What wildlife do you see on your rides?

[Aggie_Ama]

I saw a fox mountain biking Saturday, no photos I just admired the little guy. Actually it was full grown, a little startled. It was really cool, though. Also saw some sheep and black angus but those are expected because it is a ranch. Saw a roadrunner on the trail Sunday, my favorite bird.

[withm]

We rode at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday. It's sort of cheating to reply here with the critter count, but this is what we saw:

3 bald eagles
10 turtles
1 nutria
1 fox
2 deer
lots of great blue herons
lots of egrets
lots of ducks
a gajillion geese - Canada & snow geese
1 cat
1 grasshopper

And we heard osprey but couldn't find them.

[HillSlugger]

I saw a nice garter snake on Sunday.

[Desert Tortoise]

Yesterday morning (Monday) I saw a huge owl perched on a powerline. He even hung around for awhile after I stopped to watch him. He screeched at something in the distance, looked at me, looked back to the same place, screeched some more, hung out for a bit longer and then flew across the street to some trees where.....another owl came flying down towards the first.

This was incredible!! This all happened close to 6 am, which seems late by owl standards. Around here they seem to come out late at night or in the very early hours of the morning. I've only gotten glimpses of them at night and hear them more often. Sometimes on my house's roof. This is the first year I have heard two of them up there hooting away. I wonder if the two I saw in the morning are the same that like to hang out in my neighborhood? I was only 2 miles from my house.

This was a treat!!

[PamNY]

What a great day at Blackwater! Owls sound like a treat, too -- do you know what kind?

Garter snakes -- gosh I haven't seen one in years, being a city person now.

[7rider]

Deer are active in the park through which I ride to/from work this time of year, being mating seaon. The bucks will chase does across the street without regards for anything around them. I frequently see small herds running near the edge of the street.

Unfortunately, this season also brings out the Gawker - usually little old ladies in Subarus who gaze upon this natural wonder before them, and allow their cars to drift across the lane into the shoulder where yours truely is biking. (Okay..."little old ladies in Subaru's" is a generality, but it was an actual occurence yesterday).

Strangely, drivers are willing to patiently slow down for deer in the street (and disinclined to lay on their horn), but not always so willing to show the same courtesy for cyclists. Maybe I should put antlers on my helmet and hang a white furry tail from my rear rack!

[Desert Tortoise]

PamNY, I know nothing about types of birds and such but I did a quick search on the Arizona Desert Museum's site (I'm just outside of Tucson) and figure it was the great horned owl. Even in the low light of the early morning I could see it was easily over 1 ft tall and there was no missing the huge ear tufts.

[azfiddle]

Yes, Great Horned Owl. There are some other owls in our area, but none so large.

Desert Tortoise, if you ever ride the Aviation bikeway near Craycroft (where it is on the south side of the street) you can see burrowing owls in a hole- they are diurnal. The rest of our owls are smaller and definitely less visible- screech (year round), elf (summer only) are both in saguaro areas and oak-sycamore areas at higher elevations. Sometimes there are Long-Eared Owls up at Catalina State Park in the winter.

[Desert Tortoise]

Thanks, Fiddle! Now that I'm biking more consistantly, I hope to venture out again and do more than my little weekday 1 hour rides.

I love Catalina State Park. You can bike through there? I've only done walk/run for a fundraising/training program.

[azfiddle]

I saw a mountain lion today!!! How cool is that?

I was riding up to Saguaro National Park, and about 1/4 mile from the entrance. The area is a neighborhood of low density housing with a lot of desert vegetation. The lion walked across the road as I was riding toward it, stepped into the desert brush and stopped 30-40 feet off the road. It turned and looked at me as I passed.

I was so excited, it gave me an extra burst of energy for that last 1/4 mile.

I was a field biologist before I was a teacher, and I have spent countless hours in appropriate habitats birding and working as a biologist, and though I've seen tracks I've never seen a lion.

[Desert Tortoise]

Mountain lion!! Was this at the East SNP? How big was it?

Um, if I had seen one I would get a burst of energy too. To get away fast! Maybe that's my hiking experiences in some lion attack areas. Guess on a bike it's different. You look bigger and can move faster.

They sure are beautiful, glad you got to see one safely!

[azfiddle]

Desert Tortoise- I was not scared- I was truly excited. It was near SNP east- about 1/4 mile northwest of the entrance. To be honest, it took some time to register that it was actually a lion. One part of my brain said "cat", one said "dog", because it was big. Then I saw the long tail. I've seen bobcats many times and they are much smaller, but I thought the mountain lion would look bigger. It looked like a medium-large dog, but shorter legged and lower to the ground.

BTW- you can ride up to Catalina State Park, and there is a paved road through part of the park, but of course there are a lot of hiking trails there. That's where I got married- 27 years ago!

[PamNY]

Oh, mountain lion. That's exciting. I'm glad you were excited instead of scared.

[PamNY]

A juvenile hawk spent several hours delighting watchers in Riverside Park. Not sure if he's local, but totally sure he is beautiful.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8867349...th/6329798553/

[shelley marenka]

What animals do I see when I ride???

The Sierra Foothills offer the most beautiful riding terrain in Northern California! We have so much here to take in on a local country ride...

Beautiful hawks sit on fence posts taking in the sunshine, while other small birds fly alongside me as if they are racing!

California cows are happy munching on the hillsides with their small calf's, and
herds of horses are everywhere!

Egrets and Blue Herons surround the small ponds and lakes.....
and then there are those mini reptiles...that I try to avoid...

Blessings on your next ride!
Join me here in the foothills and I'll take you on a lovely tour!