# Wildlife Updates



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

The construction project that put our local eagle nest in jeopardy has been delayed indefinitely while stae conservation folks study the environmental impact, so hopefully they will find in favor of the eagles. In the meantime this year's triplets are in the process of fledging. They have been flapping in the nest and are now strong enough to take short flights to other branches near the nest and now to nearby trees. They still return to the nest off and on throughout the day and for nights. We are all really happy to see that these youngsters are doing so well.

Closer to home, we heard an owl in a large leyland cypress on Saturday evening. I didn't hear it last night, but will keep checking for evidence that it is hanging around. I would be happy to have it stay since there is a groundwater recharge basin near us that has many owl dinner critters that I would prefer not to have checking around my yard.

The thrd update is one of a bit of anoyance. Last Friday a friend brought me a pot with three small sunflower plants. I put the pot on my rain garden berm where I planned to plant them. When I went out today I found someone (probably a rabbit) had chewed the apical meristems off of all of them. I don't think they will be viable. Ack.

What nature stories do you all have?


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

On Friday, I was on the phone and heard mockingbirds in the front making a fuss. I finally spied at my eye-level (2nd story), the offensive critter, a broad-winged hawk, I believe. This is the best pic I got.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

This is the view I had until I went around to the other side of my desk.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

If the rabbits don’t get your tender new plants, then the deer do. I’ve had deer eat trees that were guaranteed “deer-proof”.

Not recently, about 10 years ago early in the morning I spotted a white snowy owl and it’s baby across the street. I had never seen such a huge owl. Gorgeous bird. I think it must have been teaching it’s baby to hunt?


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## Pavie (May 4, 2021)

I often see squirrels carry a bunch of burrito skins or pita breads when I walk around campus with Pavie










On our walk with @Liz and Mia, we saw a deer and then a rabbit


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

@Pavie Mia met a deer this morning who wasn't afraid of her. Mia skulked at her, the deer stood her ground, and Mia, confused, decided to catch up with me instead.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Most recent sightings

My front yard 6 1 22 





My backyard neighbors 3 2 22 Barred Owl


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

We don't have deer in my immediate area. The parks in my neighborhood are very small and don't have much cover. Also the distance between the larger parks wouldn't lead to them snacking while passing through since they don't pass through. I also don't plant tulips and other things that squirrels and such that squirrels and others would eat. I've grown sunflowers before with no critter consumption other than birds eating the ripe sees.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I had some sunflowers sprout out of the seed scattered from the bird feeder. I carefully positioned a lawn chair over them to keep the dogs from trampling them while I waited to see if they would survive long enough to be worth staking. Nope. They got a bunny visitor. CHOMP.


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## beowoof (Dec 6, 2021)

the groundhogs have been teasing Kirby on his morning walks mercilessly. we also saw a turkey vulture crossing the road, which always surprises me despite knowing they're fairly common in the area.


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

Last summer I had this fawn in my front yard, these were taken thru my front window. I watched for quite a while, no doe ever showed up and finally he wandered off into the neighbors yard. There are woods right across the street, but you don't expect a fawn to be out without Mom. Always wondered what happened there.


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## Jkpoodle (Dec 14, 2021)

5 Cooper Hawks circling above 3 four-week-old puppies... As well as 2 crows in the trees above. Multiple chipmunks that drive Ginger crazy. They have burrows underneath our back porch and we have a game of poke-the-chipmunk-with-a-stick and she loves it. Seeing how concentrated she is with rodents, I think she would do really well in Barn Hunts. We have an over-population of deer too.


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

We had a black bear for a few weeks. It had the neighbors in an uproar - either hiding inside to avoid it or going out to get a picture. Wildlife Management took pity on the poor thing and relocated it.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My dad used to run a 50isn acre salt marsh preserve on the south shore of Long Island. Suburban development marked its northern boundary. Many of the local families were not very nature savvy and they called every year about the hawks and vultures in the tree next to their front or back door. The problem was always that these horrible birds of prey were trying to kill them or their pets by swooping at them. Can you guess what kind of bird these scary things really were? Once someone gives the right answer I will tell you what dad and his coworkers told them to do.


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

Crows?


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

lily cd re said:


> Can you guess what kind of bird these scary things really were? Once someone gives the right answer I will tell you what dad and his coworkers told them to do.


It's going to be something completely banal, like a cardinal. I've certainly be squawked at (harrassed! menaced! terrorized!) by mama and papa cardinal, when they've nested too close to my door.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Nope and nope, not crows nor cardinals. Keep guessing. I am going out to train a puppy, so you have some time.


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## Jkpoodle (Dec 14, 2021)

Wrens, Robins, Mockingbirds, or maybe a Grackle? Grackles have attacked me multiple times for getting too close.


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

Mockingbirds are feisty. Guess I'm switching my vote from crow to mockingbird.

Last week I was dive-bombed by our barn swallow tenants when Normie and I ventured too close to their duplex.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Seagull? Tern?


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

In my area it would be mockingbirds. They’re so territorial and fearless! Blue jays and cardinals will also swoop down if there is a nest nearby. Using saltmarsh as a clue, I will guess kingfisher. They look a bit different…


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

If it was my neighborhood, I'd bet on bluejays. They don't usually bother people or pets but I can see them defending territory. 

The bluejays are our Early Warning System for circling hawks. As the hawks move over the area you can hear the vocal handoffs a la 101 Dalmations. I've also watched the jays dive at hawks in small groups of twos and threes to chase them off. They're vocal, scrappy, and generally seem irritated at a lot of things .


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## beowoof (Dec 6, 2021)

hmm... marsh birds, maybe a heron or an egret?

if i were to guess in my neck of the woods, i'd half jokingly say canadian geese. i still remember getting emails from my university to not disturb their nests on campus and seeing a group of first years be chased into their dorms by a particularly unfriendly one. 😂


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

Canada geese are proof that not all Canadians are polite. They rule our local parks here in Tennessee.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Seagulls?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Mockingbirds were the culprits! The people who lived in the area were mostly not too savvy about wildlife, hence the big mistake about the dive bombers. My dad and coworkers would tell them to tie a white rag to a broom handle and wave it around to dissuade the birds. When asked how long they would need to do so, they were always told that the bird would stop when its babies fledged.


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## Miki (Dec 25, 2021)

Bluejays.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Nope correct guesses of mockingbirds have already been made. Look one post up from yours if you want to see what the recommendation was on how to deal with them.


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## Kukla the Tpoo (11 mo ago)

I'm late to this post, but as soon as I read your question:


lily cd re said:


> Can you guess what kind of bird these scary things really were?


I immediately thought mocking birds. My parents (long deceased) used to live in a house with 3 gingko trees on one side of the driveway. One year a mockingbird had a nest in one of those trees. My parents quickly learned that it was best not to park their car in the driveway while the nest was active otherwise that bird would dive bomb them when they were entering or exiting the car.


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## Pavie (May 4, 2021)

More *squirrels*!!!!!!!!

(and an unleashed dog )


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

That was a very good unleashed dog!


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## Footprints&pawmarks (Mar 8, 2021)

Count me in under mockingbirds. I used to work for an engineering firm that had a secretary with a blonde hairdo that looked like Marge Simpson's. She was always terrified that the mockingbirds would "get their feet caught" in her hair. 

But, it would be funnier if it were hummingbirds!


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Elroy a l went for a nice walk on the trails at Northwest Park today. Once we get in the woods on the trails he gets to go off leash. Well today we spooked a deer and Elroy started after him. About 5 seconds later he stopped and watched the deer bound away into the woods. I'm not sure if just realized it was futile, or if he stopped when he got too far away from me. I like to believe it's the latter 😁. Either way, he was a very good dog! He promptly came back to me when called and received his yummy treat! No pictures of the deer, but here's a couple from the woods.


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## Cariboo Poodle (Nov 17, 2021)

Our area is over-run with deer as no hunting allowed and they are just starting to have their fawns. The mother deer get quite nasty protecting their young and will put the run on any dog, big or small, and even humans. I have one that usually has twins, that comes down alongside the high fence on my kennel run and races up and down teasing the dogs. It has been doing this for the past few years so think it must be the same one.


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## saaanderud_9652 (Nov 27, 2021)

Rose n Poos said:


> Most recent sightings
> 
> My front yard 6 1 22
> 
> ...


So beautiful! And such a great shot.


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## BBVidya (6 mo ago)

We have a lot of barred owls that I can get to hoot back to me in the evening or night, also red shouldered hawks nest just around the block, and sometimes a shrunk or opossum pass through. My poor old terriers would corner one that would play dead; if I touched it with a broom I could feel it stiffen so as to seem “more dead”. When we went inside, in 15 minutes it was gone.
The Morning is full of birdsong, including cocky mockingbirds, of course. 
Chameleon, geckos, garden snakesetc


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

Found a family of turkeys in my fenced in yard a couple of days ago, ma pa and five or six three quarters grown chicks. Heard "peep peep PEEP" and found one youngster who had been left out because he couldn't figure out how to get over the fence. Ma and Pa turkey were totally ignoring him.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Every time I see this, I hope lily has come back. 😢


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