We ran into this Coyote last week prowling the neighborhood.
Perhaps now we know why the rabbit population close to home seems diminished this year.
Tag: nature journal
Gone Bananas
While I am not a big fan of bananas this Variegated Squirrel sure was.
The Variegated Squirrel is a medium sized tree squirrel found broadly throughout Central America. A diurnal squirrel that rarely ventures onto the ground foraging and nesting in the trees.
It is funny how seeing a species of animal that is so similar yet so different, in this case a squirrel, from those in our day to day lives can elicit a deep internal wow.
For example, when a red squirrel passes us by in the forest nearby we don’t give a second glance, but we stood and watched this guy as long as we could remarking on the colors of their fur and behavior similar yet different from the squirrels in our forests at home.
Happy Friday and wishing you a wonderful weekend and perhaps a little something different?
Returning.
A quiet morning.
Without fanfare.
Staying close to home.
Flowers once more
Blooms long gone.
Yet born once more.
In a winter way.
Hypnotized
Instead of the usual scolding I almost got hypnotized by this Red Squirrel.
Look into my eyes he said, from now on you will feed the squirrels and not the birds.
It was so close all I could think about was putting a bog of peanuts on the grocery list but he couldn’t help himself and started with his squawking.
It never ceases
To amaze me just how beautiful a Northern Flicker is.
So much to look at, think about and just marvel over. Well, we better get back to look as we have more than the usual number of these amazing birds visiting our little patch this year.
Hope your week is going well.
Stretch!
One of our favorite companions reaching for just a nibble of long dried out bitter nightshade berries. We are glad to have Bunn around and thankfully avoiding the predators as winter moves along.
Roadside Hawk
The Roadside Hawk is on the most common raptors encountered at the edge of forests and cleared fields ranging from Northern Mexico all the way south to Argentina. There are at least 12 subspecies with most being similar in appearance with a grey head, yellow cere, rufous banding across the breast and striped tail. The Roadside Hawk is opportunistic and hunts insects, reptiles and small mammals. We encountered this individual several years ago on a large palm tree peering out into some cleared pasture.
A intense looking hunter and a good look at the banded tail.
Reference:Bierregaard, R. O., P. F. D. Boesman, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Roadside Hawk (Rupornis magnirostris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.roahaw.01
Black-billed Magpies
A Black-billed Magpie rests on a fencepost while over a dozen and perhaps more other Magpies feast on a Mule Deer Carcass nearby. In our neck of the woods Magpies are shy and typically fly off well before we can get a camera pointed on them. This day their attraction to the nearby feast overshadowed thier reluctance of humans and we got to observe them close-up for a significant amount of time.
We seldom see the blue in the eyes of magpies but this day was an excepting.
Seven Black-billed Magpies keep an eye out on a Corvid relative the Common Raven who also had an interest in the nearby Mule Deer carcass. Needless to say, a seven to one advantage kept the meal out of reach for the Raven.
A winters morning
The late rising winters sun mustered just enough power to cut through the morning clouds to give color to an American Bison on this somewhat overcast day. Roaming the sagebrush covered plateau was the order of the day for both man and Bison on a day that felt timeless in may ways.
nature has no boss 
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