grass

I Claim This Rock!

March 16, 2023 — 10 Comments

F/5.6, 1/250, ISO 800.

Muskrat

Why did the cookie go to the hospital?

He felt crummy!

Interesting Fact: Muskrats are most active at night or near dawn and dusk. They feed on cattails and other aquatic vegetation. They do not store food for the winter, but sometimes eat the insides of their push-ups. While they may appear to steal food beavers have stored, more seemingly cooperative partnerships with beavers exist, as featured in the BBC David Attenborough wildlife documentary The Life of Mammals.[22][23] Plant materials compose about 95% of their diets, but they also eat small animals, such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, fish, and small turtles.[5][6] Muskrats follow trails they make in swamps and ponds. When the water freezes, they continue to follow their trails under the ice. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat#Behavior )

Peek A Boo!

February 17, 2023 — 10 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.

Green Heron

Why are ghosts so bad at lying?

Because you can see right through them!

Interesting Fact: Green Herons usually hunt by wading in shallow water, but occasionally they dive for deep-water prey and need to swim back to shore—probably with help from the webs between their middle and outer toes. One juvenile heron was seen swimming gracefully for more than 60 feet, sitting upright “like a little swan,” according to one observer. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green_Heron/lifehistory )

REMEMBER! You Are What You Eat!

November 24, 2022 — 20 Comments

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERONE!!!

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 400.

Wild Turkey Female

What did the turkey say to the computer?

Google, Google, Google

Interesting Fact: The female scratches a shallow depression in the soil, about 1 inch deep, 8–11 inches wide, and 9–13 inches long. Wild Turkeys use only the dead leaves or other plant materials already present at the nest site. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/lifehistory )

 

Don’t Forget To Set Your Scales Back 15 lbs Tonight.

November 23, 2022 — 18 Comments

F/6.3, 1/50, ISO 500.

Wild Turkey Male

What happened then the Turkey got into a fight?

He got the stuffing knocked out of him.

Interesting Fact: They display for females by strutting with their tails fanned, wings lowered, while making nonvocal hums and chump sounds. Males breed with multiple mates and form all-male flocks outside of the breeding season, leaving the chick-rearing to the females, The chicks travel in a family group with their mother, often combining with other family groups to form large flocks of young turkeys accompanied by two or more adult females. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wild_Turkey/lifehistory )

 

Please Keep Off The Grass!

November 3, 2021 — 3 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.

Northern Flicker

What can you hold without ever touching it?

A conversation.

Interesting Fact: The red-shafted and yellow-shafted forms of the Northern Flicker formerly were considered different species. The two forms hybridize extensively in a wide zone from Alaska to the panhandle of Texas. A hybrid often has some traits from each of the two forms and some traits that are intermediate between them. The Red-shafted Flicker also hybridizes with the Gilded Flicker, but less frequently. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker )

When Your Past Calls Don’t Answer. It Has Noting New To Say.

August 18, 2021 — 11 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 400.

Northern Flicker

What do you call a bear with no socks on?

Bare-foot.

Interesting Fact: Northern Flickers generally nest in holes in trees like other woodpeckers. Occasionally, they’ve been found nesting in old, earthen burrows vacated by Belted Kingfishers or Bank Swallows. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker )

I’m Not Mean. You’re Just A Sissy!

June 5, 2021 — 4 Comments

F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 250.

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

What do rabbits say before they eat?

Lettuce pray.

Interesting Fact: Females give birth in shallow ground nests, to young so helpless that perhaps only 15 percent survive their first year. Fortunately, rabbits breed three or four times every year and produce three to eight young each time.  ( https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/e/eastern-cottontail-rabbit/ )

I Really Regret Eating Healthy Today… Said No-One Ever.

May 27, 2021 — 4 Comments

F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 320.

Brown-headed Cowbird

What did the stamp say to the envelope?

Stick with me and we will go places!

Interesting Fact: Brown-headed Cowbird lay eggs in the nests of more than 220 species of birds. Recent genetic analyses have shown that most individual females specialize on one particular host species. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown-headed_Cowbird/  )

Chill With Me

May 19, 2021 — 5 Comments

F/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 450.

American Tree Sparrow 

Why don’t skeletons fight each other?

They don’t have the guts

Interesting Fact:  Misleadingly named by European settlers reminded of Eurasian Tree Sparrows back home, American Tree Sparrows are ground birds. They forage on the ground, nest on the ground, and breed primarily in scrubby areas at or above the treeline. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Tree_Sparrow/lifehistory )

Oh For Fox Sake!

May 12, 2021 — 28 Comments

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 500.

Red Fox

A chicken and an egg are having sex.

The chicken rolls off the egg and says, “I guess that answers that question.”

Interesting Fact: Foxes also signal each other by making scent posts—urinating on trees or rocks to announce their presence. ( https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/r/red-fox/ )