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I was out there at first light on the mudflats this morning, fishing for migratory stripers here on the North Shore of Massachusetts. No stripers took my offerings, but it was a gorgeous crimson sunrise.
I was out there at first light on the mudflats this morning, fishing for migratory stripers here on the North Shore of Massachusetts. No stripers took my offerings, but it was a gorgeous crimson sunrise.
And just think...you didn't have to clean anything!
Seen on hike in Fort Macon State Park, near Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Cacti are normally thought of as desert plants; not always, obviously. My wife and I saw this on a hike on Saturday, May 11, 2024, the day after a torrential downpour (through which we drove).
Saw our first hummingbirds last week. Both males and females. Usually, we only see the males at first. So the males were probably around for longer than we realized and the females joined them. It is very chilly here for mid-May and the poor things have been hitting the nectar feeders frequently. Being ruby throateds, they never stop looking for other hummingbirds while they are feeding and they immediately attack any interloper.
We had 2 sparrow families in 2 dwarf Alberta Spruce trees, right next to each other. What a racket the babies made all day long! And the 2 daddy sparrows were constantly warring. LOL
I saw the first fox in my yard in a long time a few weeks ago. It was gorgeous. It didn't hang around long enough for me to figure out if it was a grey fox or a red fox. He took off at high speed when I went out the back door. It was dark, but I had turned my back door light on, and that's when I spotted him.
We have them in WI too in the Driftless Area-- which contains a unique series of microclimates in a small area-- cactus here, alpine climate just a few miles away, "goat prairies", as well as more usual conifer & hardwood forests and natural meadows and wetlands.
We have them in WI too in the Driftless Area-- which contains a unique series of microclimates in a small area-- cactus here, alpine climate just a few miles away, "goat prairies", as well as more usual conifer & hardwood forests and natural meadows and wetlands.
My new neighbors that just moved from Arizona had a rough introduction to Mother Nature in the woods of NW Arkansas. She sent over a picture of a black rat snake wanting to know if it was a good or bad snake. I told her it was good snake. Shortly afterwards she texted my wife and said the snake ate the baby birds. I asked why her husband didn't run the snake off and she replied he was out of town. She had three young kids seeing the whole event. The snake climbed up the vinyl siding to get to the nest and knocked it down. The snake then ate the baby birds while the kids watched. I told her next time let me know and and I would come over and run the snake off. But I would bet that it would have come back later for the baby birds. This is why I don't let birds build nests on my patios or in my wife's plants. I would bet it was a Wren being that is what I keep running off.
Last edited by reubenray; 05-16-2024 at 06:42 PM..
My new neighbors that just moved from Arizona had a rough introduction to Mother Nature in the woods of NW Arkansas. She sent over a picture of a black rat snake wanting to know if it was a good or bad snake. I told her it was good snake. Shortly afterwards she texted my wife and said the snake ate the baby birds. I asked why her husband didn't run the snake off and she replied he was out of town. She had three young kids seeing the whole event. The snake climbed up the vinyl siding to get to the nest and knocked it down. The snake then ate the baby birds while the kids watched. I told her next time let me know and and I would come over and run the snake off. But I would bet that it would have come back later for the baby birds. This is why I don't let birds build nests on my patios or in my wife's plants. I would bet it was a Wren being that is what I keep running off.
Well, you did tell her that was a "good" snake, right? I know, I know, by "good", you both meant it wasn't a venomous snake. Good snakes need to eat too. As for letting her kids watch a snake eat those chicks, some parents would rather their kids learn that nature isn't run like a Disney theme park sooner than others.
Don't see why this was a "rough" introduction to the Arkansas woods or any other place. Snakes, both good and bad, are predators regardless where you find them. Besides, if the snake had already knocked the bird nest off the house and the chicks weren't ready to fledge, they were already doomed. Being consumed right away instead of lying helplessly on the ground in fear or pain for hours until something else chose to eat them sounds sort of preferable to me. Whether that bird's nest happened to be on your house or in a tree in surrounding woods, that snake would still attempt to prey on it. The kids just ended up having front row seats.
Kids differ in when they are ready to or even want to observe the harsher aspects of life too. IME presenting natural history curricula to school kids, they can go through phases when they're downright bloodthirsty! This mom probably knows where her kids are on that continuum better than you do. She may not choose to manage her property like an artificial pseudo-natural theme park and probably realized this was a teachable moment. So, she chose not to be a buttinsky, and left nature to do what nature does.
Last edited by Parnassia; 05-17-2024 at 03:17 PM..
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Cacti on NC Coast
