Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
|
|
|
Feb 27, 2015 - 10:55am PT
|
Claude, we hear plenty of loons right here on ST, don't we?
|
|
Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
|
Feb 27, 2015 - 01:12pm PT
|
Beautiful gold and blue loon there. ;)
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
|
|
|
Feb 27, 2015 - 06:48pm PT
|
New yard bird.
Through the sliding glass door.
BUOR
In the Jacaranda
|
|
dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
|
|
Cool one from the web
|
|
dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
|
|
Me too DMT, they are such happy little birds, they always brighten up my day when I see them. Nuthatchers are really funny too.
|
|
Lacey
Social climber
Nevada
|
|
|
|
Lacey
Social climber
Nevada
|
|
|
|
john hansen
climber
|
|
So where did you see that Snowy Owl?
Nevada is pretty far south for one of those.
|
|
Chewybacca
Trad climber
Montana, Whitefish
|
|
Has anyone else noticed an early migration in your area. The tundra swans, robins, red wing blackbirds, and other migrants started showing up in western Montana about 3 to 4 weeks ago.
|
|
Plan B
Ice climber
SoCal
|
|
Spectacular! :)
|
|
dirt claud
Social climber
san diego,ca
|
|
https://gma.yahoo.com/woodpecker-takes-weasel-ride-life-154631256--abc-news-pets.html
A photograph of a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker that seems almost too incredible to be true, is not photoshopped, according to the British man who snapped the now-viral photo.
Martin Le-May says he was out for a walk on Monday with his wife, Ann, in a London park when they heard a “distressed squawking.”
The couple trained their binoculars on the bird in distress and saw it was “unnaturally hopping” and flapping its wings.
"Just after I switched from my binoculars to my camera the bird flew across us and slightly in our direction,” Le-May told ABC News by email. "It was obvious it had a small mammal on its back and this was a struggle for life.”
The mammal on the back of the woodpecker was a weasel. The Le-Mays watched as the woodpecker landed right in front of them and fought for its life.
I feared the worst,” Le-May wrote. “I guess though our presence, maybe 25 meters away, momentarily distracted the weasel.”
“The woodpecker seized the opportunity and flew up and away into some bushes away to our left,“ he wrote. “Quickly the bird gathered its self-respect and flew up into the trees and away from our sight.”
As for the weasel that caused all the drama, Le-May says it disappeared into the long grass of the park, “hungry.”
|
|
Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
|
|
Really great photos above. A couple from today, Sage Sparrows have showed up and a few of the usual suspects are still hanging around.
|
|
Mike Bolte
Trad climber
Planet Earth
|
|
nice shots Chewy!
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
Dirt Claude's loon video reminds me of an adventure a long time ago...
In the 1960s I did a lot of wilderness paddling guiding in northern Saskatchewan, where loons are so common that they're unremarkable. Common or not, they are fairly wary, and would dive if a canoe came any closer than 50 meters or so -- not coming up for ages, and a long way away when they did.
But one day, paddling across a lake not too far from a small settlement, we got closer and closer to a loon that, while obviously agitated, didn't dive. Curious, we came so close that we could see that its feet were trapped in a fish net strung just below the surface.
I unsheathed my knife, and while the others kept the canoe still I tried to cut the bird free.
Which sounds simple, but have you ever been up close and personal with a loon? (I mean other than the politards here on ST). Those birds are LARGE. And their beaks could be used to spear elephants. Seriously. The beak was at least six inches long, and the bird was doing its best to kill me. I had to fend the beak off with my paddle in one hand, while trying to cut the net with the other hand.
Actually kind of scary, as it could easily have driven its beak right through my arm. But I finally got it cut loose.
At which point it immediately tried to dive, and of course immediately became tangled in the net again. So we went through the whole "I'll try to kill you while you try to save me" thing one more time.
And this time, when its feet finally came free, its dive was successful.
|
|
Gypsy
Social climber
Usually behind the camera
|
|
Speaking of spring migrations, the hooded mergansers are courtin' and sparkin' in Black Mountain, North Carolina
Meanwhile at another lake nearby, there were red headed and canvasback ducks as well as an American wigeon.
And about two weeks ago while there was still snow on the ground, a brown thrasher (who we only see in spring/summer around here) was sitting on my birdbath (which was frozen)
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!