Category: Wildlife

Raccoon

On By CarynIn Wildlife

In the snowy landscape of the last storm, the trail cam picked up the image of a raccoon.

Photo description: night vision view of a raccoon standing on a bench behind the coop

Raccoon spottings have been few and far between.

Wild bird roll call

On By CarynIn photography, Wildlife

As we sat iced in and watched the birds eat seeds, I took pictures. I managed to get shots of most of the menagerie. The iNaturalist app helped me with identification.

Photo description: red-bellied woodpecker hanging on a suet feeder
Photo description: orange-crowned warbler sitting on a snow covered seed tray
Photo description: dark eyed junco eating seeds on the ice
Photo description: mourning dove eating seeds on the ice
Photo description: female downy woodpecker on a suet feeder
Photo description: Harris’ sparrow eating seeds on the ice
Photo description: Carolina wren sitting in a seed tray
Photo description: white winged dove eating seeds on the ice
Photo description: American Goldfinch in its winter colors eating seeds

I did not get photos of the titmouse, or the blue jay, or the crows. The jays and crows kept their distance, but the titmouse were all over the feeder, so there wasn’t really a reason they did not make the roll.

Piebald Dark Eyed Junco

On By CarynIn Wildlife

One of the entertainments during the cold lockdown was watching the birds on the back porch. I threw seeds out onto the snow (haha, “snow”, it was solid ice), and we watched from our kitchen table. I saw one unusually colored bird and snapped some photos. SamBiology on iNaturalist figures it is a piebald dark eyed junco. Neat.

Photo description: piebald dark eyed junco front view
Photo description: piebald dark eyed junco side view
Photo description: piebald dark eyed junco back view

Piebald: having irregular patches of black and white.

“Piebaldism is a genetic condition caused by the improper migration of melanocytes during development. As a result, birds develop irregular, unpigmented (white) patches on their feathers or skin, while the rest of their body retains its normal pigmentation.” – Nature’s Way Birds

Oh possible ID

On By CarynIn Wildlife

I think I’m seeing three different opossums on the trail cam closest to the coop.

Photo description: opossum #1, smaller, darker, head narrower
Photo description: opossum #2 thicker, lighter in color, larger through the jowl and neck
Photo description: opossum #3, oh dude, you look like you’ve been through the wringer and seen some stuff, could this be a geriatric opossum?

I had to look up the lifespan of a wild opossum: 2 years. So a three-year-old opossum would be elderly. Now I’ll be watching for another glimpse of them.

I am pleased that my new trail cams give me enough resolution to identify individuals.