MagiStream

I unfortunately don't get to go out to the nature center very often, but we do have a lot of deer around our home and quite frequently I've seen them running around in the front or back yard. I've heard coyotes in the forest as well although I haven't actually seen any.

One time we also saw a falcon! It had caught one of the birds and had landed on the tree stump outside our house. I didn't really watch it cause um... dead bird but... Still cool!

The other morning at the stables I was waiting for the horse to finish his breakfast and saw a deer on the ramp up to the upper field. It was quite a big deer for a muntjac (they are about labrador sized), so I guess it was a buck, but he had a darker saddle area than I've seen before on one. Whist he was dithering around on the ramp out of trees on one side trotted a fox, which crossed the ramp and continued on along the tree line on the other side. It couldn't have been more than 10 feet away from the deer, but they completely ignored each other. A little while later a second deer - presumably a female - appeared from the direction the fox had gone. Fascinating to see so much wildlife in so short a time and also the (lack of) interaction between the two species.

For the last few mornings I've been watching a pair of goldfinch on a tree at the stables. Or at least I assume it is the same pair as he is still doing his best mating dance, and I'd have thought they would have got beyond that by now. He does seem to be getting a bit desperate as he had a beak-full of nesting material this morning. The dance consists of him flicking his tail from side to side and yelling DWEEB! at her. I can only assume it is less rude than it appears...

we recently learned that some things we thought were wasps here were really flower flies, which are a harmless insect that eats aphids, so we're just learning not to be terrified and let them go about their business.

bookrage wrote:we recently learned that some things we thought were wasps here were really flower flies, which are a harmless insect that eats aphids, so we're just learning not to be terrified and let them go about their business.

Yeah, even in Australia, most of our wasps are actually orchid and flower pollinators. In some cases, the orchids literally can't survive and would go extinct without one specific species of wasp to pollinate them, which I find amazing.

In the case of flower flies, they ironically look like 'wasps' to get other insects to stay away from them with that kind of warning colouration!

Being in Australia, there are a few spiders I won't tolerate in or near the house because they can literally kill the cats (or me). But we have a lot of nature around. Just last night on my walk we saw a large male grey kangaroo in the middle of the park, just staring at us. I love those kinds of encounters, we left him alone and went on our way, but it's always nice to get that reminder of interconnection in greater ecosystems.

The horses are 'on holiday' at a different stable yard for a few weeks (long story) and on the way there in the morning for the past couple of days I've seen a melanistic wild rabbit on the dirt track to the field. It is not entirely black so I'd guess some of the lighter ticking still exists on its hairs and still has a paler/grey undercoat which peeps through when it moves, and the white tail. I've never seen one before, so wondering whether it is genuinely a direct mutation, a crop-out from colouring in the gene pool of these particular rabbits, or the result of a pet rabbit escapee. There are foxes in the area so sadly I suspect it's chances of a long life are slim.

I have to get back to work, so I'll make this quick.

So where I live we have a few rabbits around and there are some young and babies. Well I just came home for break a while ago and I opened the door to come into my house...and there was a tiny baby rabbit curled on the doorframe. It was alive, but just sat there. My mom got me a box and some gloves and we scooped it up and released it out in our backyard near some bushes where rabbits usually are found...it was amazing, but I came this close to stepping on it.

How cute! And it's good that you didn't step on the rabbit. It would be a pity if the baby was accidentally hurt.

The other day when we were out (horse) riding we saw a buzzard - not particularly unusual in itself, but this one was sitting in a tree next to the road eating its lunch. We got within about 20 yards before the noise we were making (metal horse shoes on tarmac) scared it away. It flew away transferring its meal from beak to claw as it flew. An amazing sight, and I'm always awed by just how big these birds are.

We also saw a deer - a Chinese water deer rather than the more usual muntjac, judging by the size (both are invasive species which are spreading after 19th century and subsequent escapes from a wildlife park some 30 miles away) - which was running around in a field. There was a guy with binoculars watching it who said something had spooked it out of the hedge, then it had taken further fright at him standing there, then at us on the other side of the hedge. It wasn't having a good day!

So a few days ago, we found out that a pair of foxes have moved into a small wooded area behind my house and a high school. We have seen them a few times, mostly in the morning and evening and so far they have stayed by the trees. But while it is neat to see them since foxes are aloof in my State, I don't see them real often that is, the place is not a good place for them to be. We have kids and dogs. The nearby apartment has small dogs, I have a Chihuahua, and my neighbor has several small dogs.

You can guess that this is an accident waiting to happen.