Keep those wildlife photos coming in, folks (and an occasional landscape would be fine, too).
We’ll begin with a mammal—a relative of d*gs!—from Stephen Barnard in Idaho:
This coyote [Canis latrans] has been hanging out in the field in front of my house, hunting voles.
Reader Craig Carpenter sent a photo of a Green Heron (Butorides virescens):
Taken on small lake in North Georgia:
After years I finally have a couple of photos of Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) that I’m moderately happy with. His feathers are a bit wet as he’d just gone for a dip and was sitting obligingly enough for me to photograph while waiting for his feathers to dry.
Wikipedia discusses its diet:
Rainbow bee-eaters mostly eat flying insects, but, as their name implies, they have a real taste for bees. Rainbow bee-eaters are always watching for flying insects, and can spot a potential meal up to 45 metres away. Once it spots an insect a bee-eater will swoop down from its perch and catch it in its long, slender, black bill and fly back to its perch. Bee-eaters will then knock their prey against their perch to subdue it. Even though rainbow bee-eaters are actually immune to the stings of bees and wasps, upon capturing a bee they will rub the insect’s stinger against their perch to remove it, closing their eyes to avoid being squirted with poison from the ruptured poison sac. Bee-eaters can eat several hundred bees a day, so they are obviously resented by beekeepers, but their damage is generally balanced by their role in keeping pest insects such as locusts and hornets under control.
Nice bee eater shots, add to my favourite bird list, pity though I’m also a fan of bees…
What does Deets think about Wile E.?
Yeah, my d*gs wouldn’t abide a coyote on the property. Luckily coyotes don’t seem to be adept at jumping fences.
I love the stocky Green Heron. Apparently their summer breeding range overlaps where I live, but I’ve never seen one around here (western Washington).
That is a beautiful bee-eater. Sounds like they are difficult to photograph, so good job on that.
They’re not as bad as some but the thing is to try and capture some of the beauty of the colours. I have loads of lousy shots that don’t do them justice (not that these are magazine quality but I’m happy:))
A beautiful coyote. ‘He’ looks wise, dignified, calm.
Early one morning last week, before full light, my cat, Coco Chanel, and I were enjoying the morning out on the patio. She was sitting just off the concrete on the grass and I was standing a few feet away. Suddenly from behind and to our right a rabbit sprinted from the side yard, across the back yard and then up and over the berm marking the end of our yard.
About one second later a coyote came over the berm on a reciprocal heading to the rabbits, more or less straight at us. It crossed the berm perhaps 5 meters from where the rabbit had, trotted very casually in an arc that carried it to within about 8 meters of Coco and I until it intercepted the rabbits path. It then immediately turned to follow the rabbits path and passed back over the berm precisely where the rabbit had.
The coyote certainly was aware of us though it never looked at us. It likely knew we were there before it came over the berm into our view. But it was not inhibited by us at all. Coco, and I too, found it very interesting!
I wish I’d had my camera on me, damn it!