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 April 2018

It's the first Wednesday of April and that means Wildlife Wednesday hosted by Tina at "My Gardener Says....".  Wow, do I have some cool stuff from the past month of March!  Even though we've continued our cool, cloudy weather longer than usual things are picking up.

I looked out the window one morning last week and spotted this Gray Fox climbing our tree next to the deck.  I had heard they climbed trees but imagined them walking on horizontal low branches common to our native live oaks.  Not so.  This Fox flattened against the tree and then climbed straight up the trunk like a squirrel or cat.  Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get photos of the climbing action.  This is 20ft (6m) up!

Searching for bird eggs or squirrels.

Jumping down to the lower branch.  So much fun to watch!

Gray Foxes are native to North and Central America and the only canid whose range spans both.  They have hooked claws which allows them to climb trees.  Getting down is a little more challenging.

All of the above photos were taken through the window.  Now back down on the ground, it joined its mate.  Wouldn't it be fun to find their den and see the kits?

The woodpile is always popular with so many places for tasty meals to hide.

Just before turning to walk away one flashed us a grin.  Seems they enjoyed their visit as much as we did.

Hummingbirds are also back and I'm keeping the feeder filled since most of their favorite flowers are yet to bloom.  I staked out the feeder on a windy afternoon and caught this GIF.  It's easy to know when to start the camera since they literally hum their approach.  Sometimes they first appear sitting above to make sure all is clear.  Catching them on a real flower is much more challenging.  Didn't see any red so this must be a Black-Chinned hummingbird.

Green Anoles have returned to the garden as the weather warms up.  Anoles have the endearing habit of claiming a specific plant as their territory and climbing to the top to await moths and other insects.  I heard one snap at a moth one day and it was quite audible.  It's unclear how this muhly grass is working out since it's not as sturdy as their usual agave perches.  Perhaps the agaves were all taken.  Depending on their perch anoles turn a color range from bright green to brown.  The change occurs quickly and is fun to watch.  This one is just a few shades short of bright green.

Meet "Mr. Buttons" who has been hanging out by the brush pile waiting for cuttings of Ruellia and other tasty plants.  Deer shed antlers in winter after mating season and before fawns arrive.  Buttons show new antlers are emerging.  They're also kicked out of the herd about the same time so he's on his own waiting for food delivery.  I rattle the gate when tossing deer edibles and he will walk over to inspect.

Yummy!

That's the wildlife report for the past month.  You can find more wildlife posts in the comments section at "My Gardener Says...".

Wildlife Wednesday December 2015

When I first began posting for Wildlife Wednesday I figured it would be easy to come up with a few bird photos each month along with butterflies during the summer months so I dove right in when Tina at "My gardener says..." started up this meme.  Now each month I'm amazed to see the range of wildlife attracted to my increasingly urban garden setting.

Let's see what's been visiting my garden the last few weeks.

Foxes have been sighted more often as we get deeper into fall.  I walked past the kitchen door and saw her looking in at me, grabbed the camera and ran outside.  By then she was under the deck.  When she heard me she jumped out and ran away after a moment or two of curiosity.  Foxes run with all four legs in unison so they appear to skim across the ground and can run about 30 mph.

Wildlife Wednesday October 2015: Foxes, Ringtail Cats plus the Owl Returns

Since the garden has been basically dormant for months it's nice to have Wildlife Wednesday provide a good reason for posts from the garden.  With only few blooms to offer I think the butterflies are passing me by on their southward migration so we'll focus on some larger subjects.  Foxes are back after a long stretch of no sightings.  The water bowl we keep out near the creek is becoming more popular as the weeks without rain add up.  I'm joining Tina at "My Gardener Says..." in posting on wildlife visitors to the garden.

This photo was through the back door glass so as not to scare off Mr Fox.

Common around Texas, Gray Foxes prefer woodland areas like our dry creek.  Gray Foxes are omnivorous and will eat cactus fruits and berries in addition to small animals.  They can even climb trees which helps them keep away from their predator the Coyote.  I went outside to take more pictures (after allowing a long drink) and he departed, but since foxes are very curious animals they usually give a look back at people while leaving.  One last smile for the camera.

We check the wildlife camera on a daily basis and discovered a fox "leaving his mark".

Ewwww, I wonder if the next visitors got the message.

It's fun to now see our wildlife visitors in action.  Here's a very thirsty fox from last night.  Good thing we change that water often!

We hadn't seen Ringtail Cats prior to installing the camera.  Sometimes considered rare, these relatives of the Raccoon are actually fairly common it's just that they are only out around 2AM or so.

The Barred Owl which we spotted almost daily earlier in the summer has been sighted several times in the last few weeks.  This is from last week sitting on top of the back gate after a bath.  Just look at that head turn!

Cutest owl expression ever?

...but it was because a Blue Jay flew by.  Smaller birds often harass the owl.

Here's the bath from the wildlife camera view.

Time to clean that beak.  First one side.

Then the other

Don't forget the top!

And now for the finale, cleaning that tip.

A few weeks ago we heard a noise and found an odd imprint on the back door glass.  An investigation turned up this incident.  The glass apparently reflected the trees and looked like an opening.  This used to happen with our clerestory windows until we added sunshades.  No owls were harmed in the making of this video and the owl has appeared unhurt many times since including in the photos above.

That's a wrap up of wildlife highlights from the past month.  To see more wildlife in all our gardens visit "My gardener says..."