Your day's wildlife

[subaqua]

is it a wild turkey

 

[Gravity Aided]

On my ride this afternoon, I saw a grey fox about 500-600 feet away.

 

[vernon]

is it a wild turkey

Yep, wild but fed by the locals. Guess a small investment in corn reaps dividends come Thanksgiving Day.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Corn's up to about 3 feet here in the Midwest, I might add, @vernon . I'm stopping at every road junction by this point, as I can't see cars, and they can't see me. But, on the plus side, wildlife sightings are up.

 

[Hugh Manatee]

A bit of a first. Cruising along on today's ride when I see something struggling across the road in front of me. It was a mole! The poor critter didn't look happy at all on the hot tarmac and couldn't make up it's mind which way to go. I have had a bit of a soft spot for moles ever since I read the Duncton Wood series of books, so, I took my gloves off and used them to sort of grab the little gentleman in a velvet coat.

He wasn't happy. I could feel his claws raking the gloves and when I went to put him on the ground he was hanging by his teeth! He wasn't going to go with out a fight! Once on the ground he very quickly was under it!

 

[coffeejo]

Saw "my" sparrowhawk this morning as I was brushing my teeth. Happened to look up just as she landed on the fence, though she didn't hang around for long as the birds had seen her coming.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Great Blue Heron on my way to lunch. Currently eating in diner in Normal.

 

[coffeejo]

The sparrowhawk's just been back and I now know where she hides before launching herself into the busy avian airspace known as my garden.

 

[summerdays]

I keep herring this bird each evening who seems to repeatedly say "why" any idea what it is..... Managed to get a photo yesterday though against the light

Well I think it's the one repeatedly saying why! Or is it just a sparrow?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Wrong bill for a sparrow @summerdays. Try for a better pic if you can. I don't normally identify birds by looking up their *rse

Maybe a Dunnock????? But they don't say "why" to me

 

[Bazzer]

This morning a pheasant idling it's way across one of the roads on my commute. Trying to look nonchalent until it realised I wasn't going to change from my side of the road, then a hasty take off and clumsy landing in an adjoining cereal crop.

 

[Poacher]

I keep herring this bird each evening who seems to repeatedly say "why" any idea what it is..... Managed to get a photo yesterday though against the light View attachment 94232
Well I think it's the one repeatedly saying why! Or is it just a sparrow?

Wrong bill for a sparrow @summerdays. Try for a better pic if you can. I don't normally identify birds by looking up their *rse

Maybe a Dunnock????? But they don't say "why" to me

General colouration, leg colour, beak colour and shape, and streaking on flanks make it a Dunnock for me, but as @twentysix by twentyfive says, the call doesn't sound right. To my ear, ones that say "why", or more like a "huitt" with a rising note at the end, include Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler - but it doesn't look like either of these.
Good job too, 'cos they're quite tricky to tell apart either by appearance or call. There's a useful website called xeno-canto for bird sound recordings; look at call for:
Dunnock, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. Try playing several of each of these, preferably ones recorded in the UK, and see if one hits the mark.

 

[Poacher]

Great Blue Heron on my way to lunch. Currently eating in diner in Normal.

Great Scott! I'd expect it to find its food in a local watercourse or damp meadow! Is this normal in Normal? (Sorry, I think I've done this one before, but couldn't resist.)

 

[Gravity Aided]

Yes,herons are quite erudite here,but I've heard it said they are terrible tippers. No one really wants a frog as a gratuity.

 

[Poacher]

Yes,herons are quite erudite here,but I've heard it said they are terrible tippers. No one really wants a frog as a gratuity.

Funny you should mention frogs.... I bought a new pond pump at the weekend and cleared some of the accumulated debris from my neglected little watercourse:

The debris was left to drain overnight in the riddle you can just see in the lower left-hand corner. Of course, our ever-helpful Blackbird emptied much of it straight back into the small holding pond, so I had to scoop it out again (by hand). I don't know who was more surprised, me or the frog, when I scooped him out as well. I certainly jumped as far as he did!