Backyard wildlife

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The tree frog changed colour in the afternoon so I posted that one. How cool is that

i am not totally sure about the Eastern milk snake but pictures show that brown and dark patch look. But they also come in other colours. Which makes it kind of hard to know what you see. No rattles though so I can eliminate the Massassaga rattle snake luckily
 
No rattles though so I can eliminate the Massassaga rattle snake luckily

Luckily? One of the high points of my trip to Zion National Park was getting a picture of a wild rattler (not a Massassauga of course). Lovely creatures. Just don't bother them and if they rattle, get the hell out of Dodge.

(Mine was curled up and looking away from me. It was early morning and maybe too cold for them.)
 
Yikes Mendalla! I'm glad I missed seeing any rattlers when I visited Zion - beautiful place.
 
Yikes Mendalla! I'm glad I missed seeing any rattlers when I visited Zion - beautiful place.

It was weird. I was looking around because I knew someone had reported seeing tarantulas in the area so I wasn't even looking for snakes and then I saw it just coiled up in the root of a tree. Snapped some pics, then quietly moved on. I suspected it was a rattlesnake but wasn't sure until I showed my pictures to a ranger who id'd it. If there is one place I will happily visit again and again, it is the US Southwest. Not sure why I am so fond of hiking in the desert, but I am.
 
I have seen ratters before from a distance. But one in my yard with a dog around would be a bit close for comfort
 
I read your post and wondered what you meant. I scrolled back for context and understood. To me though, a ratter is a small rat catching terrier.
 
I read your post and wondered what you meant. I scrolled back for context and understood. To me though, a ratter is a small rat catching terrier.

Never knew there was a word for that. Must be an English/British thing. I am rather fond of terriers as dogs go, too.
 
So at lunch today, Mrs. M asks what are the white spots on the deck. I look and go, "Oh, just bird poop." Then she looks up and sees where it came from. There's a robin's nest in our Japanese maple. With three fairly large juvenile robins in it. So it has apparently been there a while and we just missed it. I was actually standing right under that tree while barbequing yesterday.

Anyhow, that tree is right outside our son's room and I could basically look right down into the nest from his window. Got this with my Nikon camera on full zoom. You can sort of see the second one behind the one that's obvious. The third one is hidden behind a leaf on the right side.

BabyBirds.JPG
 
They look almost ready to fledge. Surprising you didn’t notice the parents. We have a new nest of three and wow the parents are busy
 
Our cats were alarmed by a large amphibian jumping across our patio today ... stress is pervasive! A break may be headed our way as humans appear as the source ... an original score!
 
They look almost ready to fledge. Surprising you didn’t notice the parents. We have a new nest of three and wow the parents are busy

Well, now that I know the nest is here, I am realizing that I now know why a male has been perching on the hook by our deck (usually used to hang flower baskets but we didn't do any planting this year) frequently. Problem is, we see robins around here all the time. They are probably the most commonly seen bird in this area right now. So I constantly have them in my yard, nest or no. Also, with the hot, muggy weather over the past couple weeks, we haven't been using the deck much.

I didn't get any pictures, but years ago a redwing blackbird nested in the next "tree" (it's a standard willow bush, so not a real tree). No way I could miss that one. The father was very, very protective and every time I barbequed, he would be dive-bombing and shrieking at me the whole time. Whereas, these robins have been pretty quiet. When they used to nest on the front porch (in the ivy we have climbing the pillar), it was more obvious as the male would throw a hairy fit every time we tried to go in the front door.
 
I read your post and wondered what you meant. I scrolled back for context and understood. To me though, a ratter is a small rat catching terrier.
I use the term mouser, but moreso as a descriptor, not something specific to a species. Many cats are mousers, though not all, some dogs are. No rats around for any dog to catch.
 
It is amazing how fast small birds grow.

we had a dive bombing red wing black bird nest this year. You really had to be careful not to get close and always wear a hat. They actually strike at us when we were walking by
 
Oo, I love turtles. The reptile kind. I've sworn off the candy kind for life. Don't seem them much around London, though. Have to go out to the conservation areas further out, usually.
 
I love turtles too. Our resident snapping turtle is still in our pond. I hadn’t seen her for about a month, but she was floating in the lily pads the other day I stooped to watch her, she was watching me and then a quick dive and she was gone. i Had sort of hoed with all the swimming she had moved on but she is still with us
 
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