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El Burbo posted:Went down to the beach, saw a good helping of birds including an osprey ospreys are amazing birds. watching them dive on fish will never get old. One cool thing about them compared to most other fishe eating raptors (like bald eagles) is that when osprey catch fish they turn them in their talons to be parallel to their bodies which makes them far more aerodynamic
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Sep 12, 2021 00:48
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Tree Bucket posted:Another trip to our local ironbark forest. Today's sightings include... I found out what a rakali was a while ago and went on a bit of a deep dive on them; they're really a perfect example of the harm a bad common name can do to a species. Even though they are rodents, rakalis are predators and are one of the few native predators that can successfully prey on invasive cane toads while avoiding the poison glands, meaning they have massive potential for controlling actual invasive species. They basically fill the ecological niche small semiaquatic mammalian predators like the mink fill here in the US and in Europe, and they're really neat animals that have been persecuted because they're "rats," which I gather is a word most australians immediately associate with invasives. anyways here's some rakali pics (not mine). They're kinda pretty (for a large, aquatic, predatory rodent, anyways) and I'm not even sure they're particularly well known in aus let alone elsewhere.    Chernobyl Princess posted:
Herons are the most brutal avian predators out there and the fact they aren't technically a "bird of prey" always tickles me
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Feb 20, 2022 02:06
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saw this big black beauty on a walk in CT yesterday...not sure if its a racer or ratsnake? he was pretty chill which made me think ratsnake but im not great at telling them apart 
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Sep 26, 2022 12:19
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Captain Invictus posted:I wonder if there would be an armadillo pet industry if they weren't little leprosy vector. they seem like awesome little guys. Though I'm imagining what those front claws could do to drywall etc. might keep them niche? poverty goat posted:it happened again lmao Does this window have any muntins, or otherwise have anything hanging in/on it? If not it might be worth putting up an adhesive thermometer or something to signal there's a plane there, window strikes are a major cause of bird injury and death iirc
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Nov 7, 2022 04:58
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cheetah7071 posted:
They look like cormorants, though which species I can't tell. You can see their little webbed feets  E: some quick googling tells me they're most likely double crested cormorants, since it looks like the other two species you guys have in the PNW have dark bills. Same species we commonly get here in the northeast! free hubcaps fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Nov 13, 2022 |
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Nov 13, 2022 00:43
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Boop that snoot
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Nov 24, 2022 22:08
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Spiders are great but house centipedes are my favorite "helpful but terrifying home friend who always unjustly gets smashed out of fear". They're basically tiny housecats.
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Dec 17, 2022 15:28
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Stoner Sloth posted:and a common brushtail MODS?!?
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Dec 18, 2022 14:01
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 an unusually large pinecone young bald eagle on the tree next door
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Mar 10, 2023 23:35
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 had a backyard visitor the other day
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Apr 1, 2023 20:05
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Cichlidae posted:Here's a non-turkey bird pal. We've got a mated pair of red-tailed hawks here, and this little hawk was right in the middle of their territory today. I'm really bad at IDing hawks apart from really distinctive ones like adult red tails and harriers; could maybe be a rough legged hawk? I think they have eye markings like that but usually have a dark chest I think. It doesn't help that lots of hawk species have color morphs also.
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Apr 2, 2023 23:30
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the dreaded treehog
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Apr 8, 2023 23:05
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BonHair posted:I saved up a few critters for the thread. If I'm posting too many boring critters, I don't care, I think they're neat. There are no boring critters and you can never post too much. Those are all adorable, I really wish we had hedgehogs in the US.
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Apr 10, 2023 13:06
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Yeah I'd guess boat tailed grackle, they're entertaining little guys Looks like he had some fishing line or something wrapped around one of his legs 
free hubcaps fucked around with this message at 11:29 on Apr 30, 2023 |
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Apr 30, 2023 11:27
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Silver Falcon posted:I like how the oriole went to the orange feeder. "Hmm, this one is orange. I am orange. Clearly it was made for me!" Also the grosbeak's colors match the house behind- red brick, white trim, black shingles Both beautiful birds!!
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May 8, 2023 14:48
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Lol stoop kid is a great name for a falcon, gj
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May 10, 2023 01:20
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Tree Bucket posted:That's a handsome bird. He really is looking right at you! Looks like a lesser antipodean spineshroom to my trained eye
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May 22, 2023 21:33
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my cat is norris posted:
I get why people are freaked out by house centipedes but they are so cool. Basically miniature housecats.
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Jun 19, 2023 20:36
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Your damselfly is probably an ebony jewelwing, yea they are really striking
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Jun 27, 2023 04:39
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Chinston Wurchill posted:I met this strange fly on the weekend. Robber flies are so fuckin badass
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Jun 27, 2023 16:55
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Captain Invictus posted:so a few years ago I think I posted in this or a previous thread about the trap I set to catch a squirrel in my attic, but when I went to get it, I found this guy inside it instead. Weasels are amazing critters and you're lucky to have close encounters with your local one, they're pretty elusive little guys despite how common they are
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Jul 3, 2023 13:08
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Captain Invictus posted:Oh yeah, he didn't pop out of the ground until I had been sitting basically stone still on the front step for 10 minutes. And the INSTANT I reacted to him popping up he was gone in a flash. Out of curiosity, does he turn white in the winter? Apparently it's a genetic thing and climate change is actually loving weasels over in some areas where it used to snow a lot, where they still get their white coats but there's so little snow on the ground that instead of serving as camouflage it makes them stand out more.
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Jul 3, 2023 13:25
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I like their rusty lil butts
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Jul 16, 2023 08:34
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drat thats cool
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Jul 23, 2023 18:32
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McGavin posted:The absolute first thing you would notice about a dobsonfly are it's massive jaws. Iirc female dobsonflies have relatively normal sized jaws, but yea I don't think that's one
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Aug 18, 2023 14:26
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Chinston Wurchill posted:
I could be wrong but based on the black eyemask I think this may actually be a wood frog! One of North America's coolest frogs. they can freeze almost completely solid in winter and then thaw out in the spring
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Aug 30, 2023 20:31
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Chinston Wurchill posted:This is likely the worst picture I'll ever post in here, but I'm excited about the blackish and whitish blob on the lower branch of the large tree in this photo! Kingfishers are awesome birds. They dig their nests into sandy banks along waterways, so keep your eyes peeled for a ~3" diameter hole in an exposed bank near where you saw them!
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Sep 29, 2023 09:30
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The Red Queen posted:If only there was some kind of defining characteristic that would give me a hint to what kind of hawk this is but alas... Looks like a scarlet tailed sparrowhawk to me
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Jan 28, 2024 22:59
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This is a mostly uninformed guess but the giant facial stiletto and longish legs make me think it may be some sort of robber fly? There's a lot of different species and while most of them have pretty thin bodies I know there are bumblebee mimics and other species with fatter abdomens like your little guy here. Robber flies are cool as gently caress and imo the ultimate badasses of the insect world.
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Feb 9, 2024 00:01
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iirc the coyotes we have in New england/the northeast are pretty significantly larger than the ones out west and down south, in part because of hybridization with remnant wolf and dog populations but also due to the grey wolf being gone do long and the coyotes adapting more to larger prey.
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Mar 1, 2024 11:53
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Idk about Stinkbugs, but they are generally very good about eating all sorts of other, more annoying bugs. Also they groom themselves like cats which is cute.
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Mar 2, 2024 02:42
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Extremely badass bastards though, probably some of the most impressive predators on the planet.
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Mar 27, 2024 14:39
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