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  Topic: Wildlife, What's in your back yard?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >  
ashwken



Posts: 1
Joined: May 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 20 2008,13:35   

Tales from North Georgia

Some years ago my mother had a hanging basket of fuchia on the porch in front of a picture window. Even though there we many of us sitting on the porch one afternoon a determined hummingbird was not threatened by our presence.

Unfortunately, as the hummingbird worked its way around the hanging basket it got tangled up in a spider web that was present in a portion of the picture window. The spider web "glued" some of the wing feathers together and effectively grounded it.

The task fell to me to rescue the little fella and we tried a wet wash cloth on the webbing to no avail - and I was real concerned about aplying too much pressure to its wings, the thing seemed so fragile in the palm of my hand.

Abandoning the wet wash cloth I just started removing the webbing with my fingers. At some point the hummingbird felt that it had had enough of this nonsense and tried flying off, but there was still enough webbing to prevent it from flying and it just fluttered to the floor.

Eventually I was able to remove enough webbing so that it was able to take flight.

On another occassion, we have a row of dogwoods along the back property line and I had laid out some bird seed on the ground between a couple of them. After awhile some of the larger ground feeding birds found the seed and as I was watching a beautiful male cardinal, there was a flash of brown and white feathers as a hawk swooped in and carried that cardinal off into the woods for lunch.

  
Assassinator



Posts: 479
Joined: Nov. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 20 2008,17:23   

Quote
The task fell to me to rescue the little fella and we tried a wet wash cloth on the webbing to no avail - and I was real concerned about aplying too much pressure to its wings, the thing seemed so fragile in the palm of my hand.

Then I can say again, poor spider, deprived from his food ;)

  
keiths



Posts: 2195
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 25 2008,00:14   

Check out this amazing video taken off the coast of Japan of a flying fish that remains aloft for 45(!) seconds.

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And the set of natural numbers is also the set that starts at 0 and goes to the largest number. -- Joe G

Please stop putting words into my mouth that don't belong there and thoughts into my mind that don't belong there. -- KF

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 25 2008,06:23   

I'm gonna be off the grid for about 10 days, camping and hiking and photographing in the lovely states of Arizona and New Mexico. Hopefully I'll have some wildlife shots to share when I return; I only wish that this was my backyard!

--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 25 2008,06:39   

Quote (Albatrossity2 @ May 25 2008,07:23)
I'm gonna be off the grid for about 10 days, camping and hiking and photographing in the lovely states of Arizona and New Mexico. Hopefully I'll have some wildlife shots to share when I return; I only wish that this was my backyard!

I'll be looking forward to those, Alby.

--------------
“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Assassinator



Posts: 479
Joined: Nov. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 25 2008,16:41   

Can't wait as well. Ya know, you guys sure revived my love for the outdoors ;)
Anyway, maybe a funny little "wildlife" story to tell as well. Yesterday, at work, we had ourselfs a bird in the supermarket's storage. For some odd reason, all my co-workers were scared shitless from the little fella. I just found it a pretty nice experience to watch a bird up close, and his singing sounded even better! And because I was the only guy around (all my co-workers are girls, except for the boss who wasn't around) I was the one who could scare it away, and thus I got crap all over me (thanks girls!).
I think it was one of these:

A female blackbird, a kinda dull and normal bird but the song it sang was still really nice, but I'm definatly not sure (1 of the reasons I would like a camara on my cellphone).
All in all another fun day at work, at least my newest co-workers who just had her first day has one to remember.

  
Richard Simons



Posts: 425
Joined: Oct. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 25 2008,20:54   

Quote
A female blackbird, a kinda dull and normal bird but the song it sang was still really nice, but I'm definatly not sure

The male blackbird (which is the one that does the singing) is jet black with a bright yellow beak. The starling is chunkier with a dull beak but if you see it reasonably well you can see it is spotted, not uniform black and I would not describe its song as sweet. If it was brown, likely contenders are the thrushes but they are light underneath with obvious dark spots. They, like the blackbird, have clear, fluty songs.

The blackbird is the one that is most likely to be comfortable enough around people to enter a building (at least, in the UK). I remember one that used to come into a lunch room and pick up crumbs from under the tables while people were sitting there. When the janitor saw it he rushed at it, shouting and waving his arms. The bird would quickly fill its beak with everything within reach and casually fly out inches in front of him.

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All sweeping statements are wrong.

  
EyeNoU



Posts: 115
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 26 2008,06:56   



Can anyone identify this fellow? Several of them joined us every morning for breakfast while in Costa Rica.

  
fusilier



Posts: 252
Joined: Feb. 2003

(Permalink) Posted: May 26 2008,08:24   

Right now we've got cardinals, robins, grackles, and pigeons all over the place.  Lots of wrens and goldfinches at the feeder.  Don't know what's happened to the Cooper's and sharp-shinned hawks that we used to see all the time - maybe that we had to eliminate the pond.*

We're also pretty over-run with carpenter bees - the big solitary ladies are damned territorial.



*Lousy quality-control on pumps.

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fusilier
James 2:24

  
Assassinator



Posts: 479
Joined: Nov. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 26 2008,09:51   

Quote (Richard Simons @ May 25 2008,20:54)
Quote
A female blackbird, a kinda dull and normal bird but the song it sang was still really nice, but I'm definatly not sure

The male blackbird (which is the one that does the singing) is jet black with a bright yellow beak. The starling is chunkier with a dull beak but if you see it reasonably well you can see it is spotted, not uniform black and I would not describe its song as sweet. If it was brown, likely contenders are the thrushes but they are light underneath with obvious dark spots. They, like the blackbird, have clear, fluty songs.

The blackbird is the one that is most likely to be comfortable enough around people to enter a building (at least, in the UK). I remember one that used to come into a lunch room and pick up crumbs from under the tables while people were sitting there. When the janitor saw it he rushed at it, shouting and waving his arms. The bird would quickly fill its beak with everything within reach and casually fly out inches in front of him.

Hmm yes then it was definatly not a female blackbird. I can only recall it was a slim bird who was totally brown, with a fluty song. It could be a European Starling, but I can't recall it being that spotted. The beak was also different, it had a darker color.

  
midwifetoad



Posts: 4003
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 26 2008,17:14   

Your bird looks a bit like a Magpie Jay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-throated_Magpie-jay

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Any version of ID consistent with all the evidence is indistinguishable from evolution.

  
EyeNoU



Posts: 115
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: May 26 2008,19:46   

Thanks, Midwife. I believe you are correct. Saw them every morning at breakfast, and they didn't appear to be too afraid of humans.

  
k.e..



Posts: 5432
Joined: May 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 28 2008,09:19   

Is it a bird or a moth?


From my recent rip to PNG











--------------
"I get a strong breeze from my monitor every time k.e. puts on his clown DaveTard suit" dogdidit
"ID is deader than Lenny Flanks granmaws dildo batteries" Erasmus
"I'm busy studying scientist level science papers" Galloping Gary Gaulin

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 30 2008,21:12   

Nice Magpie Jay!  There is an interesting story about JJ Audubon and that species that will have to wait until later. We are temporarily back on the grid, in a hotel in Albuquerque NM, cleaned up from 5 days of sand and heat. Tomorrow we head to Chaco Canyon for a couple of days, then back home.

I'll post more pics later, but I really thought you all needed to see this one. Two nectar-feeding bats hitting the hummingbird feeder after sunset in Cave Creek Canyon, AZ. It appears that that one on the right is very pregnant...



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: May 30 2008,21:42   

That right there's pretty damned nifty.

--------------
“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: May 31 2008,09:01   

A bit of googling revealed that the bats we observed were probably Mexican Long-tongued Bats (Choeronycteris mexicana), and furthermore revealed that their tongues can be up to one-third of their body length. More information on the Portal AZ population of these critters can be found here.

Here's another image, of a Blue-throated Hummingbird, also from Cave Creek Canyon AZ.



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Bob O'H



Posts: 2564
Joined: Oct. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: June 03 2008,13:42   

I don't have anything as exciting as Albatrossity, but I have discussed the latest goings on on my balcony.  Little feather bastards taking the piss out of the cat.

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It is fun to dip into the various threads to watch cluelessness at work in the hands of the confident exponent. - Soapy Sam (so say we all)

   
Richardthughes



Posts: 11178
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 03 2008,14:01   

Quote (Bob O'H @ June 03 2008,13:42)
I don't have anything as exciting as Albatrossity, but I have discussed the latest goings on on my balcony.  Little feather bastards taking the piss out of the cat.

I had two birds on a balcony once, Bob. Magic, magic times.

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"Richardthughes, you magnificent bastard, I stand in awe of you..." : Arden Chatfield
"You magnificent bastard! " : Louis
"ATBC poster child", "I have to agree with Rich.." : DaveTard
"I bow to your superior skills" : deadman_932
"...it was Richardthughes making me lie in bed.." : Kristine

  
carlsonjok



Posts: 3326
Joined: May 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 03 2008,14:16   

Quote (Richardthughes @ June 03 2008,14:01)
Quote (Bob O'H @ June 03 2008,13:42)
I don't have anything as exciting as Albatrossity, but I have discussed the latest goings on on my balcony.  Little feather bastards taking the piss out of the cat.

I had two birds on a balcony once, Bob. Magic, magic times.

I always figured you were a furry.

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It's natural to be curious about our world, but the scientific method is just one theory about how to best understand it.  We live in a democracy, which means we should treat every theory equally. - Steven Colbert, I Am America (and So Can You!)

  
Erasmus, FCD



Posts: 6349
Joined: June 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 03 2008,22:16   

what the heck is this thing?




weird looking critter.  and the file is too big too.

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You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK

Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG

the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat

I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

  
k.e..



Posts: 5432
Joined: May 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 04 2008,09:33   

Quote (Richardthughes @ June 03 2008,22:01)
Quote (Bob O'H @ June 03 2008,13:42)
I don't have anything as exciting as Albatrossity, but I have discussed the latest goings on on my balcony.  Little feather bastards taking the piss out of the cat.

I had two birds on a balcony once, Bob. Magic, magic times.

YEAH WELL, I KNOW GUY WHO KNEW A GUY WHO HAD SEVEN. dT

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"I get a strong breeze from my monitor every time k.e. puts on his clown DaveTard suit" dogdidit
"ID is deader than Lenny Flanks granmaws dildo batteries" Erasmus
"I'm busy studying scientist level science papers" Galloping Gary Gaulin

  
Moorit



Posts: 21
Joined: May 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2008,10:57   

Erasmus, where was the plant located?  And if you say, "On the ground" or "Up to its sepals in leaf mold", I'll smack ya.  I like plants and I'd like to take a shot at identifying it.

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2008,17:04   

To "honor" FtK's release from the BW birdcage of stench and moaning, I'll post the next image in the series of shots I collected in the American Southwest in the last couple of weeks.

Yellow-eyed Junco (Junco phaeonotus) - a local specialty species, sought by birders in the Chiricahua Mountains of SE Arizona. Carrying food to the nest, for the kids.



No piranhas in that part of the galaxy, alas.

I'll try to post one image a day for the next few weeks.

--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2008,17:18   

You're such a tease.

--------------
“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Dr.GH



Posts: 2333
Joined: May 2002

(Permalink) Posted: June 07 2008,09:54   

I snaped this yesterday just before some crows made him fly off with his prize.



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"Science is the horse that pulls the cart of philosophy."

L. Susskind, 2004 "SMOLIN VS. SUSSKIND: THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE"

   
Erasmus, FCD



Posts: 6349
Joined: June 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 07 2008,09:59   

Quote (Moorit @ June 06 2008,10:57)
Erasmus, where was the plant located?  And if you say, "On the ground" or "Up to its sepals in leaf mold", I'll smack ya.  I like plants and I'd like to take a shot at identifying it.

Er, it was on the ground up to its sepals in leaf mold.  But all of that was in Jackson County, AL in the Walls of Jericho.  Cumberland Plateau.  There were several, this one was about 50 feet from a small spring head but I saw a few more on an old log skid trail.  Lots of red clay dirt high in silica.  Kalmia, Rhododendron, oak-hickory usual suspects.

hope that helps!

--------------
You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK

Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG

the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat

I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 07 2008,13:52   

Today's image is another bird, the Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), perched on an Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana). This is a really cool bird, with a complicated social system (hoards acorns in communal locations, juvenile birds from previous broods help raise the nestlings, etc.)



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 08 2008,18:12   

Today's installment - a young mule-eared deer (Odocoileus hemionus), browsing near Sunny Flat, Cave Creek Canyon, AZ



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 10 2008,13:39   

Here's another bat pic, showing the leafy flap at the end of the nose of these critters. More information (along with a nice portrait) on this species can be found here.

Of some interest to some folks on this list is the fact that this is one of the major pollinators for agave plants, the source of tequila. So the next time you enjoy a margarita, thank a bat!



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 11 2008,16:44   

The image for today will be the last one from the Chiricahua section of the trip; I'll screen through the images from Chaco Canyon and the Gila River to see if some of those need to be posted tomorrow or thereafter.

This one is a lovely female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri). A common hummer in the southwest US, this was the most common hummer at our feeder in Cave Creek Canyon as well.



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
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