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full_metal_oxTaken last year, this is pictorial tax for my previous post; this little guy was one of a family headquartered in a vacant lot along one of my habitual shopping routes.
Note the ropes cordoning the space off, as well as the designated perch set up for the owls. In the upper background, across the path, is another staked-off owl nesting site; unusually for birds of prey, Burrowing Owls are social animals who sometimes form communities of multiple families.
(If I’ve slipped into Earnest School Essay Mode, it’s because this is stuff I myself am very much newly learning.)
Note the ropes cordoning the space off, as well as the designated perch set up for the owls. In the upper background, across the path, is another staked-off owl nesting site; unusually for birds of prey, Burrowing Owls are social animals who sometimes form communities of multiple families.
(If I’ve slipped into Earnest School Essay Mode, it’s because this is stuff I myself am very much newly learning.)
New neighbors!
May. 26th, 2025 12:54 pmfull_metal_oxLizards have been somewhat fewer in the apartment complex than last year, and the other night I learned a possible reason: a Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) couple have set up housekeeping on the back lawn next door! (No pictorial tax as yet: their nest, less than five feet from the curb, overlooks a back alley heavily travelled by garbage, service, and delivery vehicles as well as human cyclists and pedestrians—meaning that they’re probably experiencing botherance enough without amateur paparazzi. (1)
Burrowing Owls are regarded as local mascots and rigorously protected here; standard procedure upon discovering an inhabited burrow is to erect a little designated perch for the owls and cordon it off, crime-scene style, halting any human construction until the young have left the nest.
(1) Rule of thumb is that if the owls are reacting to your presence, you’re too close; the risk of attracting gawkers is one reason that doxxing Burrowing Owls nesting on private property is frowned upon around here. Schools, museums, and other such facilities, however, will encourage on-site nesting, observable by remote cam.
I’m finding varying accounts of how capable they are of digging their own burrows, but certainly the owls prefer the convenience of found housing when they can get it, not only taking over burrows constructed by other animals but occupying such human artifacts as PVC pipes; it’s quite possible to build artificial burrows to attract them.
Burrowing Owls are regarded as local mascots and rigorously protected here; standard procedure upon discovering an inhabited burrow is to erect a little designated perch for the owls and cordon it off, crime-scene style, halting any human construction until the young have left the nest.
(1) Rule of thumb is that if the owls are reacting to your presence, you’re too close; the risk of attracting gawkers is one reason that doxxing Burrowing Owls nesting on private property is frowned upon around here. Schools, museums, and other such facilities, however, will encourage on-site nesting, observable by remote cam.
I’m finding varying accounts of how capable they are of digging their own burrows, but certainly the owls prefer the convenience of found housing when they can get it, not only taking over burrows constructed by other animals but occupying such human artifacts as PVC pipes; it’s quite possible to build artificial burrows to attract them.
Bunny caught in passing on the lawn.
Apr. 20th, 2025 03:31 pmfull_metal_oxTaken on 16 July 2023 at 19:27 US Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
Bunnies are of course going to favor weedy green lawns over elegant stone yards punctuated with waxy sculptural ornamentals. This one looks like an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus); Marsh Rabbits (S. palustris) (1), tend to have shorter ears, and my neighborhood strikes me as a bit too far from the water to attract them during the dry season.
It’s on alert, reacting sensibly to the arrival of a member of the deadliest of the Thousand, and so this was the only shot I was able to get before it went PATWINNNG! under the seagrape bed (the round-leaved shrub at center right, bordered by white river rocks.)
(1) Today I Learned the scientific name of the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvilagus_palustris_hefneri
Yes; that Hugh Hefner funded endangered rabbit research, and was commemorated accordingly.
Bunnies are of course going to favor weedy green lawns over elegant stone yards punctuated with waxy sculptural ornamentals. This one looks like an Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus); Marsh Rabbits (S. palustris) (1), tend to have shorter ears, and my neighborhood strikes me as a bit too far from the water to attract them during the dry season.
It’s on alert, reacting sensibly to the arrival of a member of the deadliest of the Thousand, and so this was the only shot I was able to get before it went PATWINNNG! under the seagrape bed (the round-leaved shrub at center right, bordered by white river rocks.)
(1) Today I Learned the scientific name of the Lower Keys Marsh Rabbit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvilagus_palustris_hefneri
Yes; that Hugh Hefner funded endangered rabbit research, and was commemorated accordingly.
(Palm?) stump with black shelf fungi.
Mar. 5th, 2025 01:20 pmfull_metal_oxTaken 4 March 2025 at 16:42 Eastern Standard Time, in the alley behind my apartment complex in full daylight. The adjacent utility pole (a sliver of the line is visible in the upper left corner) is probably the reason the tree was felled.
This one is a study in complex crunchy textures and value and hue variations of grey and gray. (Though extremely muted, it’s not achromatic, being mottled with the faintest tinges of yellow, brown, and green:
This one is a study in complex crunchy textures and value and hue variations of grey and gray. (Though extremely muted, it’s not achromatic, being mottled with the faintest tinges of yellow, brown, and green:
Photos: Midwinter Grove
Jan. 8th, 2025 11:29 pmysabetwordsmithThe sun came out, so now the snow sparkles and much wildlife sign is visible. This set of pictures shows the north end of the house yard, driveway, and Midwinter Grove. Cottontail rabbits like this area, as shown by their tracks. (See also House Yard, Savanna, and Back Toward the House.)
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Photos: Hollies Planted
Dec. 21st, 2024 09:51 pmysabetwordsmithFor our Yule ritual this year, we planted our new hollies in the Midwinter Grove.
( Walk with me ... )
( Walk with me ... )
Poem: "The Flying Jewels of Spring"
May. 14th, 2024 11:51 pmysabetwordsmithI 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... )
( Read more... )
Photos: Cicadas
May. 14th, 2024 11:36 pmysabetwordsmithCicadas 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... )
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... )
An American lady
May. 12th, 2024 11:37 amblackcatofmiseryI love spring, because garden centers open, and that means pollinators. I saw a butterfly going about in a greenhouse and finally tracked it down—taking a picture every couple of seconds, so I looked like a creep, I'm sure—on a hanging planter. I believe it's an American lady (Vanessa virginiensis), judging by the two eyespots and bit of pink.
( Photos beneath the cut. )
( Photos beneath the cut. )
ysabetwordsmithA floodle is a giant puddle that forms in a low spot on relatively flat land. In some areas, they may only last a few hours or days, but in others they can last for weeks or even months. It depends on the soil composition, water table, and whether or not more rain falls. They can be natural, or because of human foolishness.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
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Photos: Flowerbeds
Mar. 24th, 2024 11:52 pmysabetwordsmithI took pictures around the yard today. These are from the flowerbeds and house yard.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
A Katydid, aka Bush-cricket
Sep. 24th, 2023 09:51 amblackcatofmisery
My brother was cleaning cars last night and came in the show me something. I immediately assumed a weird big, and I was right!
At first, I didn't see it, but a big ol' green big, about 7cm, was clinging to the center console of our mom's car. My big brother wanted me to remove it. No idea what he'd've done himself, but I got her out, and she didn't want to leave my arm. 💀
I'm glad to know we have these critters, though, because it could maybe explain some noises I've heard outside. I didn't expect her to be so big, though! I'm relatively okay with six legs and less, but the size of this bug had the hairs on my arm standing up. (She also wanted to play parrot on my shoulder. I'm not yet so willing.)
But my brother and I agree that he'll take care of spiders and stingy, stripey things; I'll catch other six-legs-and-less ones.
Fun fact: Katydids are believed to being good fortune! (Not necessarily financial.)
blackcatofmiseryI left the house today. One of my stops was a store with nicer plants than most garden stores I've been to, and there were dozens of various bees. (I wish I'd gotten a photo of the honey bees on the same onion.)
blackcatofmiseryAlthough I am very allergic to bug bites, I will follow neat bugs to try and get decent photos on my phone. Right now, the oregano is in bloom, attracting lots of pollinators (and unsavory types such as hornets and wasps).
blackcatofmisery
There's a family of groundhogs/woodchucks living under the wooden plank path in my aunt's backyard. Mom has two babies, who are nearly grown. I figure they'll move on once they're ready. They eat the plentiful burdock, so my aunt's not complaining too much. (First thing I did after setting my stuff down was go out to see if I could see them, and the mom had her chin on the plank while lying in a hole made from the planks shifting due to large roots.)
The benefit of groundhogs is ground aeration, if their burrows stay open.
