Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Wyvern Oaks Wildlife

I was flipping through my phone the other day and found some random pics I've taken of critters we have residing with us. It's one of the things I love most about this place - the critters change with the seasons and there's always something new. The quiet hour around dawn is the best time to see critters, although sometimes you can catch deer and rabbits near dusk.

This cute little nuthatch flew into the house one morning when I left the doors open to catch the dawn breeze. It took me a while to catch her - she was so small she went right through the holes in our bird net! I returned her safely outside with the rest of the flock that visits our garden every morning for a drink.

A great-horned owl that likes to hang out in our neighbor's snag at dawn. She's one of a pair that nest in another neighbor's oak tree down the street. We also have a pair of red-shouldered hawks and a pair of Caracaras that should arrive for nesting within the next week or two, and the tree ducks arrive in January.

Our two resident rat snakes - and an ex rat nest between them (they had apparently eaten the inhabitants). 

Dawn mist in the greenbelt (no critters in this pic - that I know of)

Mr and Ms Toad. This pair of Gulf Coast toads hide under the barn foundation during the day, but emerge at dusk to spend the night hunting bugs. The big one (on the right) is larger than my hand!






Dawn over the back pasture.

If you squint really hard, there's a deer in the exact middle of the frame. Promise!

Eastern yellow-bellied racer

Do you get critters out at your barn?

24 comments:

  1. I could have really used one of those snakes (just typed snacks.. I could use a snack too) in october!

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  2. Cute! And yay for rat snakes. We used to have a black snake that hung out in our barn. We loved that she took care of our hay and grain. :)

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    1. We love our rat snakes! And our cats too, although I think they may be less useful.

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    2. Ha, yeah... Sometimes, barn cats get a little too "comfy" and less "helpful". ;-)

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  3. My previous barn had a lot more exotic wildlife activity. We had coyotes who would run through the horses's stalls and pastures. I also have a video of a rabbit attacking a snake. The new barn does have newts, thousands and thousands of newts.

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    1. Fortunately the predator fence and Gus keep the coyotes from getting too close. Wow, a rabbit attacking a snake? Who won that??

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  4. so awesome that your pair of owls is so easily spotted. i hear some in the woods around us but never see them... tho we have many other birds of prey too. love the giant toads lol

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    1. They're only easy to spot when they hang out in the snag or if we hear them during the day. At dusk the only way you know they're around is by the squeaking of whatever rodent they've just caught!

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  5. As long as they're not rattlesnakes or scorpions!!

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    1. Oh we have plenty of scorpions, although fortunately I've never seen a rattlesnake!

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  6. So cool! I love observing wildlife! At our barn we have loads of deer & woodchucks, a family of foxes, and a bald eagle made a visit for a short while this fall! Love how you have so much natural rodent control!

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  7. We have a resident bear that circles the outdoor while we're out there then goes crashing through the Christmas Tree farm. I've only seen it once, but I've heard it many, many times. Tank in the woods? It's our bear!

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    1. Holy $hit, a BEAR?!?!!? I'll keep my scorpions and you can have your bear. HELL NO.

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  8. My new barn is smack dab in the middle of suburban Rochester, so I haven't even seen a pile of deer poop up here. Lots of chipmunks though, all dead and delivered to the tack room door by a dutiful barn cat. Does that count?

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    1. Dead chipmunks totally count. Alas, so cute and stripey. :(

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  9. I haven't found any yet. Then again it is winter and everyone may be hiding

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    1. Lol... winter here is when everything is out and about! Too hot in the summer and all.

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  10. Kangaroos every day. Sometimes possums and goannas. Green tree frogs (and other frogs) when it rains. Foxes at dusk sometimes. Flying foxes every night passing over. LOTS of birds: corellas and choughs every day, suphur-crested cockatoos and galahs, kookaburras, mynas, native pigeons, mopokes (tawny frogmouth), grass parrots, rosellas, wood ducks, ibis, heron, egrets, sometimes pelicans on the wetland (in the distance).

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    1. Oh man, when we were there last year I remember seeing the roos out sunning themselves on a football field. And the sulphur-crested cockatoos... there were black ones too? Also the enormous Huntsman spiders and the salties. Nope. Everything in Australia is trying to kill you, I'm pretty sure.

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    2. Yes, the roos in my paddock aren't scared of me anymore and it is very unnerving when the male ones stand up and stare you down!! So far they have eventually moved off.

      Yes, there are black cockatoos, in more remote places I've seen yellow-tailed, red-tailed and glossy black cockatoos as well as gang-gangs. Black cockatoos are one of my favourite birds! :)

      Hahaha, hunstmans are friendly and fine! :P No crocodiles here, I think they're only in tropical areas. Lol, I'm pretty sure you guys have more things trying to kill you - wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, scorpions! :P

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  11. Thankfully (to my mind anyway) my neck of the euro-woods doesn't have too dangerous wildlife. Couldn't handle snakes, scorpions or bears - no gracias.
    Most adventurous I've seen are deers (when hacking in the woods), foxes (dusk time saw a good few this summer as horses turnout was relatively secluded from activity), hawks & crows...lots of nasty looking crows/ravens - never get close enough for a propper look. Also both girls share their stables with sparrows & mice.
    Hate mice in my living space but they can live in the barn wih the horses so long as i don't have to deal with them.

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    1. The mice are NOT allowed in the house. No no no no no.

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