Recently there's been a video circulation of "rock climbing bears" from Big Bend National Park... and it's amazing! Mad skills, I think the kids would call it...
Black bears at Santa Elena Canyon, video by Stephanie Latimer:
Blogging from Marathon, TX about birding, butterflies, moths and more. Exploring the gems of Brewster County, Post Park, Big Bend National Park and the surrounding region. Bird watching: Big Bend and beyond!
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
11 hours later...
 |
| Oculea Silkmoth (Antheraea oculea), male. Marathon, TX 29 March, 2014 |
The intrepid male departed:
Our female remained until dusk.
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| Oculea Silkmoth (Antheraea oculea), female. Marathon, TX 29 March, 2014 |
 |
| Oculea Silkmoth (Antheraea oculea), female. Marathon, TX 29 March, 2014 |
Monday, March 17, 2014
Mergs and ethics
Please start here for the Merg saga.
In all parts of life, one must take into account factors beyond one's control. In the case of a particular Common Merganser, the factors were involved were deceptively simplistic. While our rehabber was only 90 minutes away, her flu symptoms were only worsening as the merganser's recovery was speeding up. Our rehabber, unfortunately, had the same basic facilities available (read: bathtub), though more experience and likely a more streamlined routine - but she, herself, had no energy. So what were we actually up against?
* Strengthening merganser.
Average energy level had increased from death's door to... standing, flapping, diving, bathing, preening, and attempting to exit the tub.
* NEED for different facilities.
Our tub, our rehabber's tub, both were inadequate for a bird that needed to dive. Merg's energy levels were becoming an injury risk: our bathroom was not designed to keep a flapping, hopping, heavy duck safe from accidental injury (faucets, toilets, floors... birds are as bad as toddlers when it comes to potential injury).
* Beak out of alignment.
While the beak was being wrapped every night in hopes that it'd heal with proper alignment, it only improved slightly from day one. STRONG bite, however, was reassuring, as was normal beak functioning during preening, feeding and drinking. But still not perfect.
Local release options would involve minimal stress to Merg, have a shorter rehab time (due to lack of facilities, mostly), and the only down side would be a strong, if unaligned, beak. Post Park never has diving ducks, recently has very few fish, and really isn't ideal for a merganser... so that option was out. The SW ponds have tons of ducks, all the time, but never mergansers (yet), nor much else in the way of long-term fish-eater inhabitants. Then, of course, Balmorhea. Two hours of a drive, but with cormorants, mergansers of three species, and plenty of fish. Fluctuating Common Merganser numbers, but for December 2013, not fewer than one, though no more than 30 or so. Plenty of habitat as well...
Several late night phone calls with multiple rehabbers in NM and TX led us to the conclusion that we had done what we could, and without adequate local rehab facilities, it'd be better to wish her luck and do a local release than to risk further stress with excessive transportation.
***
So on the morning of December 31st, we aimed for as soft of a release as possible. Using the 'food coma' method to ensure a mellow Merganser, Merg was fed and then placed into the glassy waters of Lake Balmorhea.
...we were only able to stay for an hour before we had to leave, but there's plenty of footage where that came from.
In all parts of life, one must take into account factors beyond one's control. In the case of a particular Common Merganser, the factors were involved were deceptively simplistic. While our rehabber was only 90 minutes away, her flu symptoms were only worsening as the merganser's recovery was speeding up. Our rehabber, unfortunately, had the same basic facilities available (read: bathtub), though more experience and likely a more streamlined routine - but she, herself, had no energy. So what were we actually up against?
* Strengthening merganser.
Average energy level had increased from death's door to... standing, flapping, diving, bathing, preening, and attempting to exit the tub.
* NEED for different facilities.
Our tub, our rehabber's tub, both were inadequate for a bird that needed to dive. Merg's energy levels were becoming an injury risk: our bathroom was not designed to keep a flapping, hopping, heavy duck safe from accidental injury (faucets, toilets, floors... birds are as bad as toddlers when it comes to potential injury).
* Beak out of alignment.
While the beak was being wrapped every night in hopes that it'd heal with proper alignment, it only improved slightly from day one. STRONG bite, however, was reassuring, as was normal beak functioning during preening, feeding and drinking. But still not perfect.
The factors above are understatements, mere highlights, the things we knew all too well. What we were now facing was this - Merg's fish benefactor had already headed back to Houston by the time we realized what was going on - and that's where the best wildlife rehab facilities in the state are located. San Antonio does have wildlife rehab facilities, but not for diving ducks. Lubbock? Same deal. Albuquerque was our next call: they had an Osprey using their diving pool enclosure. No go.
If only this (The Virginia Living Museum) could be in our bathroom, our problems would be solved....
Post by Karl Rebenstorf.
Unfortunately, mergansers are high-stress creatures. They, along with other diving ducks, are not exactly the best patients. The longer they are in captivity, the less likely they are to continue improvement. It's kind of an odd bell curve. Add a minimum of 6-10 hour drive to get them to facilities that would allow for more room and high quality care... you take a possible 2 steps forward and 1-3 steps back, depending. No matter how cushy the box, it's not the natural habitat for a diving duck: not to mention, neither Albuquerque nor Houston would be able to release Merg where she was found. Obviously in water, not on the side of Hwy 90.
Local release options would involve minimal stress to Merg, have a shorter rehab time (due to lack of facilities, mostly), and the only down side would be a strong, if unaligned, beak. Post Park never has diving ducks, recently has very few fish, and really isn't ideal for a merganser... so that option was out. The SW ponds have tons of ducks, all the time, but never mergansers (yet), nor much else in the way of long-term fish-eater inhabitants. Then, of course, Balmorhea. Two hours of a drive, but with cormorants, mergansers of three species, and plenty of fish. Fluctuating Common Merganser numbers, but for December 2013, not fewer than one, though no more than 30 or so. Plenty of habitat as well...
Several late night phone calls with multiple rehabbers in NM and TX led us to the conclusion that we had done what we could, and without adequate local rehab facilities, it'd be better to wish her luck and do a local release than to risk further stress with excessive transportation.
***
So on the morning of December 31st, we aimed for as soft of a release as possible. Using the 'food coma' method to ensure a mellow Merganser, Merg was fed and then placed into the glassy waters of Lake Balmorhea.
...we were only able to stay for an hour before we had to leave, but there's plenty of footage where that came from.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Bathtime with Tub Dragon
Apologies for the gap in updates: when life kicks into high gear, it GOES. (Bonus: this time it resulted in two 'life' airports, one 'life' state, one 'life' birder and two 'life' Snowy Owls! Matt got Red-throated Loon for TX and a repaired vehicle.)
On to the Merg... (Please start here if you're new to the thread!)
Last we checked on the Merg, it was December and she had her first batch of whole fish. Scales and bones and improved alertness and energy... and her first major bath. I missed the first ~30 seconds of it, but it was intense!
It was quite the bath. And there was more of it.
...and for the first time, we could truly see the beginning of the proverbial end. The end of her time in our tub. Her time in rehab. She wasn't a decoy, a lethargic lump of feathers and flesh waiting to return to the earth.
She became a dragon.
This was a day or two later:
That is a bird probing boundaries. We raised the water level to encourage more diving.
We subsequently lowered the water level to discourage escape attempts from the tub.
Bonus clips: preening after bath. And more preening.
Oh... and did we mention preening? Feather maintenance is important!
Friday, February 21, 2014
Introducing dead fish...
Please start here.
This is the segment in which we are glad that there's no 'scratch-and-sniff' feature on the internet. Dead fish, live fish, and digested fish are our themes for today.
Our biggest challenge in tending the Mergus was finding REAL fish. Scales and bones are hard to find in the canned food aisle, and in even shorter supply in the dog food and fish oil diet. A day of rest and a few days of kibble puree is probably enough to make any respectable fish-eater swear off of non-fish... but this happened to be right before Christmas in a little desert town where no bait shops existed within a three hour drive. There are two saints in this story, and they're not us. One sent a donation to offset expenses, the other showed up with a giant cooler of WHOLE FISH, a small tank of goldfish (training fish, we hoped), PILES of paper towels, and a heart of gold. And came from half way across the state to bring us these fishy gifts.
This is the segment in which we are glad that there's no 'scratch-and-sniff' feature on the internet. Dead fish, live fish, and digested fish are our themes for today.
Our biggest challenge in tending the Mergus was finding REAL fish. Scales and bones are hard to find in the canned food aisle, and in even shorter supply in the dog food and fish oil diet. A day of rest and a few days of kibble puree is probably enough to make any respectable fish-eater swear off of non-fish... but this happened to be right before Christmas in a little desert town where no bait shops existed within a three hour drive. There are two saints in this story, and they're not us. One sent a donation to offset expenses, the other showed up with a giant cooler of WHOLE FISH, a small tank of goldfish (training fish, we hoped), PILES of paper towels, and a heart of gold. And came from half way across the state to bring us these fishy gifts.
After Merg's first meal of REAL fish, her energy levels increased dramatically.
Coordination continued to improve, floating became basically level, foot action was strong. Dabbling became more frequent, as did the 'rearing up' - of course, no attention at all was paid to any of the dead fish in the tub. Float time was consistently after meal time, however, so that may explain some of it.
Giant, smelly, interesting poop (honestly, I thought we had a poop tag for this blog, but apparently we do not - unfortunate, really, we should remedy that). Kibble poops were uneventful until they began to smell like ammonia, at which point we tripled the amount of food per meal; but even 15 ml of slurry is feeble compared to one juicy finger mullet. The struggle to get 3 servings of sludge down a throat is just not as serene as the easy, slick, head-first slip of the fish... almost like the bird and fish are made for each other...
Oh, and happy very-belated Darwin Day!
I have no idea why the photo below looks so... frosty? Sticky? Weird - it just looks dark and wet until it's on the big screen. Eyes closed, resting after a VERY splashy adventure... we'll call that progress.
Bonus videos: click here (#17)
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Dexterity challenges
Please start the Mergus saga here: Mergus in waiting, round 1
*** the weird angled sides on the vids are driving me up the wall, haven't figured out how to make those go away, apologies!
When Mergus first arrived, we had little hope. As her range of motion increased, however, the progress was undeniable. She was able to scratch her beak with her left foot fairly early on, but it took a bit longer for the left foot to be used.
Initially, when placed in her box after a float, she was unable to stand. Mustering the strength to not only stand, but to PREEN (feather maintenance is critical, after all), it was a little snapshot of near normalcy in a situation that was anything but normal.
Range of motion for Merg's head: vastly improving. Instead of tucking slightly left and drooping, well, see for yourself:
Bonus video from the preening session: still too dark to see much detail on anything but the beak, which still looks pretty bad, in terms of alignment. Click here to watch the video.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Drinks like a sailor... and that's about it
If you're just joining us, please start at the first post for back story on this Common Merganser in rehab: Mergust in waiting, round 1!
We catch up with Mergus still fairly new into this floating business, and she's thirsty:
While she's gradually leveling off (in terms of floating), a trend of concern is starting to become apparent: most of her movement is going backwards, and clockwise.
Now, back to our previously mentioned drinking like a sailor... and floating lethargically...
Monday, February 10, 2014
Dead man's float
If you're just joining us on the adventure of "there's a merganser in the tub" please see the first post for context!
Apologies for poor video quality, and less than stunning scenery.
The two videos here are for the purpose of illustrating lethargy and uneven floating. Other than drinking, the first day of floating might as well have been with a decoy in the tub.
Second day of floating involved a little more kicking. We wanted to limit movement for the first few days in case of internal injury that could be aggravated with too much movement; our fears seemed to be mostly unfounded, thankfully.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Poospective
Have you ever approached a cluster of poo-nectaring butterflies and they all scat-turd when you got too close? /punny
Here are a few more shots from 30 July 2010 - Dotted Roadside-Skipper and Common Buckeye - this leaves ample room for for poop jokes, but we'll try to keep a straight face over here and let you make your own. Heck, you can even leave them in the comments, but we can't promise not to censor them if they're entirely inappropriate.
Somewhere in here the obligatory "ah, smell the fresh country air!" fits in. At least you've been spared belly-crawling through a minefield of horse apples to get these shots. I certainly appreciated the views regardless!
And from 31 July, same poop, different day - there's a party going on under there!
These images are from July of 2010 - this post may be duplicated, backdated or otherwise modified to mesh with the archives better. But for now it's being posted 6 September 2012.
Here are a few more shots from 30 July 2010 - Dotted Roadside-Skipper and Common Buckeye - this leaves ample room for for poop jokes, but we'll try to keep a straight face over here and let you make your own. Heck, you can even leave them in the comments, but we can't promise not to censor them if they're entirely inappropriate.
 |
| Dotted Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes eos) |
Somewhere in here the obligatory "ah, smell the fresh country air!" fits in. At least you've been spared belly-crawling through a minefield of horse apples to get these shots. I certainly appreciated the views regardless!
 |
| Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) |
And from 31 July, same poop, different day - there's a party going on under there!
These images are from July of 2010 - this post may be duplicated, backdated or otherwise modified to mesh with the archives better. But for now it's being posted 6 September 2012.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
August - it's not quiet here!
Much to my surprise, the blog has been pretty quiet for August. A closer look reveals that we've been up to our ears in interesting stuff in the meantime! *
August 11th surfaced with a really lovely blog post by the Kaufman team; Kenn and Kim have such an eloquent way of describing the region and their time here... ah, we may be biased but it's still a great honor!
So, a few of the birds definitely present around town this month, starting with heard-only, flyover Upland Sandpipers on a daily basis...
August 11th:
1 Black-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Cuckoo with dark bill, buffy chin, white breast/belly, buffy vent, slaty crown/nape, rusty brown back/wings, under tail was uniform buffy gray ALL OVER, save very, very fine white edging on the tips of the tailfeathers. (no photos, gah!)
August 12:
Black-throated Green Warbler (Gage Hotel)
Dickcissel (Gage Hotel)
August 13:
Painted Bunting (yard)
Yellow Warbler (yard)
Zone-tailed Hawk (yard)
Peregrine Falcon (Post Park)
August 15:
Swainson's Hawk - dark morph (ok, just a few miles south of Imperial, but still in the Trans-Pecos and a slight chance that it's the bird that was on Post Road earlier in the year!)
August 16:
Canyon Wren - possibly the same bird that had been around in early August (starting 30 July - yard)
August 17:
Orange-crowned Warbler (yard)
* ...and, unfortunately, things will likely be quiet for a while still, due to a last minute CA bird survey gig for Matt. But it's not for lack of good local birding!
Also, during the month, some 'new' blog posts have been added to the archives - crossposted from our informal blog, Seetrail, things relevant to the scope of this blog have been introduced. Things like videos! Aplomado Falcons! Things that deserve more than one exclamation mark! Right now only the July 2010 archives are fully up to date, but we'll be adding more over time; this blog didn't exist in its current form until October of 2010, so there's still a bit to add.
August 11th surfaced with a really lovely blog post by the Kaufman team; Kenn and Kim have such an eloquent way of describing the region and their time here... ah, we may be biased but it's still a great honor!
So, a few of the birds definitely present around town this month, starting with heard-only, flyover Upland Sandpipers on a daily basis...
August 11th:
1 Black-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus erythropthalmus
Cuckoo with dark bill, buffy chin, white breast/belly, buffy vent, slaty crown/nape, rusty brown back/wings, under tail was uniform buffy gray ALL OVER, save very, very fine white edging on the tips of the tailfeathers. (no photos, gah!)
August 12:
Black-throated Green Warbler (Gage Hotel)
Dickcissel (Gage Hotel)
August 13:
Painted Bunting (yard)
Yellow Warbler (yard)
Zone-tailed Hawk (yard)
Peregrine Falcon (Post Park)
August 15:
Swainson's Hawk - dark morph (ok, just a few miles south of Imperial, but still in the Trans-Pecos and a slight chance that it's the bird that was on Post Road earlier in the year!)
August 16:
Canyon Wren - possibly the same bird that had been around in early August (starting 30 July - yard)
August 17:
Orange-crowned Warbler (yard)
* ...and, unfortunately, things will likely be quiet for a while still, due to a last minute CA bird survey gig for Matt. But it's not for lack of good local birding!
Also, during the month, some 'new' blog posts have been added to the archives - crossposted from our informal blog, Seetrail, things relevant to the scope of this blog have been introduced. Things like videos! Aplomado Falcons! Things that deserve more than one exclamation mark! Right now only the July 2010 archives are fully up to date, but we'll be adding more over time; this blog didn't exist in its current form until October of 2010, so there's still a bit to add.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
First witch of the year
Thoroughly dessicated, with legs falling off all over the place... the first Black Witch of the year surfaced today from a shed at the Gage, probably a week old. There should have been a quarter in here for scale; the witch isn't quite hand-sized this position because its wings are partially folded, but hopefully that's a good indication of just how impressive a Black Witch can be.
Perhaps we need a Lepidoptery guide (butterflies and moths); we can call it 50 shades of neutral. The pale cream and buff colors to the deep, rich browns are quite well represented.
They're certainly more fun when alive, but never so cooperative - these are ventral views - top left is Tawny Emperor, on its back, top right is Question Mark, wings only (it would be on its back if it still had one). Bottom is male Black Witch.
Some bright colors when seen from the top; a female Black Witch would have bold white scalloping on the wings. The Question Mark had not yet fallen apart, so it is actually doubled over in the shot.
And as tradition requires:
Perhaps we need a Lepidoptery guide (butterflies and moths); we can call it 50 shades of neutral. The pale cream and buff colors to the deep, rich browns are quite well represented.
And as tradition requires:
Friday, October 8, 2010
Agapema anona
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
alias Mexican Agapema, alias Greasewood Silkmoth, alias William H. Bonney....
Heidi gave me a call this morning:
H- Matt, get your butt up here and get the camera out of the jeep
me- okay, okay.... , I am working in here.
H- alright, just hurry
me - okay...., what is i -
WOW!!!!!! Great find, Heidi! Agapema anona is a member of the family Saturniidae, or "Silkmoths". The members of this family are our largest moths, however they are not always humongous. This particular individual's wingspans might be slightly longer than two quarters stacked side-by-side. Absolutely spectacular male on a very cool morning. I can tell this guy is male due to the crazy feathery antennae. This attribute detects the subtle fragrance of a pheromone released by the female. This is intentional on her part, and is in a way.. a "call ." With a breeze, this male may be able to detect a "call" from half a mile a way.
A. anona larva feed on various condalia (Condalia spp.) and Greasewood (Sarcobatus spp). Certainly some of that around. Adult females spin the cocoon in the branches of these host-plants. This species is thus far known to range from SE Arizona, S New Mexico, and far-west Texas.
We are happy to range here too.
Edit: this lovely fellow was found early in the morning out near the public laundry room at the Marathon Motel. -heidi
alias Mexican Agapema, alias Greasewood Silkmoth, alias William H. Bonney....
Heidi gave me a call this morning:
H- Matt, get your butt up here and get the camera out of the jeep
me- okay, okay.... , I am working in here.
H- alright, just hurry
me - okay...., what is i -
WOW!!!!!! Great find, Heidi! Agapema anona is a member of the family Saturniidae, or "Silkmoths". The members of this family are our largest moths, however they are not always humongous. This particular individual's wingspans might be slightly longer than two quarters stacked side-by-side. Absolutely spectacular male on a very cool morning. I can tell this guy is male due to the crazy feathery antennae. This attribute detects the subtle fragrance of a pheromone released by the female. This is intentional on her part, and is in a way.. a "call ." With a breeze, this male may be able to detect a "call" from half a mile a way.
A. anona larva feed on various condalia (Condalia spp.) and Greasewood (Sarcobatus spp). Certainly some of that around. Adult females spin the cocoon in the branches of these host-plants. This species is thus far known to range from SE Arizona, S New Mexico, and far-west Texas.
We are happy to range here too.
Edit: this lovely fellow was found early in the morning out near the public laundry room at the Marathon Motel. -heidi
Monday, October 4, 2010
lurking in the shadows
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
One month ago, late into the night, Matt and I heard a large flying-insect type noise in our bedroom. We thought nothing of it, as moths were regular visitors.
The second night that we heard it, Matt had turned on the light and saw a huge, fluttery, shadowy beast. How this visitor entered the house, we do not know. We do know that the amusement factor was directly proportional to the amount of shadow chasing.
What invertebrate lurked in the shadows of our bedroom?
...a praying mantis, of course.
One month ago, late into the night, Matt and I heard a large flying-insect type noise in our bedroom. We thought nothing of it, as moths were regular visitors.
The second night that we heard it, Matt had turned on the light and saw a huge, fluttery, shadowy beast. How this visitor entered the house, we do not know. We do know that the amusement factor was directly proportional to the amount of shadow chasing.
What invertebrate lurked in the shadows of our bedroom?
...a praying mantis, of course.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Aplomado Falcons vs. Northern Harrier
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
Finally, the video you've all been waiting for (even if you didn't know it!) ...three Aplomado Falcons chasing a young Northern Harrier. This is from September 4th around 7 pm. The drama lasted for a few minutes and the harrier was escorted out of the Aplo territory. I suggest having your volume all the way up to hear the little fellows.
[someday, there will be a video here]
Shadowboxing mantis footage might take a while ;-)
A quick personal update:
Yes, we really are moving to Marathon officially. This update is from Waco, because the internet here is amazing. We'll be on the road this weekend (so be extra nice to folks with U-Haul trailers!) and then it's back to making the house livable. One more coat of paint in the living room and two on the trim should do the trick. The kitchen is another story entirely though!
Edit: See? The video DOES exist!
Finally, the video you've all been waiting for (even if you didn't know it!) ...three Aplomado Falcons chasing a young Northern Harrier. This is from September 4th around 7 pm. The drama lasted for a few minutes and the harrier was escorted out of the Aplo territory. I suggest having your volume all the way up to hear the little fellows.
[someday, there will be a video here]
Shadowboxing mantis footage might take a while ;-)
A quick personal update:
Yes, we really are moving to Marathon officially. This update is from Waco, because the internet here is amazing. We'll be on the road this weekend (so be extra nice to folks with U-Haul trailers!) and then it's back to making the house livable. One more coat of paint in the living room and two on the trim should do the trick. The kitchen is another story entirely though!
Edit: See? The video DOES exist!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
goings on
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated and edited here.
My non-food Marathon post may have been too soon. Now that the community is overrun with tent caterpillars of some sort, I feel they're missing out on the limelight that the mites got. With last weekend's rain, there are also a few more mosquitoes around, too. Only one snake has been seen in town so far - another Kansas Glossy crossing the road.
Site tidbit: on Sunday (the 15th) we had quite a fascinating visitor at the site, more will be posted about the Mojave Rattlesnake later.
But, on to a falcon update! The falcons are doing well, H7, the female from Group 3 is doing a splendid job of catching her own grasshoppers - she seems to have caught on while watching OK, our only black/red male from the first two groups. OK will sally from a shrub and nab a dragonfly midair, eat it, and grab another... and that will continue for quite a few snacks!
It has been nearly a week since C2, our red/black female - the last female from Group 2 - showed up just to show off that she wasn't hungry. She had skipped 2 days prior to last Friday, and showed up wiping her beak and didn't eat that morning, just in the evening. She must have been pretty full. That said, she has not been seen since. We're pretty confident that she's down the highway scaring the pants off of the little American Kestrels who have just started to show up this month. Ah, migration!
Big news for K8 - when C2 returned, K8 had been MIA for two days. So K8 skipped a total of 7 feedings (3.5 days) before showing up again and has been regular since Sunday. She is looking great, ragged tail and all.
Our most recent Wednesday morning was the first time we did not see a single falcon for the duration of the morning. None even observed in the distance. Everyone who showed up in the evening ate very well, but only five showed up for that. This (Thursday) morning was a bit of a surprise, since we generally put out two quail and have one left over - five birds showed up and only a few stray clumps and "spaghetti" of quail were left. [Ewww.]
So here's the remaining cluster:
H7 (female, group 3)
93 (group 3 - aka 'Peachy Britches')
OK
16
58 (now with his own 'scissor-tailed appearance)
95 (aka 'Leggins' on a good day)
K8 (the female known as 'Kate')
C2 (female, gone for a week now)
Oddly, 16 is a bird who is just plain normal. OK has a slightly pale rump, and is notable for being the black/red male who isn't 'Peachy Britches' ...he's otherwise pretty average, but 16? There's nothing particularly notable about him. He has a regular, striped tail, unlike our solid-tailed 95 and C2, or the ragged tailed K8 and 58. Perhaps H7 is then the next closest bird to 'normal' that we have since she has no distinguishing features beyond being not-K8.
My non-food Marathon post may have been too soon. Now that the community is overrun with tent caterpillars of some sort, I feel they're missing out on the limelight that the mites got. With last weekend's rain, there are also a few more mosquitoes around, too. Only one snake has been seen in town so far - another Kansas Glossy crossing the road.
Site tidbit: on Sunday (the 15th) we had quite a fascinating visitor at the site, more will be posted about the Mojave Rattlesnake later.
But, on to a falcon update! The falcons are doing well, H7, the female from Group 3 is doing a splendid job of catching her own grasshoppers - she seems to have caught on while watching OK, our only black/red male from the first two groups. OK will sally from a shrub and nab a dragonfly midair, eat it, and grab another... and that will continue for quite a few snacks!
It has been nearly a week since C2, our red/black female - the last female from Group 2 - showed up just to show off that she wasn't hungry. She had skipped 2 days prior to last Friday, and showed up wiping her beak and didn't eat that morning, just in the evening. She must have been pretty full. That said, she has not been seen since. We're pretty confident that she's down the highway scaring the pants off of the little American Kestrels who have just started to show up this month. Ah, migration!
Big news for K8 - when C2 returned, K8 had been MIA for two days. So K8 skipped a total of 7 feedings (3.5 days) before showing up again and has been regular since Sunday. She is looking great, ragged tail and all.
Our most recent Wednesday morning was the first time we did not see a single falcon for the duration of the morning. None even observed in the distance. Everyone who showed up in the evening ate very well, but only five showed up for that. This (Thursday) morning was a bit of a surprise, since we generally put out two quail and have one left over - five birds showed up and only a few stray clumps and "spaghetti" of quail were left. [Ewww.]
So here's the remaining cluster:
H7 (female, group 3)
93 (group 3 - aka 'Peachy Britches')
OK
16
58 (now with his own 'scissor-tailed appearance)
95 (aka 'Leggins' on a good day)
K8 (the female known as 'Kate')
C2 (female, gone for a week now)
Oddly, 16 is a bird who is just plain normal. OK has a slightly pale rump, and is notable for being the black/red male who isn't 'Peachy Britches' ...he's otherwise pretty average, but 16? There's nothing particularly notable about him. He has a regular, striped tail, unlike our solid-tailed 95 and C2, or the ragged tailed K8 and 58. Perhaps H7 is then the next closest bird to 'normal' that we have since she has no distinguishing features beyond being not-K8.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
just roll with it
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
When the horses visit the site, they leave stunning biodiversity in their, er... wake. Generally there are Pearl Crescents, Common Buckeyes and other butterflies to keep us amused. Other times the amusement finds us. The dung beetle pair above spent a good long while rolling in front of the tarp. We were a bit confused about the arrangement until we read in Kaufman's insect guide that the female will ride along or help. Most of the other beetles were buried up to their bums in the dung, but also very photogenic. Perhaps more evidence another day!
When the horses visit the site, they leave stunning biodiversity in their, er... wake. Generally there are Pearl Crescents, Common Buckeyes and other butterflies to keep us amused. Other times the amusement finds us. The dung beetle pair above spent a good long while rolling in front of the tarp. We were a bit confused about the arrangement until we read in Kaufman's insect guide that the female will ride along or help. Most of the other beetles were buried up to their bums in the dung, but also very photogenic. Perhaps more evidence another day!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
everything eats caterpillars
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
I watched this spider make an attempt at a wasp that walked over the hole (repeatedly), but there wasn't much else to report on that - the wasp got away. But the spider had grabbed the caterpillar not 5 minutes sooner, so it's just as well.
(I would post video of the above incident, but in the background you'd hear me rambling on the phone about the camera... and nobody needs to hear that!)
At some point I may try to get photos of a lovely ichneumon wasp on here... yes, it was in the process of dragging away a caterpillar (and down into the hole they went).
I watched this spider make an attempt at a wasp that walked over the hole (repeatedly), but there wasn't much else to report on that - the wasp got away. But the spider had grabbed the caterpillar not 5 minutes sooner, so it's just as well.
(I would post video of the above incident, but in the background you'd hear me rambling on the phone about the camera... and nobody needs to hear that!)
At some point I may try to get photos of a lovely ichneumon wasp on here... yes, it was in the process of dragging away a caterpillar (and down into the hole they went).
Thursday, August 12, 2010
not a meerkat
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
The Mexican Ground Squirrel is an occasional distraction on site -
We never see more than one at a time, and the behavior is always pretty consistent: alert, snacking, and acting like a meerkat. So considering we've got antelope wandering around the site* (ok , fine, just one of them) and a meerkat's stunt double, it feels pretty exotic!
The Mexican Ground Squirrel is an occasional distraction on site -
We never see more than one at a time, and the behavior is always pretty consistent: alert, snacking, and acting like a meerkat. So considering we've got antelope wandering around the site* (ok , fine, just one of them) and a meerkat's stunt double, it feels pretty exotic!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Pronghorn Antelope revisited
Originally posted over at Seetrail; backdated here.
Here's a slightly longer snippet of our guest:
You might notice that he gets passed not one, not two, but three times by our curious little Aplomado friends!
Here's a slightly longer snippet of our guest:
You might notice that he gets passed not one, not two, but three times by our curious little Aplomado friends!
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