piotrek]

On 5/19/2022 at 8:52 PM, Muledeer said:

I had multiple drunk robins fly into my windows after feasting on fermented fruit from my flowering pear tree last winter. 

This reminds me. I remember reading somewhere about elk getting drunk after eating femented apples. I imagine they must be more of a nuisance than a robin  

 

If everything goes well with the weather and me not getting off at the wrong stop again I'll be going to a lake today, one that I haven't visited before. No idea about the nature there, though. It's likely to be full of people though, given it's Sunday.

 

@pickles mcgee Love that photo  

[Sleepy Otter]

I love the idea of pollinator flowers @pickles mcgee. I hate mowing the dandelions even. Is borage a wild plant or is it something you can buy? Sounds like a no muss no fuss, which is my kind of deal. And it looks pretty.

[pickles.]

9 hours ago, Piotrek said:

I'll be going to a lake today, one that I haven't visited before. No idea about the nature there, though. It's likely to be full of people though, given it's Sunday.

I hope you'll give us a full report, even if the visit is disappointing.  I'm going for a drive soon to look for fields of red clover.  'Tis the season, but doesn't mean I'll be successful.  It's the first time I'll have stepped foot outside the house since getting home from work on Friday; I've been quite ill.  A drive seems better than a walk, hike, bike ride or gardening, in my present condition.

 

7 hours ago, Sleepy Otter said:

Is borage a wild plant or is it something you can buy?

I'm not sure about that, as the borage was already here when I moved in.  Definitely worth looking into, as it is so pretty, and definitely no fuss as you say.

Edited May 22, 2022 by pickles mcgee