Confused about deer crossings
This viral video has already had more than 1.6 million views. But it is amusing, so in case you missed it I've embedded in below.
Direct link to video: http://youtu.be/CI8UPHMzZm8.
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Category: Animals
All vertebrates: fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals
Mother Goldfinch Feeding her Fledgling
I decided to set up a bird feeder a few years back because there was just so much snow that year that I felt bad for the little creatures.
Although I originally thought I'd just feed the birds until the snow melted, I ended up feeding the birds all year. One of the rewards of feeding the birds in the summer is getting to watch the parent birds feed their young at the bird feeder. By the time that the young birds can fly around after their parents they are just about the same size as mom Read more ➜ Morning at Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk
One of our favorite locales for bird watching is Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk. We've previously posted about it here. This locale is constantly changing with the season and the level of Hoover reservoir, but it rarely disappoints.
Hoover reservoir is purposely lowered every fall to create a way station for migrating shore birds. But due to the drought, the water level has dropped earlier than usual. When summer began the boardwalk was several feet above the water's surface. Last month the Read more ➜ Wild Turtle with Shedding Shell
I was really surprised when I saw the turtle pictured above. First, this species of turtle, a Red-eared Slider, is not known to occur in the wild in Franklin County. Second, what on earth is wrong with its shell? Let's look at it more closely.
The turtle's shell is subdivided into sections called scutes. In my photo there is a front scute that's a lighter color, almost a light brown, toward the front of the shell. It seems to be raised above the surrounding scutes. Toward the Read more ➜ When birds watch you back
We have bird feeders in our backyard. I like to sit in our breakfast nook reading or working on the computer. Then from time to time I'll lift my head to see what birds are out there now. The feeders are located far enough away from our house to make it unlikely that a bird will strike our windows. But that means that I sometimes resort to using binoculars if I want to get a good look at a particular bird.
My bird watching got a little easier when the goldfinch in the topmost photo Read more ➜ Squirrels of unusual color
All the squirrels that I am featuring today are Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). Although my focus is going to be on unusually colored squirrels, lets start by taking a look at some normally colored ones. I believe that these squirrels look gray because their fur includes a random mixture of black and white hairs. There are brown hairs, too, but the amount of brown varies greatly among individuals. Nonetheless you can count on the underside of a gray squirrel being Read more ➜ Ohio’s 12 species of turtles at a glance
In the following post, I note the distinguishing characteristics of Ohio's turtle species, plus the counties in which they've been sighted.
Family Emydidae
Midland Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata)
If you've seen a turtle basking in the sun in Ohio, and you're wondering what kind of turtle it is, the odds are that it's a Midland Painted Turtle.
This is one of the most common turtles in Ohio, plus it's easy to spot because it enjoys basking on logs or other objects Read more ➜ Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk
Hoover Mudflats Boardwalk is part of the Hoover Nature Preserve operated by the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department. It is one of the best birding sites in central Ohio. In the fall the city lowers the water level in Hoover Reservoir, so it's more hospitable to migrating shore birds. The area around the boardwalk is also used for fishing and launching kayaks, and I've seen crew teams training here. Beyond that, the site is just lovely.
One Read more ➜ A lucky turtle
When I caught sight of this turtle trailing a skirt of algae, I was immediately reminded of the similar turtles that are often depicted in Asian art.
In China such a turtle is supposed be one of four sacred animals: the turtle, the tiger (or kirin or rhino), the dragon, and the phoenix. The Japanese adopted the mythos surrounding the sacred turtle whom they refer to as the minogame. Not every turtle gets to become a minogame, just the lucky ones who have been blessed with long Read more ➜ So Many Canada Geese
I have had the good fortune of vacationing in Canada on a couple of occasions, and one thing that became immediately clear to me is that Ohio has way more Canada Geese than Canada has. It's possible to go an entire day in Canada and not even see a Canada Goose. Let's see you manage that in Ohio!
Given that Ohio appears to be the center of the Canada Geese population, I suggest that we rename them Ohio Geese, or since Ohioans go by the nickname, "Buckeyes," maybe we could call them Buckeye Geese.
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