Mixed Sightings

[yourlibrarian]

We had a bunch of muskrat sightings over the summer. There has been a mating pair in our lake and they are still active as we can usually see one floating in the water most days.





Every once in a while we'll also see one climbing out of the lake to nosh on some grass.



We also recently saw a hawk at work catching dinner.





It also seemed to be unconcerned with us as during another walk it stayed on the fence post and watched us go by just a few feet away.





It's now getting light late enough that I'm able to catch sunrises as they happen. First up, a recent day starts and at the bottom a lone duck is on the lake at sunset.





Lastly, given our warm temperatures the trees held out until the last 10 days or so and then all moved into autumn colors. It was a bit quick and the high winds have denuded many of them already but at least we got some nice views for a few days.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Such a great bunch of pics!

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks!

[pauraque]

Cool! I've never seen a muskrat before, though we're supposed to have them here.

[yourlibrarian]

I had never seen one before the current crew moved in about 10-12 years ago here. Apparently we're a good place to be though!

[shirebound]

I've never seen a muskrat before!

[yourlibrarian]

They seem very beaverlike to me, and spend a lot of time just drifting in the water, then diving.

[full_metal_ox]

Wow—the hawk (a redtail?) sure accommodated you by posing so obligingly, and you seized the moment!

[yourlibrarian]

I believe it's a Cooper's hawk, but yes it was definitely surprising!

[kaishin108]

Beautiful photos!

[yourlibrarian]

Glad you enjoyed them!

[adafrog]

Cool, thanks.

[yourlibrarian]

You're welcome!

[marycatelli]

Saw a muskrat once. Took me a while to figure it out, because we have quite a number of woodchucks, and the visible difference is the swimming.

[yourlibrarian]

We do have groundhogs here too, but they're bigger, lighter in color (though given the muskrats are always wet it may make their fur look darker) and, as you said, don't swim 🙂

[full_metal_ox]

That, and groundhogs’ tails are considerably shorter.

(A good place to observe groundhogs in the Dayton, Ohio area is, believe it or not, the grounds of the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: you’ve got vast expanses of lawn with restricted human and canine access.)

[yourlibrarian]

Yes definitely.

[marycatelli]

The one I saw kept its tail in the water.

[ribirdnerd]

Oh yeah they're great swimmers!

[scintilla10]

Great shots, wow! Love the muskrats and the perfectly positioned hawk.

[yourlibrarian]

The muskrat is about pretty much every day (though not often out of the water). I'm almost as surprised we had multiple sightings of the hawk so close together as that it wasn't scared off. But perhaps the local population is growing. We've certainly seen them a lot more often in the last 3 years.

[full_metal_ox]

Remember: it was we who moved into their neighborhood.

[sparowe]

Such a view of the hawk!! :D

[yourlibrarian]

It's amazing it didn't fly off!

[turlough]

Wonderful photos! Love the busy muskrats and the very cool hawk.

[yourlibrarian]

Glad you enjoyed them!