Wildlife Sightings (Image heavy)

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Wed Feb 24, 2016 1:45 pm

Nice that you're getting out. I wish I had the opportunity these days. Besides the lack of interesting critters at my usual spots, family stuff is getting in the way of my spending any good chunk of time out.

Of your lifers I don't have a northern shoveler. And I have only one photo, and not a very good one, of a northern pintail.

The big question is whether those geese were going North!

It's almost spring. I hope my time and family requirements loosen up soon.

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:31 am

Marking the first hearing of the spring peepers this evening.

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 1:42 am

I heard some down here as well. I've never seen any, though.

Here are some highlights from the last week -- it was warm and I got out several times, mostly to Irvine nature center.

from Lake Roland Park, a goldfinch.

And the highlight of the week, a pileated woodpecker working at a hole.

From Irvine, a male downy woodpecker:

and a female downy woodpecker.

A bluebird:

A blurry first butterfly of the year, a mourning cloak.

And the first visible amphibian, a red-backed salamander.

A red-bellied woodpecker:

And we finish off with a house finch.

Rob

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Sat Mar 12, 2016 3:40 pm

It's so rare for me to see a pileated woodpecker.

I hope to have most of tomorrow to go out. Maybe finally get some photos.

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Sun Mar 13, 2016 11:42 pm

I've only ever seen one five times, and it's always been the same place, so it may have been the same one each time.

Here's some critters from this weekend.

From Lake Roland park, the cardinals were all over the place.

Then, my first good shot of an eastern towhee, which was hanging about with a group of white-throated sparrows.

And then an angry-seeming robin.

And this morning, I saw this ring-necked duck in a pond in PA:

And while photographing the duck, I saw this red fox darting across a nearby field. It's the first picture I've managed to take of one.

Rob

Arctish · Post by **Arctish** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 11:14 am

Nice woodpecker and fox pictures, Mediancat!

I can't wait for spring to arrive here, but I guess I'll have to manage it somehow.

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:32 pm

I finally have some photos to post. Sunday was a nice day.

At the state park, the ring-neck ducks are on their way though going north.

A whole pile of them.

The peeper frogs are having at it.

The painted turtles are up and on their log

A swarm of little fish. These are maybe 2 inches long.

Not much to say that isn't obvious about this photo.

House sparrow gathering nesting material.

Dark Eyed Junkos will soon be departing for the north.

Lots of American Robins about.

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Mon Mar 14, 2016 4:34 pm

The Northern Cardinals have been sining for a couple weeks now. Early spring.

The red-bellied woodpecker from a post or two up appears to have already found a female.

And the Grackles are back

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Tue Mar 22, 2016 2:11 am

it's been a while since I've gotten a good shot of a grackle.

Here are some photos from over the weekend. First, from Lake Roland Park, this red-shouldered hawk landed directly above me when I was taking pictures of all the singing cardinals.

One of the cardinals.

A red-belled turtle.

A song sparrow.

A young red-eared slider.

The pileated woodpecker, now done with its hole.

My first eastern phoebe of the year.

A red-bellied woodpecker.

From Irvine nature center, a dark-eyed junco:

And a female cardinal.

Rob

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:17 am

My wife having recently undergone major surgery and starting to recover (she will fully recover) I have the energy to post a few photos.

A Cooper's Hawk in my front yard.

A gruesome looking spider in my yard.

Dark-eyes Junkos will be leaving for the great north soon.

On my back yard this appears to be what's left of a cottontail bunny after a predator took the rest.

With the insects, the tree swallows are arriving.

Ring-neck ducks on the way through. They will be gone north soon also.

Possibly the remains of a deer.

Red-tail hawk

A not so great focus of a pair of wood ducks trying to hide among the pond shrubs.

A phoebe with nesting material

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Wed Apr 13, 2016 12:23 am

The tail by my foot suggests that this may be the remains of a coyote.

Garter snake head.

Bad photo but it's very rare for me to see an Osprey at the swan pond. It's middle right side of the photo.

Mute swans again nesting at the swan pond

A northern flicker near the swan pond.

Redwing blackbirds are arriving at the swan pond

From a few posts up, same Red-bellied woodpecker male looking out the hole. The female is around also.

Finally, a pair of hooded Mergansers

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Wed Apr 13, 2016 1:36 am

Oh, that's a nice selection. I'm glad you're finally back and able to do this on a regular basis. (though I'm sorry about your wife and hope she's okay.)

Rob

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Wed Apr 13, 2016 1:47 am

Some recent pictures. From Irvine, my first tree swallow of the year:

A garden centipede:

And a downy woodpecker.

from Quarry lake, a male brown-headed cowbird:

His mate:

A red-winged blackbird:

And an American coot:

From Lake Roland, an eastern phoebe:

And a Carolina chickadee:

And in front of my sister's house in PA, this mockingbird.

Rob

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Wed Apr 13, 2016 1:15 pm

Thanks Rob. It will be good when my wife is back fully. But she's on the mend.

For some reason it's been a long time since I've seen a mockingbird.

I was looking at your Carolina Chickadee and wondering if I might ever need to try to distinguish our black capped Chickadee from the Carolina. They look so much alike I don't know that I would ever be sure.

Are you in an area where you get both? Scroll down to map.

http://www.sibleyguides.com/bird-info/b ... chickadee/

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Wed Apr 13, 2016 5:38 pm

Not in my immediate area. They overlap not far from me, but in my immediate vicinity black-capped chickadees show up only on rare occasions.

Rob

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Fri Apr 15, 2016 2:36 am

Went to Nixon Park in PA today. Got a treetop downy woodpecker:

My first goldfinch in a while:

A lingering white-throated sparrow:

A red-eared slider:

Frog.

And an eastern phoebe:

And on the way home, a gathering of black vultures.

Rob

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 11:31 pm

Another few photos. Nothing great. At least spring is here.

Mallard Duck

Brown headed cowbird singing. The go Cluck Cluck tweeeeet

A goldfinch in the cedar tree. I was singing but had stopped a moment.

A tree swallow singing.

Song Sparrow singing

Ring neck ducks still here

Painted turtles are out in great numbers

Canada Goose

Crow

American Robin

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 11:32 pm

Green frog captured by a boy.

I'm guessing this is a baby wood frog.

Tufted titmouse singing

Gray Squirrel

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Mon Apr 18, 2016 1:11 am

I like the tiny frog and the great mass of turtles. And don't say you've got nothing great; you have some good pictures there.

These are highlights from Saturday and Sunday. Here's a solitary tadpole from Lake Roland Park.

Here's a massive red-eared slider.

And here's a lingering white-throated sparrow.

From Oregon Ridge, a solitary frog.

A pair of tree swallows.

A cardinal and a white-throated sparrow.

And three frogs.

And from Irvine, a male house finch.

A female house finch.

And a large bee fly.

Rob

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:11 pm

I have a hard time with blue jays. Always in the bushes or a twig in the way or in the shadows. Here are a few attempts that were semi-successful.

A Northern Cardinal. It was tweeting away but with it's head up and moving the tweeting photos have fuzzy heads. This photo is between tweets.

A red squirrel. I don't know what he like so much about the tree to be licking it. Maple sap?

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 3:11 am

Sometimes you just hit gold. I went down to the swan pond for 35-45 minutes on the way to the pharmacy at around 4pm today.

Two American toads doing it.

A red-wing blackbird looking at me.

I'm going to post a lot of photos of this critter. First confirmed photo of a muskrat and he stayed around a long time.

Eating something

Eating more

Must be very yummy

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 3:17 am

The muskrat is that blob by the mud in the center of the photo.

The pond's namesake.

Turtle

Osprey is back

Muskrat on it's way my way

Coming to shore and then vanished. Must have a hole there.

Common Grackle

Osprey again

Female Red-wing blackbird

Snapping turtle looking at me

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 8:36 pm

The muskrat is awesome. I've only seen one of them in my life.

Rob

crazyfingers · Post by **crazyfingers** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:21 pm

Thanks. I was happy to get the photos. I didn't have a confirmed muskrat.

Today I took the kids to Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA

I actually got a lifer! A Northern Rough-winged Swallow. They were going back and forth by the ship and would sit on the chains.

There were some huge jellyfish in the water. I think that these are lion's-mane jellyfish.

There are always cormorants at the cove.

A resident pair of mute swans also live in the cove.

Mediancat · Post by **Mediancat** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 1:23 am

Went to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday. Didn't get any lifers, but did see a number of things I don't see very often.

First up, a pair of purple martins.

Then a common toad.

An osprey gathering nesting material.

A goldfinch.

A juvenile northern water snake -- under two feet long.

A somewhat lost pair of mallards.

A bald eagle by the side of a pond.

A nesting osprey.

And a handful of American white pelicans, which have apparently established a well-outside-of-normal-range breeding colony at Blackwater -- there were several dozen there over the winter, and if you check the range map that's a considerable anomaly.

Rob