It's Not Just Birds You Know

I haven't been posting as much as usual but that doesn't mean that I'm not out birding almost every day in every way.  When you are out in the fields and woods and marshes and beaches as much as I am, you see more than just birds. 

Take last week for instance.  I saw more snakes than I really want to.  The first one showed up in our yard and then showed up again on the porch! Here he is in the mop bucket on his way back outside. It turns out to be a Pine Snake which is pretty rare and not poisonous (which I didn't find out until after I picked it up).

Pine Snake (baby)

Here is another tiny snake that I ran into last week. This one is a Brown Snake. He was having trouble crossing the paved path at Pennypack park so I gave him a helping hand, well finger.  I had to help 3 more across the path that same day.

Brown Snake (baby)

I also saw a Mink this week at Turkey Point.  I wasn't fast enough to get a photo but suffice it to say they look better alive than on an old lady's shoulders.

My friend Harvey was brave enough to pick up this Fiddler Crab for a photo. Check out that claw!

Fiddler Crab

Wild animals aren't they only beasts that we encounter on our outings.  Here are some adorable farm animals that we made friends with last weekend.  Come on! How cute is this guy?  It's a baby Alpaca that's wearing a little orange safety vest. When do you ever see anything that cute?

Alpaca

Here is Roxy meeting a new friend.  They really hit it off. I wonder if it's because the pig smells like bacon? 

Roxy and Pot-bellied Pig

It was old home day for Roxy when she saw a Goat. Roxy spent time with goats before we adopted her.

Roxy and her Homie

I'm starting to think I should call this post - Roxy and Friends.  Here she is after we went blazing a trail through a wet field in search of Lincoln's Sparrow - which we did finally see.

Wet Dog

 I'll leave you with this photo of 2 tired dogs driving home from yet another day of birding.

Sammy and Roxy - Tired Dogs

Non Bird Post

While running around looking for birds this week, I have seen alot of other animals so I thought I would share some photos.  You already saw the Harbor Seal from the beach. Here are some others. Let's start with cute and work our way toward the you-might-not-wanna-look. This cute Raccoon stuck his head out of the tree as a few of us were looking at Great-horned Owl babies in a nest above.  What a surprise.

Raccoon

Here is a Red Bat that I happened upon at John Heinz Refuge. I just happened to see a Robin fly out of a little Oak tree and noticed something still swinging.  This bat is hanging just 2 feet above the ground. Red Bats migrate south in winter, so I guess this guy is heading back north.  Cute little fellow.

Red Bat

 Here is a Snapping Turtle looking for love at Heinz. This is just one of about 2 dozen Snapping Turtles that I saw in the park either in the water or crossing the path.  I guess it's that time of year where even the ugly creatures find a mate.

Snapping Turtle

Snakes, I never saw so many Garter Snakes as over the past few days. Patty and I walked up on 2 snakes fighting over the same tasty frog. Here they are playing tug of war. Poor frog.

2 Garter Snakes

One of the snakes finally let go and the victor finished off the frog. Here is a close up of the gory meal.

Garter Snake with Frog

One final photo for the post today. Yes, it's a bird. In fact, it's 2 birds - one eating the other.  The predator is a Peregrine Falcon and the prey is a poor Northern Flicker. This scene was captured at Pennypack Trust. The Peregrine flew over my head carrying the hapless woodpecker and perched across the creek to eat.  The photo isn't great due to the distance and lighting but it is good enough to see that the falcon is banded.

Peregrine Falcon with Flicker

Well, there you have it. Next post is back to birds.