Wildlife & Related

[Snowman78]

+1 ^

[sniper7]

Nice set of hooters

[Great-Kazoo]

We had a kestrel nest in the rain gutter of the town house we rented when we lived in Aurora, about four feet to the left of our window. There was so much noise from the nest that I thought for sure there had to be at least four chicks, so imagine my surprise when I was finally able to see that there was only one rambunctious baby! I called him 'Legion' and enjoyed watching him grow up into an adult.

Those of you that have access to owl pellets may be interested to know there is a market for these items. Many high schools and colleges dissect them i biology class, and there is also a niche market for jewelry (mostly earrings) made from the delicate skeletal remains. You'd need to sterilize them first (and that consists of wrapping the pellet in heavy aluminum foil, and placing them in a 325 degree pre-heated oven for 40 minutes, to kill any E. Coli bacteria. If you look on eBay, you'll see that sterilized owl pellets go for $2.00+ each.

1 or 2 owls around here have decided to use one of our gutters as their litter box. Every so often, the spouse pulls a rodent skeleton out of it. Lady down the street took them to her students.

[buffalobo]

This guy moved into the neighborhood a few days ago. Finally got to meet him this morning.



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[ray1970]

Hard to tell from the picture. Is that a badger?

[buffalobo]

Yep, good looking beast too. He was laying on top of spoil getting a tan when I passed him. Stopped and back up to try pic. Was surprised he stuck his head up after jumping down from spoil.

They usually don't stick around for pics.

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[Hummer]

Bailey Guns, those are beautiful images of the Great Horned! As you probably know it's a juvenile (hasn't got it's horns on yet).

Badgers are neat critters. I don't see them often. One time I was able to call one to me by mimicking a squeaking mouse or bird. We had one on our farm a few years ago. I think it was working the small prairie dog colony on the property. Pdog numbers crashed about that time.


Here's my contribution today, a recently fledged Northern Saw-whet Owl. It was rescued from an attacking raven by a fellow who brought it in to the office. I determined it was okay and we took him back to the mountains to release him in the same location. The young might make it on his own but would do better reunited with his parents who will continue to feed it for month or so.

[Bailey Guns]

As you probably know it's a juvenile (hasn't got it's horns on yet).

Didn't know for sure but suspected. Yesterday the two adults and one of the juveniles were hanging out in a ponderosa near the house right around dark. Not sure what they were doing but they were talking up a storm. One of them yacked up a fresh pellet which we quickly retrieved from the ground after they left. I never thought I'd be digging thru the grass after dark looking for bird vomit.

Love the badger, too. I've seen one in the area...playing chicken with me on the road. He really didn't want to move. I hope he wised up a bit or his life expectancy will be short.

[Bailey Guns]

Walking down to water the garden I surprised this guy. He was ready to tangle with me and my Terrier. Needless to say the dog wanted a piece of the owl, too. Getting the pictures while trying to control the dog was a little tricky. We backed off and everyone calmed down. The GHO waited long enough to make sure we weren't a threat and flew up into a nearby tree. It's one of the juveniles...I think the one I got the pics of several days ago. I'm guessing he's about 1.5 times as tall as one of the railroad ties he's perched on. Wingspan is probably around 2', maybe a little more.

[Hummer]

Great little bird, BG! You don't need (or want) barn cats when you have resident owls. They'll take mice, pack rats, skunks and other unwanted pests including feral cats.



Here's an adult Swainson's Hawk I caught today. It has a wing injury and is unable to fly. I had to chase him down and he almost outran me. This species migrates to South America for winter, often in large groups of Swainson's. He's probably been to Argentina and back at least once. With luck the vet will be able to repair the wing. It's a beautiful bird!