On a recent drive...

Sparky10 · 06-13-2012, 02:31 PM

...I saw, in this order:

pheasant hen and tiny chicks (a 1st for me!)
male pheasant
some small furry creature disappearing into the brush
a cottontail
another male pheasant
2 dark red does

All this within 5 miles of home! On one drive! I love the wild, wild, life...

Sparky10 · 06-14-2012, 12:55 PM

And today, near the same area, I saw 2 baby Bison! This farm used to have 4 Bison. Then there was 3 in the pasture and 1 in a corral near the barn. (sick, or being fattened?

) Lately there's only been 2.

Now there's 4! Not sure if I saw a bull and a cow with twins or 2 moms.

Kitty · 06-14-2012, 01:05 PM

I'd love to be able to see wildlife like that. No chance of it around here. I do get the occasional bunny in the backyard in the evenings. And we do have lots of raccoons and possums. Poor wildlife is being driven put of it's natural habitat with all the building going on. Invasive humans!

Blessings2You · 06-16-2012, 07:39 AM

A deer, an osprey, a family of mergansers with five ducklings...seen from my window this morning, next to my computer.

Sparky10 · 06-16-2012, 04:35 PM

As I was leaving the house early this morning I heard a turkey gobble fairly close by in the woods.

I live way out in the country and am surrounded on all sides by a poorly-named 120 acre piece of property called The Preserve, Inc. Think all they are preserving is hunting rights.

Kitty · 06-16-2012, 04:51 PM

For a while, last month, there were two Canadian Geese that decided my front yard was where they wanted to roost. Every morning I'd open the blinds in the front bedroom and there they'd be......sitting in a little sectioned off area of the front yard. There's not a lake nearby so I don't have any idea where they came from. If too much traffic or noise came around they'd fly off. They just stopped coming one day and I haven't seen them since.

Sparky10 · 06-16-2012, 05:02 PM

Now there's a flock of ducks at the pond that I can't identify in my bird book. Going by their appearance the closest I can come is White Winged Scoter. But those are Canadian birds and I'm in Iowa.

B2Y, I've seen Common Mergansers in this pond. Very handsome birds!

en bloc · 06-16-2012, 08:34 PM

Today was busy at the feeders. A regular resident Red-Bellied Woodpecker who takes food from the feeder to take to his fledgling babies in a nearby tree, too many gold finches to count, and several ruby throat hummers...one of which got it's beak stuck in the screen of the porch today (just for a few seconds, then freed itself).

A couple days ago, Brunella the black bear came by for a snack. Saw her sitting under the bird feeder (had ripped the feeder down and had it in hand) having a picnic. It made the third replacement feeder in the last 2 months...ugh.

Sparky10 · 06-17-2012, 03:17 PM

Is Brunella your avatar, en bloc?

I've only seen 2 bears in the wild in my life. The 1st was a Grizzly in Yellowstone Park. The 2nd was just barely a fleeting glance. I was driving across Raton Pass from NM to CO and glanced at something that caught my eye at a rest stop. What I saw was a black bear butt sticking out of a knocked-over trash can!

en bloc · 06-17-2012, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparky10

Is Brunella your avatar, en bloc?

I've only seen 2 bears in the wild in my life. The 1st was a Grizzly in Yellowstone Park. The 2nd was just barely a fleeting glance. I was driving across Raton Pass from NM to CO and glanced at something that caught my eye at a rest stop. What I saw was a black bear butt sticking out of a knocked-over trash can!

Yes, actually it's her, but that picture was taken when she was a yearling. I also had named her Bruno at the time, not knowing she was a female. She's 3 now and has a cub of her own this year (why I had to change her name--lol).