Ok here’s one that I didn’t expect. - This buck trying to mate with a steel bobcat sculpture we have on the property.
Two male Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes in combat. This is the first time I have ever encountered it. Photos were taken while I was at work using my iPhone 12 Pro so the photos are not in the best of quality.
P02[840:839] TT[520] E[174:0037]G[000:0x00] BV[133:8] IR[L:F:60] MOE[0:3] AL:[0:0
Adding because this ringtail, named "Kristyn", is the most beautiful ringtail in the world and deserves to be seen. :)
eaten
eating desert spiny lizard
Will continue to scour for better photos but this might be the best I've got. Peregrine caught the (bat?) pretty far west over the ocean. Not sure it will be identifiable. Screaming almost-fledgling for size reference
First-spring male. Usually it's the Hooded, not Bullock's, Orioles that feed at bottlebrush flowers.
Mississippi Bar bluffs.
Sea lion in the Sac River actively foraging on large fish, flinging them about until a boat came by, then not seen again. Sutter and Colusa Counties.
There is a small population at Dana point harbor of these strange all white squirrels. Are they albino or leucistic? What species are they? Why are there so many of them at this one site? They hang out in the rocks at the end of the point, over the bridge and down to the left.
This beautiful female Western small-footed bat was rescued n early September. It was brought into San Diego Humane Society Project Wildlife where an assessment found it was healthy. Project Wildlife volunteer team members cared for her to ensure she was well nourished and hydrated and able to fly well (in a fight cage). A diminutive species similar in size to a Myotis californicus, she weighed 4.9 grams at intake and 6.3 grams at release.
After passing all tests, she was transported back to Project Wildlife’s main campus in San Diego on 14 September for transport to a release site in the same general area as originally found. Volunteer Vryce and I met and found a suitable habitat in the background of a friend of mine who resides less than a mile north of recovery coordinates.
As per my standard practice, I set up an ultrasonic acoustic detector proximate in advance of release. Almost immediately another Western small-footed bat flew in and did a circle around me and my microphone, and stayed in the vicinity. A couple of minutes later fellow volunteer Vryce opened the transport carrier, the rehab transporter was opened, and the female gently removed and held out on Vryce's palm. She took off without hesitation.
The sonogram was recorded concurrently with release from Vryce’s hand. It shows a conventional MYCI sequence and what looks like a quick succession of social calls at half the normal MYCI frequency. The first screenshot (Image 6) is a compressed view. The second (image 7) is an uncompressed view that shows there was a series of acoustic pulses that when expanded show each was a series of very short duration, short interval calls. The sequence was also viewed in SonoBat (image 8).
It seems likely one of the two Western small-footed bats was communicating with the other. It isn’t possible to tell which one made the social call. Although purely speculative, it is fun to think the resident bat was a welcoming back party.
There were at least of 6 of them this day on an overlook across from Summitville Mine. Set up the GoPro since they were curious and approaching me, and got this great photo and video when they were messing with the camera. One of the my favorite critter encounters in two years of traveling.
Bat photography is hard. ID based on roosting behavior—large group (hundreds or thousands) in this warehouse. But let me know if that isn’t definitive.
Crazy thing, looked like bird feathers from distance but more like fungal hyphae, might be a hyperparasitized mushroom?
Mother Raccoon Coping with Her Two Rambunctious Kits
⭐This is one of my favorite observations from several years ago. I didn't take photos, only shot a Video.
The 4 still photos are snapshots created from the video.
(The GIF animates on a PC browser but may display as a still image on both Android and iPhone.)
I spooked it while doing my survey and it flew from the tree smack into the glass of the building..
NO PHOTO FOR METADATA PURPOSE
I literally said out loud to nobody, "Holy crap, what IS that??" when I saw this majestic thing. The blossom was at least 3 inches across. Seen at roughly 9000 feet elevation.
Mist netting with Gliselle Marin
Observation #100000!!!!! I figured this species would be appropriate for this milestone observation!
Moon at upper left. Cropped one second exposure with low intensity flash every 20 milliseconds, 52mm, f2.8, ISO 1000. Distance 30-40 feet.
Young bat that landed on my head. Need ID
I picked up loud audible bat calls directly overhead. It essentially sounded like an angry rodent chirping an chattering at the same time. The bat appeared to travel fast and direct while continuously calling. Possibly LACI given the flight? Possibly an aggressive interaction? The sonograms: 1 - unfiltered, 2 - 15 kHz cutoff, 3 - 25 kHz anti-katydid, 4 - 30 kHz anti-katydid. No orthopterans were recorded throughout the duration of the visit. The "noise" was generated during the call. All other calls recorded that night were relatively clean. The TE playback is interesting. This is call 1 of 2. Call 2 is at: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/131306199. Call 2 was recoded directly after call 1.
Bat found on side of building, taken into care and eventually released by bat rehabilitator D. Wilkins
Big mahalo to @damontighe for shining his UV light on this beauty. The round things are likely diverticula of the digestive system, being pushed against its exoskeleton by a load of eggs.
Kudos to @nmcnear for finding this explanation on BugGuide.
In Davis Mountains State Park. See 3rd photos for evidence of roosting, lots of poop below
This is about the 6th melanistic Eastern Chipmunk I have heard of in MA. It was in very good condition, so it was donated to a state mammal research collection.
Male red fox looking after his babies :)
Florida Bluet riding a sandwich through the inky void. This is not an altered photo, nor was this my sandwich.
Visiting Trichostema parishii at the California Botanic Garden
A California Ground Squirrel foraging a fallen orange in the historic orange grove.
Chomp.
the squirrel and dove were inseparable!
Stacy
I haven’t ever tried to find out what kind of bats these are. The population is thick though and all the shafts are full of them.
Holy shit did not expect to see a bat