Wildlife Wednesday March 2020: Raptor encounter

Caracara or Mexican Eagles have taken up residence in our neighborhood.  Sightings are excitedly reported on the Nextdoor website most often when a neighbor spots one for the first time.  It's no wonder since that bright orange beak and sharp black and white coloring stand out against our late winter landscape.



So why did the Caracara to fly away?  The appearance of an American Black Vulture was the likely cause.  While the Caracara birds live full time in the trees behind our fence the black vultures appear when something dies.  We have an abundance of common wildlife in our little wooded area.  With so many skunks, possums, raccoons, and other animals roaming around there's going to be a few deaths along the way.

 
Turkey Vultures are more common around here but the American Black Vulture seems to turn up when there's something to eat.

They both hunt by looking around on the ground and using their sense of smell.



The Caracara decides to leave whatever it is to the vultures.

You can find more on Wildlife Wednesday at "My Gardener Says...." where Tina has a post on the cutest birds she fondly calls "Butter Butts."

Wildlife Wednesday February 2019

Good morning Fox!  Does he know our name is Fox?  Or is that Foxes meet Fox?  We have several fox families living along the creek behind our house and despite the reddish coloring they are known as Gray foxes.  They do love to climb trees.

It's Wildlife Wednesday and I'm joining Tina at "My gardener says..." to share a roundup of wildlife on this first Wednesday of February.

Just a few feet from the back door and these photos were taken through the window from inside.  They are curious and generally friendly.  Kitty is hunkered down under the table so she's not taking any chances.

When she's not hiding from the foxes, Kitty is keeping an eye on our new resident Ms. Squirrel who has figured out how to defeat the bird feeder baffle which eventually broke off and will need to be replaced.

An anole was just getting warmed up first thing one morning.  It's not unusual this time of year to find immobilized lizards in the chill morning air.  I was surprised to note it is darker brown and rougher in texture than the usual Carolina anole we see.  After some research it's possible this is an invasive brown anole arrived from Cuba by way of Florida.  There are reports that they crowd out our adorable native Carolina anoles.  That would be a disappointment as I love watching our anoles in summer.

We are hosting Caracaras again this year.  Their habit of walking around when hunting is quite surprising as there are plenty of predators back there.

I often post about the deer we fenced out several years ago.  The photos mostly show one are two deer standing still.  This month I have captured the herd of marauders in the act on video so you can get an idea how they can be so destructive.  Note one is trying to grab vegetation through the fence!

Check Tina's blog for her discussion of native plants for birds and more Wildlife Wednesday posts.

Wildlife Wednesday September 2018

It's Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says" and time to see what's been visiting my garden the past month or so.

We'll start things off with a disoriented armadillo.  These nocturnal creatures live near the dry creek behind our house.  Overnight on Tuesday we had 9.25 inches of rain which flooded them out causing this one to become a temporary homeless wanderer in the dark cloudy morning.  An armadillo moves pretty fast, especially when caught out of its element so this slightly blurry photo is the best I could do.

This is most likely a solitary bee I noticed clinging to the white stone wall of the house.  A rare chance to get a closeup on a solid background.  Nice legs!

While visiting friend Paula Stone in Fredericksburg back in June we wondered what this unusual bug was.  I tried unsuccessfully to get a good photo.  Some type of bee or wasp?  We'd just never seen one that looked quite like it before.

Several weeks later Paula sent me the photo below.  It's a Cicada Killer wasp.  She saw it bring a cicada back to the garden.  Cicadas live about five to six weeks and they were quite plentiful this year.  It's cool to see how predators appear when the opportunity is right.

Photo by Paula Stone

Magnificent Mexican Eagles or CaraCara are still here.  They hunt by waiting or walking around on the ground.

September's GIF is a vulture looking for something that must have died in the creek.

A male Cardinal at the feeder.



Although the pair politely take turns we sometimes put a second ration of birdseed on the table so both can feed at the same time.



A male lesser goldfinch on the fence.  The deep black and gold plumage is quite striking and the only thing "lesser" about this beauty is its size.



Whitetail deer have been gathering around the blue water bucket as our hot, dry summer continued.

They are looking at all those yummy plants inside the fence.

They have plenty to eat out there so, nope, no garden plants for them.

We had quite a bit of rain over the weekend after these photos were taken but there are sure to be dry weeks ahead so the bucket will stay filled.

That's the wildlife round-up for my garden as summer draws to a close so be sure to head on over to to Tina's post on Wildlife Wednesday to see what she and other bloggers have from their gardens this month.

Wildlife Wednesday: June 2018

It's the first Wednesday of June and Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says...." as an opportunity to share wildlife in the garden for the past month.

We have an indecisive Hummingbird.  Should she go with the tall bloom stalk or the one with bigger, newer flowers?  

A first for the garden is spectacular Fiery Searcher Caterpillar Hunter Beetle (Calosoma scrutator)  unearthed while installing some new plants.  So gorgeous and listed as an ally in the garden because it only eats caterpillars which damage food crops like tomatoes and squash.

Apparently ancient Egyptians used the Dung Beetle as scarab jewelry though I might be more inclined to go with this beauty.  There were two of them and they were carefully returned to the planting bed.

Queen Butterflies stick it out in our hot summers while their cousins the Monarchs have flown north to cooler climates.

There were plenty of wildflowers in May to keep the bees busy.

Buzzzzz, hurry up before the deer lop off that Hesperaloe bloom.

 

Juvenile Caracara or Mexican Eagle has fledged.  It walked around for a few minutes then flew away to safety.  I did keep watch after seeing reports on the neighborhood website that some Caracara needed rescuing because they weren't yet flying.  We have excellent resources here with wildlife volunteers and rescue groups available to answer questions or even pick up animals needing assistance.

Gray Foxes have been frequent visitors during recent hot dry days.   It's been especially dry and we place small buckets of water around the garden for all manner of creatures.  Foxes have displayed little wariness of us as they wander through during daylight hours and curiously pause to watch me work.  Gray Foxes are native to North America and a delight to host in the garden.

A delicate spider web on Agave Cornelius.

Fawns are arriving in the neighborhood this week though we have not seen any yet.

Visit Tina at "My Gardener Says...." for a bird parade and check the comments for more blogger's posts on wildlife in the garden.

Wildlife Wednesday August 2017

Wildlife Wednesday is hosted the first Wednesday of each month by Tina at "My gardener says..." Let's take a look at wildlife visitors during July.

We've had the pleasure of hosting a Crested Caracara or "Mexican Eagle" again this summer.  Caracara is an onomatopoetic name if ever there was one with "Cara-cara" cries coming from the treetops along the wooded creek behind our house.  As members of the Falcon family they are raptors which feed on snakes and lizards.  Caracaras are mostly found in Mexico, Central, and northern South America.  They are also observed as year-round residents in Central and South Texas, Southern Arizona, and Central Florida.  We only see them in summer so they must head south when it gets cold here.

Beautiful!

A Red Paper Wasp on Painted Poinsettia (Euphorbia cyathophora).  Our native poinsettia is a cousin to the more famous holiday poinsettia native to the tropics.

Not exactly in the garden and I probably should be embarrassed to show this but I'm not because it is

so pretty.  After spotting this web glistening in the sunshine I left it for a day before removing it.  The spinner never returned and nothing was snared in the web.  Spiders are generally ushered out and most bugs that make it inside aren't as lucky.

While watering potted plants one morning I was startled to see the eye of a newborn fawn stashed here by a protective mom.  Fawns have no scent and are safer from predators if mom leaves them for hours at a time.

She may have been trying to push the little one through the fence.  We've had that happen before.  Spots are obviously for camouflage and work quite well.

Mom was nearby and intervened when the fawn had enough of my attention.



Scampering off to safety.  You have only to look at their tails when they run to see why they are called White-tailed deer.  You'll also notice that this is a suburban neighborhood and not out in the country.

The next day they were back.

Watchful mom resting in the shade.

Water in the birdbath must have been the draw.  With almost no rain since May, water for wildlife is important.

Oh so cute!

If you noticed all the wire cages and upturned baskets, those are attempts to protect plants.  Yes, she has been eating my plants!

We've put a tub with water out behind the back fence for the rest of the herd.  A huge 10-point still in velvet stage for antlers.  Eventually the velvet will itch and bucks will rub trees to remove it.

Magnificent!

There were several bucks back there in July.  They know to stay in the trees to camouflage their antlers.  They'll be fighting soon as mating season starts up again in fall.

For more wildlife in the garden check out Tina's post on her blog.

Crested Caracara for Wildlife Wednesday April 2015

A rather magnificent bird perched in the trees behind our house last week and I'm joining Tina at My Gardener Says.... to share this special event.  I had never seen one before.  In fact, there was a pair of them.