The big trips to state and national parks are fantastic and should be worked into our schedules as much as possible. But I would go crazy if my encounters with nature were limited to only those trips. Neighborhood Nature comes to the rescue. Our neighborhoods, home counties, and even our backyards can offer unique wildlife and wildflower encounters. We just have to pay attention. Here are some of the encounters I had with Neighborhood Nature in 2019.
Let’s talk about turtles.
I witnessed two behaviors by soft-shelled turtles that I’m still a little baffled about. One morning while on a walk through the neighborhood Karen and I stopped to look at the creek. The flash of a fish and agitation at the surface caught our eyes. We watched a couple of sunfish (I presume) darting around a large (14-16 inch carapace) soft-shelled turtle that seemed to be biting at things in the water. I could not clearly see what the turtle was up to, but guessed it was eating something dear to the fish.
Now, if that was in fact what was happening, that would not have been strange except for what we saw a couple of weeks later. In the same stretch of creek, but about 300 yards farther downstream, I watched another (or the same) large soft-shelled turtle sitting submerged in the creek, while some sunfish and a small bass seem to take turns eating algae or something off the turtle as it held very still. There were no aggressive movements by the turtle and the fish seemed to be calmly waiting their turns. Does this happen?
A couple of more weeks later, we came upon a large soft-shelled turtle out of the water, travelling across land at the neighborhood park. As I approached it, I was a little taken aback by the size of its head and beak. I paused a moment to evaluate the situation, but decided to get a closer look. I made one step, and the turtle whipped around and raced, yes, raced, back to the pond. I was shocked at the speed it moved.
I was quickly reminded of something I read many years ago in an old Field Guide to Mammals of North American: Feral hogs can retreat or charge at 35 mph. What if that soft-shelled turtle could retreat or charge as fast as I witnessed? Hmmm… I have not seen any more soft-shelled turtles since that day, and I might be okay with that.
I suppose I should mention the large Common Snapping-turtle we have seen in the same stretch of creek. Without exaggeration, its head is as wide as a paperback novel. My grandmother once told me when I was a little boy that they will bite you and not let go until it thunders. Hmmmm…wiggling my toes in the creek has now been removed from the Bucket List.
Backyard Travelers
I would like for you to do an experiment as you read this section. Find a quarter and nickel and put those in the palm of your hand. Feel the weight of it, then keep that in mind.
In the spring and fall we had visitors or travelers originating from Central America to the northwest part of South America stop by on their way to the northern United States. They would only stay for the day or so and then leave us just after sunset the next evening. These little guys have a way of filling up the backyard.
Oh, that 30 cents you have been holding weighs more than any of these birds that traveled over 2000 miles to get here.
These three-and-half-inch-long birds can travel all that distance, avoiding swooping hawks and leaping cats, fighting through rain and wind, finding caterpillars and insects in the trees of my backyard to power their journey to the next backyard or woodlot until they reach their summer and winter homes. I like to think about that sometimes.
First Fox
We left for our Yellowstone trip at 5:30 am, and within a quarter mile of our house we saw a grey fox. This was the first fox I have seen in our neighborhood. One of the neighborhood churches leaves about an acre of their property growing wild in the spring. It has the appearance of a wildflower meadow that I have seen many people enjoying. The fox came from this meadow and hurriedly crossed the road in front of us. I’m sure the mice did not enjoy his visit as much as we did.
Surprise Visitor
This summer I was standing on the bank of a nearby creek at dawn focused on trying to determine if the legs on the sandpipers stomping around in the creek were yellow or black when I had the sudden realization that something had just walked up next to me. I looked down and I saw my visitor. I could tell by its reaction that I surprised him as much as he surprised me.
A half-grown skunk! Startled, he froze in place with his head low and backend elevated and his impressive tail sticking straight up. He seemed very frightened, which makes skunks dangerous.
Two things happened next that surprised me. First, he was so cute that I started scrambling for my cell phone to get a photo. Second, I noticed that I was getting farther away before I realized my feet were doing a Michael Jackson-like moon walk backwards all on their own. I decided that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing and continued on my way.
The little skunk began moving again once I was no longer a threat. He went to a rock pile and disappeared amongst the rocks.
Moving Day
One evening, as I walked by a window on the side of our house, I heard a strange chittering sound. One of our cats alerted to the sound and immediately went to the window. I peered out the window and saw a momma raccoon with two young ones following close by her side. She was alert and watchful, pausing every few steps to scan the area for dangers. The youngsters were in constant motion around her. Satisfied no danger was about, she and the young disappeared around the corner of our neighbors’ house.
The next evening just about dark I heard the same chittering sound and called for Karen to join me at the window. The momma raccoon led one baby to a nearby tree where it scrambled up about five feet. She then went back to our fence and made more chittering sounds and two more youngsters followed her to the tree. Three young ones! She returned to the fence and repeated the behavior and two more youngsters followed her back to the tree. Five young ones! Yet again, she went back to our fence. Even more talking this time. The last one was not easily convinced it was safe to venture out so far.
She finally talked him into following her to the tree. There she raised up on her haunches and looked for trouble. The shy one clung closely to her side, the others were in constant motion, up the tree, down the tree, all around momma.
Satisfied it was safe, she quickly led them to the dark shadows against the house and clung to these shadows as she disappeared around the corner with her SIX young swarming around her. Then they were gone. Full dark now, except for the street and porch lights.
Well, we had plans for the next night indeed. Karen and I were going to watch the raccoons leave the shed and walk across our patio, then we would go the window and watch them leave the yard. That evening as the sky was darkening, we turned off all our lights in the house, moved chairs up to the window, and waited for the show to begin. Ten minutes went by without any raccoons. Then fifteen. I started looking at my watch. Twenty. Uggg. We never saw them. Not the next night either.
I think the night we saw the mom and all six young was Moving Day. The two boldest ones had ventured out the first night I saw them, and now mom had moved them, even the reluctant last two. This was the most baby raccoons I have ever seen with an adult.
Why the Cats Stay Inside the House
One reason is we don’t want our cats eating our traveling guests or the local birds.
Another reason the cats stay inside is we don’t want the local birds eating the cats.
Crunches ‘em like Granola Bars
I am very excited to announce there is a correspondent for Dispatches from the Field. He lives a good distance south of me and has spent significant amounts of time exploring his patch of neighborhood. This summer, DC#1 found these wildflowers
I also received this correspondence from DC#1:
“As the flowers wane, I’m spending a little more bike time looking at Odonates along perennial creeks and ponds….”
“My favorite so far is the Great Spreadwing damselfly. It’s the biggest damselfly inthe U.S., and it literally eats little damselflies for breakfast.”
I replied back with the question about in what manner this “literally eats little damselflies for breakfast” occurs, and received the following reply.
“There’s an extraordinary website covering Arizona odonates, and the gallery for Great Spreadwings includes a couple of photos of them crunching smaller damselflies like granola bars: http://azdragonfly.org/species/great-spreadwing
Now the website is here for your enjoyment.
DC#1 also reported another find:
“I’m pretty sure that it’s the giant member of a genus of robber flies that mimic and eat bees, and also eat wasps and other insects.”
“Assuming that’s correct, the common name for it is the Beelzebub Bee-eater (aka Mallophora leschenaulti), and it’s known to occur in Texas”
Yikes! Even the plant this monster is perched on looks scary.
DC#1 is very tall so he sees more than I do. I hope very much to have more DC#1 reports in the future.
My Neighborhood Park
The local park is typical of most city parks, but we had a couple of nice encounters this past year.
A somewhat rarity for our part of the state showed up at the park this past January – a Couch’s Kingbird. This bird is more common in Rio Grande valley, but they are known to venture north in the winter.
We also had a nice splash of color at the park when this wandering flycatcher stayed for a few days.
But danger also lurks at my neighborhood park. Almost every time I go, I have to fend off an attack from this guy. One day I took a peace offering and tried to hand feed it to him and was promptly bitten quite hard for my troubles. We have not come to terms of peace yet.
A Brand-New Animal
I might be stretching the definition of “neighborhood” with this, but it did occur in the county where I live, so close enough. This October I saw an animal I had never seen in the wild before. I walked to the edge of a bridge to look down at the creek and saw that the silt in the creek had been disturbed. I thought to myself that maybe a turtle had crawled into the creek. Then, I saw it move on the bank, and I think my mouth literally fell open. I was not expecting an otter! I know a couple of folks that have seen otters in my home county, but I could not even find one in Yellowstone. Now here was one right before me.
I was so stunned I forgot I had a camera for a moment, so I did not get a picture until it was swimming away.
I could go on with even more adventures and encounters from last year, but will stop for now.
For the upcoming year, I hope to have more frequent posts, new types of Dispatches, more reports from DC#1, and maybe even more correspondents’ reports.
What was your favorite Neighborhood Nature encounter last year?
Go spend time in nature and tell someone about it.