What wildlife do you see on your rides?

Lately I've been walking/jogging more than biking, carrying my camera kit (makes for several pounds of extra excercize weight, totes my water bottle, and gives me an excuse to stop and catch my breath now and then), and watching out for birds. In the past couple of weeks I've got photos of three different bird species going through their mating rituals - American kestrel, Red-shouldered hawk, and Canada goose. Seeing a bobcat in broad daylight when on a hike with my husband back in November was at least equally thrilling, but my photos of it weren't so great.

We always see a lot of birds. Yesterday two huge crows swooped down and came a few feet from my DH's head. Kinda freakish, as I watched from 10 feet or so back. Also a nice large turtle in a creek was sunning himself on a log. Signs of spring!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PamNY

Ooh, the turtle is gorgeous. Was he heading across the road (I hope not)?

Catrin, I have seen deer do what your describe. Always makes me wonder what, if anything, they understand about cars.

Malkin, I am hearing more and more about Cooper's in urban areas. Don't know if it's coincidence, or if they are moving into cities due to lack of habitat.

---

I saw the turtle on the MUP so, he was "safe" --no cars just peds. and cyclists.

As I was climbing slowly the slopes of Mount Lemmon (outside Tucson) I had a wonderful glimpse of a Rock Wren perched on a rock (naturally!) and heard a Canyon Wren's descending whistle just a little further on. I heard, but did not see. some migrating Brewer's Sparrows, and resident Black-throated Sparrows, House Finches and Lesser Goldfinches. There were also a few Common Ravens soaring overhead.

These two guys are on my ride. They always come over to check me out!
Attachment 12831

depends what area i'm riding in usually iguanas, gerbils, snakes, lizards :)
or hermit crabs and alligators and turtles

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by drgynfyr

depends what area i'm riding in usually iguanas, gerbils, snakes, lizards :)
or hermit crabs and alligators and turtles

---

Gerbils?

yep, it was a gerbil :)

Only thing i could think of was someone let their pet go in there in the park.

Was sooo cute.

I saw a mob of about 30 kangaroos the other day. They looked so beautiful, all just relaxing close to the tress, wonderful!

Oooh, kangaroos! How do they react to humans?

Australian wildlife sounds so wonderful. We were just discussing butcher birds, bower birds and lyre birds on the Hornby Eagle chat.

I saw a roadkill bobcat kitten on a bridge. :( :( :( Poor thing must have died terrified, unable to get away from the traffic.

Pam-kangaroos are dang unpredictable & are most active right before sunrise, during sunrise and the same for sunset. They might be cute for all you in the northern hemisphere but they're no fun to run into either on a bike or in a car!!!

Whilst doing a practice lap for our race last week, I ventured out to the trail & had quite a few bounce over the trail in front of me. "ooo that's so cute you say.."..no!!! If you frighten one of them, you do understand who'll come out second best right....One of the pairs I saw was a mom & a younger roo. They & the others I saw hopped off in a flash.

I always hear something in the bushes rustle as I mtn bike..No clue what's out there but i'm not about to go looking....

There's a well known very easy & dang boring rail trail here we use to get to another cooool trail that's right beside a set of drops by a (at the momennt no water) waterfall. One night whilst out using said boring trail, two or three roos hopped ONCe accross the trail & into said drop...zooooommmm...off like a flash. It's not a drop that a human would just jump into..!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I saw a roadkill bobcat kitten on a bridge. :( :( :( Poor thing must have died terrified, unable to get away from the traffic.

---

Oh poor thing!
I saw a roadkill kangaroo today on my ride and could smell it for what seemed like kms before I got to it. Lucky me for being such a slow rider.:(

:eek: Bleeeecchh...Trekhawk, I too have come across the same thing whilst out on a trail & it's not a welcoming smell...

bleeecchh...pitooey..blahhh...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PamNY

Oooh, kangaroos! How do they react to humans?

Australian wildlife sounds so wonderful. We were just discussing butcher birds, bower birds and lyre birds on the Hornby Eagle chat.

---

best to keep away from...especially at "that" time of the month apparently, but they look amazing at a distance and bounce with such strength....we have a bower brid next in the neighbours garden, its built by the male to attract the girls and he covers the floor in blue things...any blue things...infact they take stuff from around your house, amazing nest too...love lyre birds too...the live out the back of our place, great mimics....sorry couldnt find the 'hornby eagle chat' :)

I went for a ride last week, first "lunch hour" ride for me of the season. I live in a small city, but just to the north and west is a State Park and some wetlands, so we have quite a bit of small wild-life near us like red foxes, swans, wild turkeys, deer, etc.

Anyways, I'm riding IN THE CITY and I see two large wild looking dogs running in unison towards me down the road. They were big. No collars on them and no one in site out walking or in their yards. I actually thought I was hallucinating for a minute, seeing something out of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

Fortunately they ran right passed me. Turns out they were Coyotes!!! I've been hearing about more and more sitings of coyotes in the area, but I had not seen one.

Now I've seen Coyotes and a Lynx out on rides near my home. Bears are starting migrate further and further south, so I imagine that it is only a matter of time before I spy one of those out on the trail.

Oh gosh, coyotes. It's interesting but so sad that they don't have the habitat they need. We've had them in NYC parks but I've never seen one.

The best wildlife I see on my rides has been endangered by our Parks Dept. placing rat poison very near the hawks' nest just before eggs are due to hatch.

It's too late to stop what has already happened but I'm doing what I can to publicize the situation. The above story came about because I contacted them, and I'm writing to everyone else I can think of.

The rat situation is due in part to poor handling of garbage. This is a long page, but you only need to glance at the first few photos to see the problem.

I smelled the skunk before I saw it... the poor thing looked like his head was stuck in a small bottle and either died of asphyxiation or starvation :( I obviously didn't take a close look as the possibility disturbed me so much. My boyfriend said I should've taken a picture to show people the destruction of garbage has on wildlife.

Awww, badger, that is so sad. That would really disturb me too.

Plastics suck! :mad:

Badger, that is terrible. A photo would be a good idea, but I'm not sure I'd want to be the photographer.

Saw some bunnies today, I if squinted my eyes just right they looked like Easter Bunnies!!!

on our ride yesterday we saw two bald eagles, some bunnies, lots of Canadian geese and seagulls.

thanks you guys for including the animals killed by our sloppiness...It hurts to read about it, but if we don't, they die totally in vain.

We saw a lot of cottontail bunnies out this morning. None had Easter baskets with them though.

Oh, bald eagles and bunnies. I am envious.

I agree that it's educational to include the human-caused bad stuff which is way too common in the world of wildlife.

Today a big bird flew RIGHT in front of me as I whizzed down a flat road. I was able to id it after it passed and headed into the woods. A pileated woodpecker! Made my day. :)

Cool- Pileated Woodpecker is a very special bird- not something we see in Arizona.

We had a lot of birds on our ride today too- Gila Woodpeckers, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture- and many we could just identify by hearing them along the way- Cactus Wren, Canyon Towhee, Lucy's Warbler, Bell's Vireo, Cardinal, Black-throated Sparrow, Cassin's Kingbird, Barn Swallows, House Finches, Broad-billed Hummingbird, White-winged Doves, Mourning Dove.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by azfiddle

Cool- Pileated Woodpecker is a very special bird- not something we see in Arizona.

We had a lot of birds on our ride today too- Gila Woodpeckers, Red-tailed Hawk, Turkey Vulture- and many we could just identify by hearing them along the way- Cactus Wren, Canyon Towhee, Lucy's Warbler, Bell's Vireo, Cardinal, Black-throated Sparrow, Cassin's Kingbird, Barn Swallows, House Finches, Broad-billed Hummingbird, White-winged Doves, Mourning Dove.

---

Great list! Would love to see a Gila woodpecker! I did see many other birds as well, mostly cardinals, mockingbirds, robins, one hawk, and some other small birds I couldn't ID. We had Pilated woodpeckers nesting on the property we sold last year, so it was a real treat for me to see the one here in the new 'hood.

One of the hawks I watch died over the weekend. We suspect he ate a poisoned rat, but necropsy results aren't back yet. The Parks Dept. found his body on Sunday, but didn't tell anyone, so we spent a miserable few days searching and worrying.

He was the father of newly hatched babies (about 10-14 days old) and it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the mother to raise them alone. I just visited the nest; the mom hawk is still calling for him. We can't know what birds feel, but I can tell you the humans who have watched this pair for years feel very sad.

Here's the last photo I took of Riverside Dad, showing a little bit of his brood patch.

Awwww, Pam. That is such sad news. I grieve over things like that. Poor Mama Hawk. Nature is so very cruel. :(

Saw a whole herd of javalina today at Saguaro NP. Last week, I was just a minute too late to see a Gila Monster.

Not as exciting as javalinas, but today I saw 5 bunnies, and a family of geese with 3 goslings. They were so cute, even the cars stopped for them. They were crossing the road, of course.

I saw a turkey vulture and a great blue heron flew right in front of me, it looked like it was going to turn around and fly back, but it ended up landing 5 feet from me.

I would so love to see javalina(s). Nothing is more wonderful than goslings.
Great blue heron is a cool thing to see, too!

I saw a yellow bellied marmot on this morning's ride

Cool- where was that?

Yesterday I saw six great blue herons ... one flew across the road right in front of me ... remembering Gil Scott-Heron who died on Friday.

Nice reference on the herons....

Wednesday, I saw a Gila Monster pointed out by the park ranger at Saguaro NP.

Today a Cooper's Hawk was keeping pace with me for a while. Saw an American Kestrel, too. Last weekend I noted over 30 species of birds along my 49 mile route, which was mostly urban and desert but also included a brief stop at a pond.

While not wild, today I saw 5 male reindeer and 3 females while on my ride. Also saw a few Llamas and some goats along with other interesting and exotic creatures not usually found in central Indiana :)

Last year they only had two males, the "baby" boys are getting pretty darn large - their antlers are quite impressive already! My assumption is they were born last year and not brought in. Hoping to get pics next time, this time I was fighting such a strong headwind that I did not want to stop...and a hill was coming.

The chipmunks are so crazy these days! They keep running in front of me. They're so cute; I'd hate it if I ever hit one.