What wildlife do you see on your rides?

[tulip]

Saturday:
2 bald eagles flying low, just caught some snakes
a bunch of stingrays (I had stopped on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay, and there they were-a whole lot of them cavorting in the shallows)
the usual osprey and great blue herons

[Catrin]

I saw another doe today on my ride - these past 4 rides in a row I have seen at least one deer on my route - and they have been different routes! Hopefully they will continue to show themselves without running across the road in front of me

[azfiddle]

Saw several really big Desert Spiny Lizards this morning.

[OakLeaf]

On Thursday, a young buck, just getting this year's antlers.

Today, a herd of prancing horses - aka some Ferrari club out for a Sunday ride. That was a treat to hear and see.

[Catrin]

Deer sightings continue

[withm]

In the last couple of weeks I've encountered a some more unusual critters. I don't count egrets, herons, eagles, osprey, rabbits, or even deer any more - they are pretty common around here.

A flock of turkey hens (probably 20+)
Red fox
Trumpet Swans in a lagoon where I have never seen them before. Though there is a resident pair at a pond a few miles away. And haven't seen them there again since.

My barn owl is back again. He comes to hang out in the woods behind my house for a couple weeks at a time. I have never been able to find him - it's usually dark when he makes his presence known. He sounds like this:
http://enature.com/fieldguides/view_...urFamilyID=203

Essentially he just screeches every 10-20 seconds for hours in the evening - from around 7-10pm. Yikes!

And today I took a detour through a heavily wooded fresh water marsh area, had to walk some because the dirt track was sandy in places and was not designed for 700x23 tires. Saw an indigo bunting, a totally iridescent and beautiful bird.

[salsabike]

I love this thread.

[PamNY]

I love this thread too, and it makes me want to bike everywhere!

Saturday I saw a huge flock of cedar waxwings. It seemed as if there were thousands of them, swooping down, feasting for a bit and taking off again. I've seen them in groups, but never that many. I also saw an egret and turkey vulture.

On a sad note, we lost another baby hawk. His body was still in the nest yesterday. The one remaining baby seemed to be looking at him with great curiosity.

[marni]

Usually all I see is road pizza possums, skunks, squirrels, cats and dogs with an occasional and rare live specimen showing up. I was riding around a lake which is actually a cooling pond for a power station and is quite out in the country and I saw a wild hog disappearing into the pines- a short while later I spotted two scissor tail fly catchers which always delights me because they look so much like something invented by Dr. Seus.

marni

[Owlie]

Songbirds of varying stripes, mostly. A couple of house finches, a goldfinch, cardinals, the usual sparrows and mourning doves on today's ride. Also a bright blue bird whose identity I don't know. Crows, red-tailed hawks, and turkey vultures. Gray squirrels, the occasional chipmunk, white-tailed deer (saw two on Sunday's ride), and cats. I also nearly brained myself on a female cardinal over the weekend!

[DebW]

A fox crossed the road in front of me on Monday while biking down 2A in Lexington.

[makbike]

Yesterday was turtle day. I stopped twice along the ride to move a turtle off the road. The first one was fairly large, the size of a dessert plate. It was sitting on the yellow center line. I moved it across the road and wished it good luck. The second one was rather cute. It was a baby and fit nicely in the palm of my hand. It would have taken it an eon to cross the road. I gave it a helping hand and moved it across the road. Again, I wished it good luck. It has a lot of growing to do. I hope it survives.

Today was rabbit day. The Eastern Cottontails, big and small, were out in force. I don't recall a ride where I encountered so many rabbits.

[salsabike]

Pam, where do you see waxwings in NY?? I love them.

Love raptors too. We have lots of bald eagles around here--I mean, on the bike trails as well as in the general region.

[Catrin]

Last night I saw not one, but two deer! One was a fawn that stepped up to the edge of the road as I approached. I talked to her and asked her kindly to wait for me to pass, and she turned around and went back into the woods Later on a large beautiful buck bounded across the road in front of me! I was far enough away that I was able to enjoy watching him.

Seems that right now all I see are deer, at least on the bike. When hiking last weekend I saw several salamanders peeking out from under a rock as I crossed a stream on a mountain bike trail. They probably thought I couldn't see them

[Bike Chick]

Yesterday was turtle day. I stopped twice along the ride to move a turtle off the road.

Yes, what is it with turtles all of a sudden??? There must be a huge migration between Kentucky and Illinois. Ha! Ha! I must've seen six box turtles on my ride yesterday. I also saw wild turkeys, deer, rabbits and squirrels. The critters were busy early in the morning.