Wildlife & Related

[Bailey Guns]

"Free range"...you forgot "free range".

[Mykidsdad]

Approx 400 pound boar in the yard last summer.

[Hummer]

Last evening right after dark we went to look for activity at one of the owl boxes in our yard. Here are some photos I snapped. The first is an adult Western Screech-owl bringing food to young at the nest. It looks like a caterpillar or maybe the chrysalis of a moth or butterfly. The four young were softly calling, begging for food from inside the box. There are two photos of an adult leaving the box after feeding the young. This morning I confirmed there are four owl chicks in the box. The male screech-owl was roosting in another box nearby where starlings had been nesting. I suspect the owls fed the starling chicks to their young.

Then I checked the Barn Owl box where American Kestrels are nesting. Kestrels are the smallest American falcon, and the most common. I snapped a quick shot of the male falcon as he hurtled toward me in a dive when I stood 16 feet up on an orchard ladder. Then I took a brief look inside to find three chicks. Fun stuff.

[TheGrey]

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.

[Bailey Guns]

Nice pics Hummer. That's really cool. I've never been interested in birds until I moved here. There are so many different species it's amazing. This guy seemed to be interested watching me at work:

[Hummer]

Bailey Guns, that's a beautiful shot of a great bird, the California Quail. Keep up the good work. I've seen them in Idaho and California. The scale pattern on their belly and nape is more ornate than our western slope Gambel's Quail. Here's a pic for comparison. There's one calling right outside the door right now. We're able to see them up close when they come to a tray feeder two feet from the dining room window.

People who live in natural wildland areas like your new place have a great opportunity to see and learn about wildlife. It makes for a rich life. Most city folks never know what they're missing.

[buffalobo]

This^^^^^

The minions love seeing and learning about wildlife when they come to visit.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Bailey Guns]

That second pic of the two quail is fantastic.

You're right about living in an area with abundant wildlife. Neither my wife nor I have any desire to live in town.

[Bailey Guns]

Mrs BG spotted this guy today. I had to do some serious acrobatics on the side of hill to get this. I had to climb to a pretty precarious position to get the angle for the photo because he was positioned behind the pine needles and couldn't be clearly seen from any other vantage point. I was about 100 feet away and he was still pretty pissed that I was stalking him. I have to say I love this new camera. It's the best look we've had yet of one of the Great Horned Owls that live on our property:

[Irving]

Nice shots!