common_nature | Entries tagged with behaviour

We have a pair of Northern Cardinals nesting in our yard, and today I saw dad with a fledgling!

crested red songbird and small tan fledgling sit on the ground eating seeds

crested red songbird and small tan fledgling sit on the ground eating seeds

The fledgling was begging for food by fluttering its wings, a common signal in many baby birds. Dad was attentively finding seeds and stuffing them in Junior's mouth. The baby already has a little bit of a crest and some red on the wings, but it's too early to tell the sex. Mom wasn't with them but I saw her on the feeder later in the day.

( Mom cardinal )

full_metal_ox

Taken on 1 May 2026 at 22:25 Eastern US Daylight Time over the parking lot joining Winn-Dixie and a local hotel, the latter outlined by its lights.

Once again, the photo doesn’t reflect what my corrective-lensed eyes actually saw—a serenely luminous disc the pale yellow of Muenster cheese—but the image is stark and dramatic. The lens flare on my cheap-ass burner phone made it resemble a black star sapphire (or, to read the image as suitably floral and local, a spider lily):

(I wasn’t the only one prowling this clear moonlit tropical night in search of food; two of the Burrowing Owls at my apartment complex were out hunting on the side lawn, as a third stood perched at the nest; this represents a full year of continuous occupancy and breeding, reflecting how safe they must feel here. They squawked at my approach, but did not hiss.)

Current Music: “Witches’ Song”.

yourlibrarian

My partner was out for a walk given the unusually warm weather we've been having. He texted me excitedly that he thought the swan might be back. (Some of you may remember we got a weeklong visit from one last year).

Then as he came closer he realized the swan seemed unmoving and stiff...

( Read more... )

full_metal_ox

https://visdeurbel.nl/en/

The Fish Doorbell in Utrecht in the Netherlands is an interactive online Citizen Science tool, explained in this post from last year: https://common-nature.dreamwidth.org/281642.html

merrileemakes

In my last posts I described the start and progression of my tadpole adventures. Here's the next instalment.

As soon as the tadpoles started growing legs they changed rapidly. Within days the kinda dopey goldfish behaviour, like nibbling around the surface of the water, disappeared, they became very elusive and shy. Almost like as soon as they started thinking about being predators they realised they were also prey. It was a bit sad, because I really enjoyed watching them, but also necessary for them to become wild frogs. I was glad that I hadn't spoiled them for life on their own.
( Read more... )

merrileemakes

common_nature,

stonpicnicking_okapi shared their love of this comm as part of February Love Fest and inspired me to join. :)

I have been experiencing nature up close and personal thanks to some frogs. At the end of November, following a rain storm, my Partner and I could hear a frog in our tiny, ornamental garden pond/water feature. We're always so thrilled when this happens!

The next morning when I walked past the pond I saw a pile of bubbles and thought that was cool. The male frog has been making a bubble nest, like a betta fish, pining for a female to come join him (spoiler: I don't know much about frogs).

The next day I went to clean the pond (a bi-weekly feat during summer) and noticed that only only had the bubbles persisted, but some of them had developed little black dots. Oh my god, they're not bubbles they're eggs!
( Life, uh, finds a way )

full_metal_ox

https://visdeurbel.nl/en/

The Fish Doorbell in Utrecht in the Netherlands is an interactive online Citizen Science tool:

The Fish Doorbell is an initiative of the municipality of Utrecht, Hoogheemraadschap De Stichtse Rijnlanden (HDSR), and Mark van Heukelum of Dutch Wallfish. The municipality of Utrecht and HDSR manage and maintain the water quality in the Vecht, Kromme Rijn, and Utrecht’s canals.

Every spring, thousands of fish swim through the Oudegracht in Utrecht, searching for a place upstream to lay their eggs. But the Weerdsluis is often closed. You can help the fish continue their journey! If you see a fish, press the doorbell. This alerts the lock operator to open the lock.

Pressing the doorbell button also snaps a picture of whatever’s in the live camera field, helping the researchers record fish species and numbers.

The time displayed is Central European Time (UTC +1) until March 30, when Central European Savings Time (UTC+2) begins; the Fish Doorbell will continue through mid-May.

ysabetwordsmith

I wrote this about today's cicada hatch. It fills the "chase" square in my 5-1-24 card for the Superhero Bingo Fest. It has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: excited

ysabetwordsmith

Cicadas are hatching! I've seen a few hatch earlier, but this morning after the rain there are lots of them. The biggest concentration is around the forest garden and edges of the patio. :D These are red-eyed cicadas, technically periodical cicadas. Their carapaces are almost hard, their wings fully extended but still too soft to fly. It's a feast for everything that eats insects. Humans can eat them too. (I'm not planning to try that.) Usually what we get here are various types of the larger green cicadas, like the dog-day cicadas.

For maximum birdwatching benefits, keep an eye out on mornings after a rain. Once the nymphs shed their shells, they are soft and vulnerable. Many birds eagerly feast on them.

See also the poem "The Flying Jewels of Spring."

( Read more... )

Current Mood: excited

ysabetwordsmith

These are more pictures from April 13 that I didn't have time to post then.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: accomplished

ysabetwordsmith

Today we drove down to Toledo and Greenup to view the eclipse where totality would last a couple of minutes. We had a nice drive down.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: excited

nanila

Yellow wagtail standing on the wing mirror of an old blue Toyota Yaris.

This is how we know spring has finally arrived. This yellow wagtail - I assume it's the same one - arrives every year to use our house as the stage for his mating dances. One year he spent his time prancing on the windowsill of my husband's office. Another year it was my office window. This year, he's decided that the best place to show off is the wing mirror and passenger door of our second car. He has also produced a prodigious quantity of poop to festoon the mirror's casing but it seems pointless to wash it until his ritual has paid off!

( Three more poses )

nanila

It's a phone photo but that's all we had with us when a flock of energetic long tailed tits descended on our parked car and started pecking at the windows. Youngest and I were startled and delighted!

nanila

Eldest and I were just finishing a walk on the towpath when we spotted a pair of swans doing a slow dance in the section of canal next to our house.

We watched them for a while and then it appeared they were finished, so we put the camera down and moved closer. We were a little shocked when the male jumped on top of the female, hence why some of the photos under the cut are a little blurry, as above!
( +12 )

nanila

Seagulls: "Hr-RMM."
Wood Pigeon: "...Wot?"

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: oh I do like to be beside the seaside

nanila

Some people might call this "failing to mow the lawn properly". I like to call it "ensuring the local finch population has an adequate supply of thistle seed so I can take nice photos from just inside the back door".

nanila

I thought the community might like to know the conclusion to the Saga of the Visiting Racing Pigeon in Worcestershire, UK.

Pigeon stayed with us and roosted on our roof for about a week, drinking from our pond and nibbling around the base of the seed feeder. We finally managed to read the full code on the ring around its leg, and phoned up the Racing Pigeon Society. They put us in touch with a very excitable gentleman from Norfolk who told us that Pigeon had been part of the Terrible Racing Pigeon Loss Event in Peterborough, during which thousands of birds mysteriously failed to return after being released for a race.

Said gentleman asked us to continue feeding Pigeon, and allowing it to roost, which of course we did. Two days ago, it vanished as abruptly as it had arrived.

Tonight, we received a phone call from the same gentleman. Pigeon has flown home! Apparently it arrived around the same time as another of his birds, which had ended up in Sussex, so he's hopeful of recovering at least some of his losses. He sounded delighted, and he thanked us for looking after Pigeon.

nanila

We came across these mating brown argus butterflies with their furry butts smooshed together on our daily walk across the fields in Norfolk, UK. They seemed quite peaceful until...

Mating brown argus butterflies - with interloper!

...someone came along and tried to make it a threesome! The advances were firmly rebuffed.

nanila

I'm currently in a new part of rural Worcestershire, UK, which happens to host a large population of marbled white butterflies. I've seen many a cabbage white, but these are new to me, and it's thrilling to see so many hovering above the grasslands.

This particular butterfly zoomed into the front porch this afternoon and straight into a spider web. I got to it before the spider did (sorry, spider) and carried it back outside. It sat on my finger for a while, which puzzled both of us, until I worked out that it still had its feet entangled in silk. I managed to disentangle it without causing any damage. It flew away, not very far, and spent some time cleaning its feet and legs with its proboscis before setting off back to the fields.

nanila

I'm no raptor expert so I'm not sure if I've identified this one correctly, but I think this is a Cooper's hawk. Observed hunting over the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge in Washington state, USA, today.

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Common Nature

wonder and joy and mystery in everyday things

Entries tagged with behaviour

Northern Cardinal parents and baby

May Day Full Flower Moon.

Mixed Media

The Utrecht Fish Doorbell is back up for the season!

More frog

From little things big things grow

The Dutch Fish Doorbell is live for the season.

Poem: "The Flying Jewels of Spring"

Photos: Cicadas

Photos: Spiders and Vulture

Eclipse Pictures

Yellow wagtail

Birb?!

Mating swans

One of these things is not like the others

Goldfinch and thistle seed

Racing pigeon update

Mating brown argus butterflies

Marbled white butterfly

Cooper's hawk in flight

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June 2026

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