Category Archives: herptiles

August’s goulash

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Alistair

  This is a collection of August’s pictures that lacked a posting of their own.  This strange looking bird is just a juvenile Robin. Wintering in the Amazon, this Red-eyed Vireo is near the limit of its summer range. The … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, bugs, herptiles, mammals, wildflowers | 5 Comments

June’s goulash

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Alistair

  This is a collection of June’s pictures that lacked a posting of their own.  June began with a dipper feeding a bug to one of it three chicks. This purple virgin’s-bower (Clematis occidentalis) is a western flower. If one … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, herptiles, weather, wildflowers | 4 Comments

Ravens and mice

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Alistair

  Ravens have intelligence. Indeed, lab studies demonstrate that ravens will cooperate on a project that requires two of them. If yesterday’s test is a measure, they regularly cooperate on a joint exercise in the wild. Mind you, it all … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, herptiles | 3 Comments

September goulash

Posted on September 30, 2021 by Alistair

  My usual claim for my monthly goulash is that it presents a collection of images that lacked postings of their own. Again true this month, it was also the case that previous postings this September were remarkably few — … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, bugs, herptiles, mammals, weather | 8 Comments

Western toadlets

Posted on July 18, 2021 by Alistair

  Locals have a thing for toadlets. There are even Toadfests where people help them move from a pond to adjacent woods so as to enable them to cross intervening roadways. But, many toadlets make it to the woods without … Continue reading →

Posted in herptiles | 3 Comments

June goulash

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Alistair

  This is a selection of June images none of which had a posting of its own. While not exclusively birds, there is certainly a preponderance of them. Two Bald Eagle chicks still in the nest are scrapping over a … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, bugs, herptiles | 7 Comments

Toad amplexus

Posted on June 1, 2021 by Alistair

  Toad amplexus ≡ toad sex Amplexus (Latin for embrace) is a type of mating exhibited by western toads (and other amphibians) in which there is physical contact, but fertilization is external to the body. During amplexus, a male uses … Continue reading →

Posted in herptiles | 2 Comments

April goulash

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Alistair

  This is a collection of April’s images, each of which lacked a posting of its own. A Tree Swallow couple prepares to do housekeeping. The Northern Pintail is most often seen in the spring and fall as it migrates … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, herptiles, mammals | 10 Comments

July goulash

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Alistair

  This is a collection of images from this July that did not have postings of their own. The idiom, snake in the grass, implies treachery. In reality, our garter snake is harmless. This Cedar Waxwing seemed intent on expressing … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, herptiles, mammals | 2 Comments

April goulash

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Alistair

  This is a collection of images from April, each of which lacked a posting of its own. If a robin is swallowing worms, it must be spring. This is a female. The Varied Thrush is a close relative of … Continue reading →

Posted in birds, bugs, fish, herptiles | 10 Comments