Friday, September 28, 2007

Wildlife seen or heard today

6:00 AM: Coyotes howling at the near full moon.

7:15 AM: Starflower notes a blue jay at the feeder.

7:43 AM: White tailed deer crossing the road.

7:48 AM: A BOBCAT...Yes, a real live bobcat, crossing the road. Woo-hoo!

7:53 AM: More deer. Damn road goats.

4:50 PM: A flock of crows above Sand Creek catches my attention with their carefree flying acrobatics.

6:00 or so: Calvin and I were out looking at the rabbits, when I noticed some movement in the gray dogwoods next to the shower. I went to the house to get the binoculars. I came back, and he told me there was a ruffed grouse next to the shower. I could not see it for the longest time, but then...there it was! How could I miss a bird the size of a young chicken? But there it was, eating gray dogwood berries like they were the nectar of the gods. Amazingly camouflaged, this bird was. And it didn't seem to mind our presence a mere 25 feet away.

I don't think I could have asked for a better ordinary day.

11 comments:

Elise said...

One of the things I like the best about living in Pennsylvania is all the wildlife I get to see. I'm originally from NH but I didn't get to see half the animals that I see here. Deer, bear, fox, turkey, bobcat (I too saw one run acrossed the road this week - weird coincidence), rattle snake (eek), opposum, etc...

R.Powers said...

What a fine ordinary day! You've had a string of fine days like the Hawk Ridge Day and the Banning State Park Day. You're on a roll!
You're also a much appreciated good Mom to go along on a field trip.
The schools need you.


When I rangered, school groups would come through the Castillo de San Marcos in huge herds in the spring. It was fun to greet a kid by name and watch their expression.
"YOU KNOW ME?" they'd ask.
No.
But everyone of them was wearing a name tag.
They would walk off with their group muttering, "Does that man know you? "Nah, I don't think so"
"Well, he knew your name..."
Too fun.
Worked best with the 4th grade down.

Deb said...

Elise- What a coincidence! I see a bocat maybe twice a year if I'm lucky. I did not mention, there are tons of turkeys around here, which could not have been the case a mere ten years ago.

FC- I hope I was able to help the class a bit, at least with my enthusiasm for the subject matter! A couple of boys were impressed when I identified a couple of Air Force planes coming into Duluth International Airport. What were they doing there?

Starflower wants me to come along on their field trip to Underwater World at Mall of America this spring. I like fish, but malls? We'll see.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you had a good ordinary day. I think I miss more than I see when I'm in the wild. Of course a busload of kids is a kind of wild of its own!

LauraHinNJ said...

Do those grouse ever make themselves available for a photo?

I'll probably never see one otherwise.

;-)

How are the bunnies doing? Eating you out of house and home yet?

Deb said...

pablo- A lot of this has to do with me simply being there. I don't have to go looking for grouse that are eating just outside my back door!

LauraHinNJ- I think I have a grouse pic in my archives somewhere...if you have a camera ready while driving this time of year you may get lucky.

The buns are thriving; I now have a use for all the carrot tops from my garden. I enjoyed Peeper's top ten reasons why bunnies rule! :) Scary, I find myself agreeing on most of those.

Thunder said...

Wow, busy day!
We've got plenty of deer and rabbits around here, but not too many of the other exotic critter's you have as neighbor's. I bet it was pretty cool watching the bobcat cross the road!

Deb said...

Thunder Dave- Deer seem to be everywhere, in large numbers. I'm going to get my license this season, and maybe get one. My kids love jerky.

The bobcat was way cool.

RuthieJ said...

Hi Deb,
What a great day you must have had! I would love an "ordinary" day like that. I've never seen a bobcat.

I've got some good venison recipes to share if you need some ideas after you get your deer.

Dan Trabue said...

Excellent day.

Say, I have a question for you and your astute readers: Has anyone noted the behavior where a single starling (and maybe other species) will fly in tandem with a single crow?

I've noted this often, usually one crow and one starling, but sometimes two or three starlings, flying around together - dipping, soaring, swooping back down - for an extended time.

Has anyone else noted this and does anyone know why? Is it a scavenger sort of behavior on behalf of the starling, eating the what the crow misses?

Anonymous said...

A bobcat?! Wow. Very cool. I saw a mink in the Superior National Forest this weekend, a first for me and pretty cool, but no bobcat!