Aug 31
Posted: under Activities, Wildlife.
Tags: Activities, Animal behavior, photography, reptile behavior, wildlife management August 31st, 2009
Several times in the past couple of years we’ve had to get a turtle out of the fence. The horse lots fencing is pipe with welded-mesh cattle panels welded to the pipe–so there’s a pipe at the bottom. Good safe horse fence, but not easy for turtles to maneuver through/around and turtles don’t seem to […] [...more]
Several times in the past couple of years we’ve had to get a turtle out of the fence. The horse lots fencing is pipe with welded-mesh cattle panels welded to the pipe–so there’s a pipe at the bottom. Good safe horse fence, but not easy for turtles to maneuver through/around and turtles don’t seem to have the idea of paralleling a fence to find a gap.
So yesterday evening, shortly before dark, the horses were acting freakish in the barn and south barn pen, and Richard spotted a good-sized turtle. I came out with the camera and first saw this:
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Aug 26
Posted: under photography, Water, Wildlife.
Tags: beauty, bird behavior, observation, photography August 26th, 2009
Some of the birds on the place usually stay away from the house, but in this severe drought we have the only substantial water (the creek’s dry at the south end of town, a mile downstream–and probably beyond that, too.) In the past week, with a slightly decreased workload, I’ve been out looking for migrants […] [...more]
Some of the birds on the place usually stay away from the house, but in this severe drought we have the only substantial water (the creek’s dry at the south end of town, a mile downstream–and probably beyond that, too.) In the past week, with a slightly decreased workload, I’ve been out looking for migrants in the back yard–hearing more different songs. Today I was lucky enough to photograph this gorgeous male summer tanager:
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Aug 21
Posted: under Water, Weather, Wildlife.
Tags: beauty, climate, photography, Weather August 21st, 2009
Our backyard water garden, filled from collected rainwater, is longer than the house–over sixty feet, comprised of pools of different shapes and sizes with narrow “chutes” of water between them. In this drought year, it’s the largest water source for wildlife for more than a mile in any direction: stock tanks are dry, the little […] [...more]
Our backyard water garden, filled from collected rainwater, is longer than the house–over sixty feet, comprised of pools of different shapes and sizes with narrow “chutes” of water between them. In this drought year, it’s the largest water source for wildlife for more than a mile in any direction: stock tanks are dry, the little water guzzlers on the 80 acres are much smaller, the nearest water in the creek is a mile downstream (and has dried up several times.)
This upper end, narrow and partly shaded even in drought, attracts the shyer small birds and shade-preferring dragonflies.
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Aug 13
Posted: under Climate Change.
Tags: climate, drought, prairie restoration August 13th, 2009
Since habitat management is part of wildlife management, restoration of degraded or poor habitat is part of our job as wildlife managers. The basic concepts were laid down years ago…but the devil’s in the details, as usual. The July 31, 2009 Science had an entire section on restoration ecology, with examples drawn from around the […] [...more]
Since habitat management is part of wildlife management, restoration of degraded or poor habitat is part of our job as wildlife managers. The basic concepts were laid down years ago…but the devil’s in the details, as usual. The July 31, 2009 Science had an entire section on restoration ecology, with examples drawn from around the world showing the benefits, costs, and difficulties in this field. Especially with the advent of global warming.
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