The Book Vipers discussion
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Wildlife chat
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Paulfozz
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Oct 13, 2013 10:42AM
If it's ok I thought I'd start a thread on wildlife, for any talk of our wildlife encounters or talk about conservation, nature reserves and the like.
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I had a nice surprise this morning when I looked out of my kitchen window to see a Chiffchaff in my cotoneaster, the first I've ever seen in my garden and a favourite bird so very pleased indeed! On my walk into town I also saw a lovely Grey Wagtail at the sluice just outside the town centre, a place where they have nested in previous summers.
One of the joys here in Michigan are the sandhill cranes, and I live on a river where I wake up in the morning to their very loud, unusual call. You can see them and hear the call at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeIMak..."The Phyllis Haehnle Memorial Sanctuary, a Michigan Audubon sanctuary, has an area over 900 acres....The Sanctuary is renowned for its Sandhill Cranes. Many pairs of cranes nest in the area and hundreds more gather here during fall migration (September to mid-November)." http://haehnlesanctuary.org/
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I would love to see buzzards more in my local area, they are still quite sparse here so I only see them very infrequently indeed. Much more usual to see Sparrowhawks and Kestrels though, which is good compensation.
Lovely to have sandhill cranes too Julie. I'd love to see a crane.A sparrowhawk flew over my head when I was walking home tonight. The other local birds were not entirely happy!
We get a sparrowhawk visiting our garden occasionally. One of the funniest moments I witnessed was when it glided silently across the garden and landed on the fence next to two fat woodpigeons who had no idea it was there. But when they did ..... I've never seen a pigeon move so fast!
:-DI gave one a shock in my garden last year, a favour which it returned in spades. I was filling the feeder on my cotoneaster and a sparrowhawk flew around the tree hoping to snag a sparrow but found me there instead! It slammed to a halt about 2 feet from my face with its wings and tail spread to full stretch and reversed away at high speed leaving me gasping as the wash of air hit me!
Oh my! I bet his little bird heart was going a mile a minute, just like yours!These sudden encounters with wild creatures really ARE breathtaking, for them as well as us, I'm thinking. A fawn ran into our campsite once, standing very close to us. He/she planted all fours, and we had a second of sharing shocked faces. Felt like a blessing to me, as she/he ran back into the woods.
Sadly, wildlife encounters also include moments like the one I had today--I woke up to see a dead deer in the front yard. I'm in the woods, so have deer around all the time, but this was a reminder of the cycles of life. My landlord buried him, so he'll go back to the earth now--as do we all.
It's one of the things you have to learn to accept; sad, but a part of life. Always gets to me when I find dead birds in my garden, more-so if they are inexplicable than when I find the remnants of a sparrowhawk kill as at least those have a clear reason/purpose.
I feel like that too. Both your examples are sad, but understandable in Nature. What really makes me sick is roadkill. There are so many examples here in the UK, but I am relieved not to be living in Australia where red kangaroos seems to get hit despite huge long empty stretches of roads.
I love this quote concerning animals, our fellow travelers on the planet:"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
Henry Beston
The Outermost House: A Year of Life On The Great Beach of Cape Cod
I have blueberry bushes in my yard and had to cover them with netting to get any harvest. Then, I found a fledgling brown thrasher caught in it with mother beside herself nearby. I got the baby loose, threw away the netting and let the birds have at the blueberries. (They're easier to buy at Walmart, anyway)
The birds ate all our blueberries too this year. Normally they leave them alone, but this year we didn't get one single blueberry. I hope they enjoyed them. They did leave us the strawberry crop though!
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It would worry me if the birds got caught in the netting. I think a small fruit cage would be a better step for us, although I don't really begrudge them the blueberries. If they started on the strawbs, well that's war !!!!
I remember trying to grow grapevines once--even put brown paper bags on the clusters as they were maturing. I learned that birds and squirrels cannot be tricked by brown bags :-)
We have been over run by ladybirds the last few days. They were absolutely everywhere! I had to close my kitchen door as at one point there were 13 in my kitchen!
Today I saw 22 deer standing in a field on the way to work. I stopped the car to get a picture but they were too far away. I must remember to bring my binoculars.
There was once an elk walking on our neighbours' back yard (a row house). We lived in the centre of the small town...And once a bat had found its way to our livingroom. It was difficult to get out. I remember sitting for a couple hours at the computer, the room got darker and then I saw a shadow of something mouse like beside it. It must have been there all day. Now that I think about it, it must have been just one or two summers that they flew over our yard. I wonder where they came from, or slept...
Funny idea for me, btw, blueberry bushes... I know they exist but we get them straight from the forest. They are smaller but sweeter.
Mm.... closest moment with a moose? The one time I crashed into one with my bicycle>< Paying attention ftw!:p
Trine, are you kidding? How does that even happen? My brother and husband have hit a deer with their car, but a bike, that's scary. (hitting a deer with your car is also dangerous)
It seems that the moose wasn't paying attention, either.Only semi-wild but reindeer couldn't care less: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH63N...
Not that lynxes are much more observant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rBwx...
We got alot of mooses near my dads hut in the mountains:) It was a mother with 2 calves (?) crossing the road, my on my bicycle, turning my head back shouting "haha I'm winning" at my dad. Then it hit a fullstop! Luckly I hit the mother, and her main interess was just getting the hell out of there! Could have been extremely dangerous - but ended with just some bruises (and a destroyed cycle:p).Had met them with car just once - and we was in a big caravella - so it went fine^^ But yet - they are HUGE! Always suprises me just HOW huge they are!
Ha ha, I'll have to be more careful next time I'm riding my bike. We don't have moose where I live, but I imagine they are huge.
Wild boar in the vineyard. I'm out with Alessia banging on saucepan lids to frighten them away. They're not too impressed!
Stephanie: I'm a bird person too. Many years ago I had a rose-breasted grosbeak at my feeders on his way back north. I look for him (or another) every spring. Now, after years of disappointment, one happily fed at my feeders for almost a week. Great to see.
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Went on an 8 mile hike today, saw pheasants, Jay's, red kite being pestered by rooks and a woodpecker (the black and white one with the red patch). Loads of other birds that I don't know or they moved too fast, very noisy out it was.
Birds are getting comfortable around me. I can sit on my deck and they all come to the feeders right in front of me. Even a rather shy red-bellied woodpecker. And the brown thrashers who are usually shy are definitely not anymore. Even saw a rufous-sided towhee at one of my feeders (they're normally ground feeders.
Arrrgh! The #@!&* grackles are eating me out of house and home on suet-cake!
We've had two couples of magpies in the neighbourhood lately. They don't get along and fight all the time, hunting each other over rooftops and through flowerbeds. It's hilarious. I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking that birds are fascinating.
Sam: Magpies. Are you out west? I remember seeing magpies all over the place when I went to New Mexico.
Jan wrote: "Sam: Magpies. Are you out west? I remember seeing magpies all over the place when I went to New Mexico."Nope, Germany. We have them too :)
We do have smart squirrels... One had probably fallen from the nest and was feeling poorly and had a nose bleed. What does it do? Runs to a small animal clinic and up the nurse's leg.http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art...
Extraordinary. Wish I could read the article.
There isn't really anything special in it. Just that they gave it water and something to eat and that you shouldn't take in wild animals but in this case it was approriate because it was in poor condition. And it knew that because it came to see a vet. Even if they have a busy schedule, they will find some time for sympathetic creatures like that, and that it was doing better already.
Saw two wrens yesterday, been a few years since I last spotted them, some branches had been cut down and left in a pile on the ground, they seem to love these places, guess it is easier to hide. Only noticed them as they were having a right good shout at me.
Tytti: Thanks for the recap. I'm intrigued by a squirrel seeking appropriate help. For me, they're just a nuisance, turning over and spilling the contents of my bird-feeders. I have ones that baffle them, although the grackles are way too smart to be fooled.
Tytti wrote: "This is cute."Man Becomes Friends With Otter"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTD8O..."
Unbelievable! What was the first thing he fed the otter?
It looks like frozen pollock, or maybe cod, as it is sold in stores. Some kind of frozen fish anyway, I think.
Saimaa ringed seal resting on a rock, live!http://wwf.fi/elainlajit/saimaannorpp...
It's this guy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saimaa_..., probably the cutest Finn ever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzvgv....
And those of you checking the live camera now, notice that it's 9 PM and it's not dark yet.
My dog is pretty much doing the same thing :-)
Yeah, it does look a bit like a dog when it's stretching and scratching itself. :D But they are rare, there are only a bit over 300 of them and they are living only around one lake. Luckily it's the biggest lake in Finland but still... and unfortunately there have been a couple of warm winters recently which makes nesting difficult.
A second injured elk shot by the police in Helsinki in two weeks, there is an elk warning now there, apparently there are several of them in the area. The other one that was shot was running around in panic in the middle of the city centre. Not something one would expect to see very often...
Finnish border guards vs. a Russian bear, a real one this time (it's just wilderness on the Russian side)They met near the border on duckboards. In the video the men are asking from it if it's not going to yield. It came about 40 m from them before it noticed the men and a dog.
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/art...
