Tag: #wildlife

Beaver?

When I came upon this very close to sunset, three ladies were watching it. I never saw it’s tail. They said it was slapping it on the water. I think it is either a muskrat or a beaver. I passed by this area earlier and heard a slap on the water and assumed it was a fish jumping. It may have been this animal.

Both beaver and muskrats can live in lodges. There was a lodge nearby and both live in lodges. This was in a wetlands area affected by the tide, off the Hudson River. I am going to say it may be a beaver. I have been by this area many times and have not seen it come this close. Hopefully it is not rabid. There was a case of a rabid beaver on the River that went after a kayaker I think last year.

Hopefully the Beaver and you have a Marvellous Monday!

Returning Raccoon

I thought when I caught this raccoon last time, it would be a one off chance encounter. I did catch it back at the same tree hole on another trip. It did wake up long enough to get it with its eyes open.

It seems the tree hole does not really go down from where it is as it seems wedged in there. It does not look comfortable, but it has returned. Have a great weekend.

Another Tree, Another Raccoon

I have been swinging by this tree at least once a week for the past few years hoping to find an owl. Instead this morning I saw a tail and an ear. It was a racccoon.

It is a different tree from the one I posted a picture or a raccoon poking out of the hole in June. When I went by this morning, nothing was waking it up, and there was a lot of noise nearby. I returned before sunset and had to wait a while before it started stirring. It was too dark to use a zoom lens. I got closer to the tree than I normally would, but not too close. These are cropped quite a bit.

Since I have not see another hole occupant before, I am guessing this may not be this raccoon’s normal home. Possibly he was on top of the sleeping pile if he was with family. Have a Happy Thursday!

Fox on a Road

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 Road
Fox 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.

Raccoons in a Tree Hole

A lot of different animals can live in tree holes. Owls, wood ducks, opossums, and squirrels are some that do. I passed by this tree and saw a fuzzy ear sticking out one day. I decided to go back and it turned out to be a home for a raccoon family.

Raccoons in a Tree Hole- You can see part of the ear of another raccoon on the left side of the hole.

This was near sunset after a rainstorm with thunder and lighting. The light was not that great.

Raccoons in a Tree Hole- He was interested in me.

I am assuming I could be seeing the babies. People think raccoons only raid your garbage. They look cute, but they prey upon other animals like barred owls and screech owls and their young, or steal their eggs. They will go after mice and rabbits as well.

Raccoons in a Tree Hole- Someone else in the family wanted a peek.

Have a great weekend! Here’s hoping you will get some good weather out of it.

Osprey With a Fish

I finally saw the osprey go down to get a fish. Unfortunately, the pictures of him going in the water and coming out did not come out well because that happened behind a little scraggily bush on the other side of a very tiny island. These, however, came out okay.

Osprey With a Fish

It actually caught the fish right next to the shore. It started carrying it in the direction of the nest.

Osprey With a Fish
Osprey With a Fish

At this point I think it spotted another fish under the water and looked down for a while when flying. It did not appear to be looking at the fish it was carrying. When taking these shots it looked like he was going for a second catch on one run.

Osprey With a Fish

He took this fish to his perching spot near the nest and ate the whole thing himself. He did not share with his mate in the nest. These were taken at quite a distance with a zoom lens and are heavily cropped. Have a happy Wednesday!

Otters

Although otters can be found in New York in places such as the Adirondacks and the Hudson Valley, I have not spotted one in the wild in New York. I have only seen them at zoos. Last summer I did see some in England. There were multiple on one body of water.

Otters

Otters are fun to watch but hard to photograph. The day I saw these was a typical dark, dreary day, so the lighting was not optimal. They move quite fast and do not stay put long, so I had a hard time getting their head in focus and catching them while they were facing in somewhat my direction.

Otters

Regardless, they were fun to see. Have a great rest of your week.

Coyote

You could not miss this coyote. It walked across a busy road. It looked like it was following after something, but I never saw what that was. No, this is not in England. I took this tonight on my way home.

Coyote- Nice enough to pose for a couple of shots

It is not the best image. It was at night after a rain storm in low light. I had my camera in its bag in the back seat. I had to pull off and take it out. I saw the coyote go into a business parking lot, so this is where it is in this image. Note to self: I need to have my camera in the front seat readily available.

The coyote looks very scruffy. Could this be the result of a disease? May it be the battle scars of fights with other animals? It did not look to weary of people. It actually left a popular rail trail and was in a business parking lot. It stood there letting me take a couple of pictures. Sometimes I wonder what tales an animal could tell. If I had known it was going to do that I would have set my camera to a 1/800 of a second instead of 1/2000. What do you think it’s story would be?