I enjoy going whale watching and although it's hit or miss that we see a whale close enough to see much whale, there are always thousands dolphins playing off the coast of SoCal, so the trip is always a success in my eyes. And yes, they treat bow waves like play grounds.
I see a lot of birds but very few mammals - a few rascally rabbits, the occasion muntjac or roe deer - and very rarely, a fox or a weasel.
I saw my first ever chiffchaff this morning - I've heard them quite often, but I actually saw this one. I saw my first ever redpoll a just over a week ago, at the The Lodge (the RSPB's headquarters) nature reserve . Locally there are lots of wildfowl at our local Country Park, some bright green invaders (Let the Reader understand), and the usual parkland/suburban avifauna. Oh, and many Red kites!
I went out for a walk on Monday and saw a lovely sulfur crested cockatoo in the street tree a couple of houses down. I didn't have luck getting a photo of him, however I am sure there will be other opportunities. Yesterday I rushed out to the worm farm with scraps and could see my streetlight over the roof of the house. There was another cockatoo sitting there and we looked at one another. Then overhead came the most terrible screeching and a whole flock of cockies flew over. I tossed the stuff into the worm farm and rushed inside. It felt as though I was about to be in an Aussie remake of The birds. I haven't moved so fast in ages!
Plenty of bird life in inner Sydney: magpies, cockies, kookaburras & noisy miners. There are brushtail possums in the trees nearby but they are strictly nocturnal. Woe betide you if they get into the roof cavity as they stomp around and grunt/ growl at each other. At sunset the flying foxes are out in droves flying from the Botanical Gardens to Centennial Park.
We have the same (?) Great Barred Owl living in our backyard, more or less. I think it nests in a tall tree of our neighbors, but hunts in our backyard, where we have a huge buffet of squirrels, rabbits, and voles due to the fruit and veg we plant but never get to eat.
I was horrified to read this morning that the lovely superb fairy wren could become extinct in 30-40 years, due to climate change. I guess the only upside is that I won't be here to see it.
These tiny birds nest in our jasmine vine and flit around so quickly that they excite our cats. I hope they will defy the odds ...
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BTW Mrs Gramps just saw a fox go through our back yard.
I saw my first ever chiffchaff this morning - I've heard them quite often, but I actually saw this one. I saw my first ever redpoll a just over a week ago, at the The Lodge (the RSPB's headquarters) nature reserve . Locally there are lots of wildfowl at our local Country Park, some bright green invaders (Let the Reader understand), and the usual parkland/suburban avifauna. Oh, and many Red kites!
These tiny birds nest in our jasmine vine and flit around so quickly that they excite our cats. I hope they will defy the odds ...