Animals around your house...

I believe you're convinced it is a money box turtle, no?
Wonderful creatures, I hope your box turtle can find a job in your yeard, preferably as a profesor to open locally the Arvyard University.
Great picture of the bug hunter. Who can guess his meal?

I have a much smaller animal to add as my first contribution to this thread : this morning I encountered my first ever Hornet Mimic Hoverfly in my back garden. A big beautiful bright-coloured insect with a loud buzz, I had to look up what it was. Apparently they used to be very rare here, only ever seen in the far south of the country, but are gradually moving north.
I followed it around a while to take photos - it posed very nicely!

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Also, just because who doesn't love an encounter with a nice big dungbeetle, here's one from my pony field today (not sure if this strictly counts as 'around my home' like my garden does, but it should, with the amount of time I spend there weeding it! )

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Oh, how can you take those fantastic close-ups? I had no idea those flies existed. Are you sure it is not one more of your repaints? Really cool, thanks for sharing.

And old familiar face of a species I love. THis is the most common of the 6 native species of Volucella in my zone, however sadly, they was becoming a bit rarer, from 2016 to 2018 I didn't saw none. As a child I loved to catch them with the fingers (theyre pretty easy to do) for approach them to my ear and hear the buzz they made with thoracic muscles with no wing movement - I found that buzz very funny.

Roger wrote:

Great picture of the bug hunter. Who can guess his meal?

I post all of my observations on Inaturalist to get identifications for the species (and I post it even if I already know what it is). One of the people who ID’ed the green anole said that his prey might be a roach but this is still unconfirmed.

  Wonderful pictures!

Indeed, fantastic photos!

Stunning close-ups! There are always more animals than one would think around any house/ garden, and like this one often quite surprising or rare species too!

Very nice observations. A few days ago I found this Southern Toad in my backyard. I caught it and took some close ups before releasing it but I waited to post it here because I needed to confirm the ID.

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And here in the wild
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George wrote:

I have a much smaller animal to add as my first contribution to this thread : this morning I encountered my first ever Hornet Mimic Hoverfly in my back garden. A big beautiful bright-coloured insect with a loud buzz, I had to look up what it was. Apparently they used to be very rare here, only ever seen in the far south of the country, but are gradually moving north.
I followed it around a while to take photos - it posed very nicely!

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Also, just because who doesn't love an encounter with a nice big dungbeetle, here's one from my pony field today (not sure if this strictly counts as 'around my home' like my garden does, but it should, with the amount of time I spend there weeding it! )

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the hoverfly looks so beautiful! Your photos are really superb George!

and that amazing dung beetle! I never knew they were in Britain

I would definitely consider your pony field as your garden

Gecko08 wrote:

Very nice observations. A few days ago I found this Southern Toad in my backyard. I caught it and took some close ups before releasing it but I waited to post it here because I needed to confirm the ID.


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what a beauty he/she is!
I love this photo - great angle :) and so nice to see toad in the wild at the end

What an extremely lovely toad

I went on a little animal adventure today.

I found a lot of lubber grasshoppers (also called giant locusts) at a local state park. The first one I saw walked right onto my hand.
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I was the breeding season for locusts this time. Everywhere I walked I either saw them mating or the male wooing the female by rubbing his wings together. I also saw a lot of them squished but from the looks of it there will be no shortage of grasshoppers anytime soon.
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A while ago I saw an Osprey nest on a cell tower near the end of my bridge. It’s funny how my city builds bird nests all over town in vain when the birds just pick where they want to nest. Water separated me and the nest so I had to zoom in.
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One of them saw me and flew a circle around the tower to check me out. I took a video and tried to get my phone to get a detailed shot. Either way a beautiful bird. The Osprey decided I wasn’t a threat and they continued about their day.
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I spent the whole day looking for snakes and finding other interesting things. Until I went on my daily walk at a dock near me and found something scaly near the water’s edge. I knew it was a harmless Saltmarsh Snake from its yellow markings and I was getting ready for the grab until I noticed something…

The Saltmarsh Snake was busy in the process of swallowing a fish. Grabbing a snake at a vulnerable moment like this would be asking for a problem. Snakes that experience stress while eating often regurgitate so they would be lighter to flee. This process damages the inside of their throat so I just sat back and started videoing. In the end I think it’s cooler that I have a video of a snake chowing down on a fish, and it’s certainly unique compared to a video of my holding the snake.
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The snake was well aware that I was there but it didn’t see me as a threat. I couldn’t find a good id for his prey as he swallowed it head first (which is actually how they should eat) so I didn’t get a good look at the fish’s head.
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As he finished up I think he had a piece of fin sticking out his mouth.
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A lot of people are scared of snakes and some snakes (like Rattlesnakes) should be given their space. Personally I’ve never been scared of snakes as I see them no differently as most people see birds or deer, at the end of the day snakes are just animals, not monsters.

Cool

Wow, great photos of so many neat visitors!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I believe you are right in your ID of the southern toad, I think I see some cranial crests. What a handsome little guy! And your encounter with the snake is amazing, it is always a unique treat to see something like that happen in the wild. I've only seen a wild snake eat something once in the wild - a young rat snake ate an adult rabbit, which was quite remarkable to watch. That grasshopper is really something else, too, what a beauty!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] what a beautiful hoverfly! It looks made of velvet in the back. Those colors are gorgeous. Wonderful pictures of two looked over beauties, I'd say.

Roger wrote:

Oh, how can you take those fantastic close-ups?

I rely on the insects being co-operative, anything which zips off at the slightest approach I can't get a photo of, but anything that'll sit still and let me sneak up on it, I stand a better chance with! And the dung beetle just walked around on me for ages while I tried again and again to get the camera focused

Pardofelis wrote:

And old familiar face of a species I love. THis is the most common of the 6 native species of Volucella in my zone, however sadly, they was becoming a bit rarer, from 2016 to 2018 I didn't saw none. As a child I loved to catch them with the fingers (theyre pretty easy to do) for approach them to my ear and hear the buzz they made with thoracic muscles with no wing movement - I found that buzz very funny.

Interesting that we both found the loud buzz to be such a fascinating thing about them! As I said, they're new to the UK and still rare here, so no childhood memories for me, but it's nice to hear yours!

sunny wrote:

the hoverfly looks so beautiful! Your photos are really superb George!

and that amazing dung beetle! I never knew they were in Britain

Thanks! I rushed to grab my camera and hoped it would still be there when I got back outside, it was such a beautiful thing!

I only ever find dung beetles when I'm cleaning up after the ponies, so it'd be easy to have never met one if you're not in the habit of poking around under piles of poo

Jill wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] what a beautiful hoverfly! It looks made of velvet in the back. Those colors are gorgeous. Wonderful pictures of two looked over beauties, I'd say.

Yes, the golden colour had a sort of velvety-metallic shine to it, I think it shows up ok in the pictures but was a lot more vibrant in real life cos the movement of light really made it shine.

Just moved into a neighboring state and am currently staying on my sister's property on a mountainside outside of town. Lots of fun new wildlife that hang around!
A gentleman quail and his lady friend visit the yard nearly every evening.
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Hummingbirds
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They have HUGE dragon flies here. This is a more gracile type.
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Western fence lizards with their beautiful blue bellies
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This tiny one was hanging outside my bedroom patio door taking in the evening sun. 
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My nephew caught him to get a closer look. He was smaller than one of my fingers in length. 
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And then they have Jackrabbits as big as my dog Buck here too!
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And lots more to come I am sure!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Just moved into a neighboring state and am currently staying on my sister's property on a mountainside outside of town. Lots of fun new wildlife that hang around!


They have HUGE dragon flies here. This is a more gracile type.
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And then they have Jackrabbits as big as my dog Buck here too!


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And lots more to come I am sure!

that's very exciting to see all this abundant wildlife Paige!

I love lizards! and it's wonderful to see how detailed this one was. And a quail family, and the dragonflies! beautiful

and the hare / jackrabbit is wonderful! hares have a straight back when they are 'loping' along, so perhaps the jackrabbit will also have this gait when moving. When I lived in Australia I used to watch hares the size of medium dogs lop around every day. It was such a thrill. And they moved silently. It was like being in a surreal dream.

You are very lucky! and dragonflies, lizards and hares are some of my favourite animals by the way

Wow, you have so many wild neighbors - it looks like a beautiful spot you've moved to. That jackrabbit is an impressive looking size.

Hello,
while I was making fotos for TAW something was running over the floor.
see here: about 5cm long!
Benno.
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Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Just moved into a neighboring state and am currently staying on my sister's property on a mountainside outside of town. Lots of fun new wildlife that hang around!
A gentleman quail and his lady friend visit the yard nearly every evening.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Hummingbirds
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

They have HUGE dragon flies here. This is a more gracile type.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Western fence lizards with their beautiful blue bellies
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This tiny one was hanging outside my bedroom patio door taking in the evening sun. 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My nephew caught him to get a closer look. He was smaller than one of my fingers in length. 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And then they have Jackrabbits as big as my dog Buck here too!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And lots more to come I am sure!

So cool

It is amazing to see Paige discovering the magic secrets of her new place. What a good way to feel motivated to the new place.
Who wants to meet Benno's friends?

Wonderful wildlife Paige,look forward to seeing more!!

Went on a week long trip to see family in various areas one last time before winter sets in. On the last day traveling home, just about 30 minutes from the Nevada-Oregon border my Mom and I got the splendid chance to see a wonderful and rare wild burro! Absolutely the highlight of my life (right up there with seeing a wolf in Yellowstone National Park). It was a young Jack and was right up on the shoulder of the road (not to worry, its a fairly desolate desert). As per usual for donkeys, he did not immediately run away like a horse would. He calmly relaxed by the side of the road, sizing up the danger. we snapped a few photos and then let him be. (He even had a few small scars from fighting with other donkeys)
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Once we got home late that night, there was a prime 4 point Mule deer buck right at the end of the driveway! Unfortunately my photos were so blurry due to the headlighting of my jeep but maybe next time I can snag a good shot of him.

We got to our new home and not 12 hours later, due to a stray bolt of lightning, the back of our hillside caught fire.
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We quickly evacuated the family and dogs for a day and a half. Luckily for us it stayed on the eastern side of the mountain and burned mostly southwards. Unfortunately, it did burn 2 residences and a handful of out buildings, but mostly it burned up wildland. It is nearly contained by the brave firefighters now.
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And back to happier topics... my new home overlooks a river where pelicans, various egrets, seagulls etc. hang out. Sometime I need to stop by with my longer camera photo lens rather than my phone for the skittish birds but alas...
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