I have been seeing a lot of animals cross roads lately. I saw a bear cross a road today. This past week I parked along a road in the country to look at something and this fox was running down it.
Fox on a Road
It was running towards me and I got back in the car before it got too close. I am convinced it would have run right past me if I had not gone in my car. It appeared to possibly be a young fox.
Fox on a RoadFox on a Road- It looks like he has an issue with his ears.
All of these shots were taken with a zoom lens from afar and are cropped. To keep yourself safe and the animals safe, maintain a distance. Happy Monday.
Assateague Island is known for its wild horses. All of these photos were taken inside the Assateague Island State Park.
Horses of Assateague
The pictures above and below were taken on the beach just after sunrise. Sometimes they like to watch the sunrise like we do. Sometimes they like to nap on the beach like humans.
Horses of AssateagueHorses of Assateague
This horse looks like it is waiting for someone to turn on the water. I understand they figured out how to turn on the faucets. However, the sign placed behind the faucet may be preventing it from doing that. A park worker was in a vehicle close by. For safety of the horse and humans, one needs to stay at least 40 feet away from the horses.
Horses of Assateague
This younger horse was utilising the fence to scratch himself. If you go to the state park or the national park at Assateague Island, Maryland there are a variety of places you can spot a horse. Just do not get close, they are wild.
What are ghost crabs? They are small 2-3 inched sized crabs that live in nickel sized to half dollar sized holes in the sand. The entrance to their abode is between the high tide level and the low tide level. They have long legs and their eyes are sitting on the ends of stalks.
Ghost Crabs of Assateague
Although they spend most of the day under the sand and are known to come out at night, I found these in the early morning hours and late afternoon.
Ghost Crabs of Assateague – Atlantic Ghost Crab
I think these are all Atlantic Ghost Crabs. They have a square shaped body that can change colours to match their surroundings. This helps them camouflage from their predators which include: seagulls, raccoons, and other shorebirds.
Ghost Crabs of Assateague
Atlantic Ghost Crabs are omnivorous. They eat, bugs, clams, eggs and hatchlings of loggerhead turtles, and plants. The only thing I caught them eating were grass like plants on the beach.
Ghost Crabs of Assateague
I saw many of these crabs along the Assateague Island State Park beach. One activity people do is bring a flashlight at night to the beach to find them. As you can see though, it appears you can also see them at times during daylight. If you go to Assateague, happy hunting!
What do people think of when they hear of Assateague Island? Many think of the wild horses and the pony swim from Assateague to Chincoteague Island. The pony swim was yesterday. However, there is much in terms of wildlife to see at Assateague. One bird that is prevalent is the brown pelican.
Breeding Adult Brown Pelicans
Brown Pelicans of Assateague Island
I made a world wind trip to Assateague earlier in the week. I injured my knee a few months ago and only have small windows to make short trips. Brown pelicans like to fly above the surf. I have seen them early in the morning at sunrise and at other times during the day.
Brown Pelicans of Assateague Island
They will fly solo or in small groups.
Brown Pelicans of Assateague Island
Sometimes they gather together in small groups on the beach or out beyond the surf. I was lucky to see the two above on the beach. Maryland and New Jersey are in it’s breeding range.
Juvenile BRown Pelicans
Brown Pelicans of Assateague Island
Juvenile brown pelicans are mostly brown. The adults have more white around their heads. A few juveniles were hanging out with some adults.
Brown Pelicans of Assateague Island
According to all About Birds, “They have thin necks and very long bills with a stretchy throat pouch used for capturing fish.” They scoop them up in their throat pouches, which are expandable. According to the NPS.gov site they also use their neck pouches to cool off on a hot day.
This year was the first trip I have seen the pelicans this close. They flew closer to land at the beach and over land. I have not seen them standing on the beach before on previous trips. Even though I only had a short window it was a great trip.
What bird is named after a famous naturalist ? It is the Forster’s Tern. Johann Reinhold Forster was a naturalist who voyaged with Captain Cook’s 2nd trip to the Pacific. Forster drew or cataloged 500 plants and about 300 animals.
Forster’s Tern
Appearance
I saw this bird on the New Jersey shore area. Adults have a black cap and a black tipped orange bill. Their underside is while, while the wings may have gray coloring on top. It is in between a robin and a crow in size.
Forster’s Tern
Habitat
This tern can be in fresh water or salt water. It can be seen in marshes, bays and oceans. The map on All About Birds has the NJ coast as its breeding grounds. It goes further south to the lower US and the Central American coast in winter.
Forster’s Tern
Hunting
According to All About Birds this tern gets food by scanning for food over the water, about 20 feet above it, then dives in to capture their prey with their bill. Many times they stick close to the shoreline or close to it. Their dive is shallow up to about a foot below the surface. This is exactly what I saw. The road we could view from was maybe 20 feet or more from the water’s edge. Many times it was flying close to if not above the shoreline. I could not capture it diving in as plants obscured my view. Regardless, these birds were fun to watch.
In the US, when one thinks of a food fight, it means food is thrown. In the animal world, animals might be playing tug of war with food or trying to steal it from each other.
Food Fight – This is the dad with a fish.
The dad had the fish at this location for a while taking bites out of it. Meanwhile, at the nest nearby, the babies were going crazy making noise. These pictures were taken in New Jersey. The water in the background is the Atlantic Ocean.
Food Fight
After a long wait, the dad finally brought the fish over to the nesting platform. This nest has three babies on the right. The mom is on the left. It appears these young osprey have not fledged from the nest yet. Happy Friday!
I saw both young osprey fly from their nest on Friday morning. One made two trips from the nest and back making large circular flights from land to nest. The other one flew off a lot farther and I gave up waiting for it to return. Hopefully it did at some point.
The Osprey FledgedThe Osprey Fledged-Coming in for a landing
In the photo above one of the young osprey is flying in to land in the nest and it’s sibling looks like it is cheering it on.
The Osprey Fledged- Landing again
The above photo shows the young osprey approach to the nest after the second flight attempt. It did land on the edge.
Pursuit
The Osprey Fledged – One dad chasing the other dad
The adult male from the other nearby nest decided to harass the kids and mom in the nest I watch after the young osprey had flight practice. The mom complained loudly and the dad from this nest returned and chased off the other male. The male from the nest I watch is in the back. He is recognisable by his eye defect/ injury. The male in the front is the pest from the other nest.
The osprey babies are continuing to practice hovering over the nest. I think last time only one osprey was doing this.
New Heights July- The young osprey in for the landing
This time one young osprey only flew a foot or less over the nest. Here it is perfecting the landing.
New Heights July- This one is reaching new heights.
While the other young osprey appears to maybe reach heights of around 3 foot or so above the nest. After each young osprey practiced hovering the mom would seemingly talk to them. Then she called louder a few times. Next dad appeared from a distance with a fish.
New Heights July- Rewarding the young osprey with a fish
Dad rewards their flying practice with a fish. This time he brought in a larger one. Is this a cat fish?
New Heights July- Bringing the left over fish to his perching spot
It appears they took some bites off of the tail area. Then dad flew to his nearby perching spot and ate the rest of it. I wonder if the young osprey did not have much of an appetite or are they complaining they do not like catfish. Enjoy your Thursday.
Eagles will bother other eagles and osprey by trying to steal fish they catch. Who bothers an eagle? For one, some little birds will pester the eaglets after they fledge. On this day it happened to be a red-winged blackbird.
Little Pest
I have not checked up the eaglets in a while. I know one fell out of the nest before it was ready to fledge and broke its wing on the way down. It is at a rehab that specialises in eagles. Two remained and both fledged. Last I heard one flew to the river and never returned to the nest area. We are hoping it is hanging out down there. The third is a late bloomer. It only flies to the river to loose the pests that bother it. It is has been sticking closer to the nest.
Little Pest- Photo Bomb
In the above picture it looks like the red winged blackbird is having fun. It was trying to attack the eagle from behind it, at times hitting its tail area.
Little Pest- a gutsy bird
The red winged blackbird has a lot of guts landing next to the eaglet. So far this eaglet has no clue what to do about these little pests other than fly away. Have a great Thursday!
On Sunday it was a windy day on the Hudson River, so the young osprey decided to test their wings. At least one of them, if not both flapped their wings enough to hover at most maybe a foot above the nest.
Getting Ready
Young Osprey Hovering
The young osprey are in the front of this picture and the mom is in the rear left hand side. The dad was away probably 99 percent of the time I was there.
Hover Practice
Young Osprey Hovering
The young osprey utilized the wind to go up and down. It never appeared to get higher than a foot above the nest.
Young Osprey Hovering
Mom appears to be judging his technique in the photos above and below. I wonder if she gave advice. The sibling looks like they are trying to avoid being stepped on with those talons.
Young Osprey Hovering
Dad Rewards the Practice With a Fish
Young Osprey Hovering – Dad arrives with a fish
It looks like the young osprey are looking forward to a snack. It was not as hot out. I’m not sure why the dad stayed away more. Maybe it was due to the size of the growing babies and lack of room in the nest. When he dropped this fish off he only stayed in the nest for about a minute or so. I hope you all had a great weekend. Happy Tuesday!
