I lost my Odysso apples at pingpong ball size to something…I assumed birds.
1 Like
for the 2nd year in a row , i have a nesting pair in my big spruce trees. i see them in my garden all the time. i throw feed outside the chicken coop to help them along. they’ve become pretty tame. i like to hear them call in the evening. not many around these parts so its a treat just to see them.
2 Likes
We have a ton. I see them quite regular but just happened to get a good shot. They are very nervous and always fly quickly but I was behind a window and they landed and ate right in front of me. I’m planting corn this weekend in hopes of a quail/Dove field this season…
3 Likes
Pair nested on my window ledge when I was in college. Roomy was grossed out by how the parents feed the squab.
3 Likes
HAHAHAHAHAHA… I was watching a show the other day how most all animals regurgitate for their young. They don’t have any other way to carry that much food. It all ends up the same in the end!!!
i hunted them when i was stationed in N.M. they are tasty! i used to get free shotgun rentals from the rec center on base. i just kept the manager well fed with doves and quail. 
3 Likes
Snapped a pic of adult and little one. The little one wouldn’t sit still long enough for me to place a coin by him, but he was dime sized
16 Likes
love them lil’ buggers! had one as a pet for awhile when i was stationed in N.M.
1 Like
Back to what Richard started this thread with, the hummingbird, or wait it’s not a bird this is a moth. These are so cool to watch they fly just like hummingbirds. There was a fluorescent green one but I didn’t get a shot of him. I keep checking for him. The bad thing about these beautiful insects is that their larvae are a horned worm. It looks like the tomatoe worm without the white strips. Instead of a beak, it has a proboscis. It’s a long feeding tube used to suck up the nectar. https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Hummingbird-Moth
17 Likes
I usually have them all over my Monarda, but not this year.
2 Likes
Just beautiful. Lovely photography!
3 Likes
I use to see these eastern box turtles every year but this is the first one I spotted in the last few years. Most of their local habitat is now lawn except for my property and a few neighbors. Nice color and pattern.
20 Likes
buddy of mine keeps telling me how tasty they are but I haven’t had a chance eat any…we’ve got plenty of them here, not sure how they survive since you can pretty much just walk right up on them…
1 Like
8 Likes
Well this little fellow has been plaguing me for weeks now, chomping on my tomatoes and occasionally taking a bite out of a zucchini. I don’t mind a little pilferage - a rats gotta eat - but when he gets up into my fig tree, the gloves come off.
In any case, I heard the dogs barking in the back yard and when i went to shush them, I noticed Mr Rat in the VdB. He was taking refuge in the top branch and didn’t look too happy. I have some VdB starting to get ripe and while I should have a nice crop of figs this year, I definitely didn’t want to share them. So a swipe of the shovel knocked him out of the tree and partially stunned him, giving Shadow the time to pounce on him. The end was quick and I gave him the coup de grace with the shovel and into a bag he went.
The rat is on the branch framed by the banana plant leaves.
5 Likes
Is that a kingbird? I used to love watching them fly around and hunt, they are so acrobatic! Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any here for about a decade now.
2 Likes