Wildlife & Related

[Hummer]

Bailey Guns, those are beautiful images of the Great Horned! As you probably know it's a juvenile (hasn't got it's horns on yet).

Badgers are neat critters. I don't see them often. One time I was able to call one to me by mimicking a squeaking mouse or bird. We had one on our farm a few years ago. I think it was working the small prairie dog colony on the property. Pdog numbers crashed about that time.


Here's my contribution today, a recently fledged Northern Saw-whet Owl. It was rescued from an attacking raven by a fellow who brought it in to the office. I determined it was okay and we took him back to the mountains to release him in the same location. The young might make it on his own but would do better reunited with his parents who will continue to feed it for month or so.

[Bailey Guns]

As you probably know it's a juvenile (hasn't got it's horns on yet).

Didn't know for sure but suspected. Yesterday the two adults and one of the juveniles were hanging out in a ponderosa near the house right around dark. Not sure what they were doing but they were talking up a storm. One of them yacked up a fresh pellet which we quickly retrieved from the ground after they left. I never thought I'd be digging thru the grass after dark looking for bird vomit.

Love the badger, too. I've seen one in the area...playing chicken with me on the road. He really didn't want to move. I hope he wised up a bit or his life expectancy will be short.

[Bailey Guns]

Walking down to water the garden I surprised this guy. He was ready to tangle with me and my Terrier. Needless to say the dog wanted a piece of the owl, too. Getting the pictures while trying to control the dog was a little tricky. We backed off and everyone calmed down. The GHO waited long enough to make sure we weren't a threat and flew up into a nearby tree. It's one of the juveniles...I think the one I got the pics of several days ago. I'm guessing he's about 1.5 times as tall as one of the railroad ties he's perched on. Wingspan is probably around 2', maybe a little more.

[Hummer]

Great little bird, BG! You don't need (or want) barn cats when you have resident owls. They'll take mice, pack rats, skunks and other unwanted pests including feral cats.



Here's an adult Swainson's Hawk I caught today. It has a wing injury and is unable to fly. I had to chase him down and he almost outran me. This species migrates to South America for winter, often in large groups of Swainson's. He's probably been to Argentina and back at least once. With luck the vet will be able to repair the wing. It's a beautiful bird!

[rondog]

I took this several years ago in Estes Park at the Rockmount Cottages where we usually stay, beautiful 7x7 bull.



Grandson was just a pup then, 19 now.



A younger bull at E. Park. You can just see the tripod of my video camera at the far right, I was standing there running the video camera, grandson took this photo with his phone.



A friend of ours that used to volunteer with Hawk Quest. Eagles are damn impressive up close!

[Bailey Guns]

Wow...that eagle is cool. I'd give anything to have a pic like that holding an eagle.

[waffles]

From the weekend

[Bailey Guns]

Really enjoying the photos you guys are posting in this thread.

I don't know much about killdeer except the little I've read about on Wiki. Sometimes they nest, if you can call it a nest, in open, rocky areas. Well, my tank yard at work is certainly open and rocky. This little bird decided to lay her egg (eggs...the day after this was taken there were two) right on the edge of the drive where the tankers come in to reload our bulk tank. Very dangerous spot. The first photo was taken fairly early...maybe 0730 when I saw her frantically running about the yard. I'm thinking she was looking for a place to lay her egg. The other two were taken mid-afternoon when it was about 103 degrees. She was panting a lot. I didn't know birds panted, either.

[TheGrey]

Great pics! Killdeer are fascinating little birds. Wait until you see her doing her broken-wing dance to keep you away from her nest.

If it keeps getting that hot, you may want to set out a little dish of water for her. My grandma used to set out the drain pan of a flower pot for the killdeer.

Their babies are some of the cutest little birds you've ever seen. Any way to maybe set some cones out around her nest so the tankers don't run her over?

[Bailey Guns]

Great pics! Killdeer are fascinating little birds. Wait until you see her doing her broken-wing dance to keep you away from her nest.

If it keeps getting that hot, you may want to set out a little dish of water for her. My grandma used to set out the drain pan of a flower pot for the killdeer.

Their babies are some of the cutest little birds you've ever seen. Any way to maybe set some cones out around her nest so the tankers don't run her over?

Yeah, I thought about the water, even though we're only two or three hundred yards from the Snake River she obviously gets very hot on those rocks. And I've placed some blocks around her nest on the edge of the drive in hopes of encouraging the tanker drivers to make a wider turn. I'm really hoping to see the babies. I haven't seen her "Oh, no...look at me. I'm hurt!" dance yet but I'd like to.