While driving around northern Napa County early one evening, I spotted this Black Bear just ambling across a hillside, and I was able to snap a couple of good photos before he headed into a nearby Chamise patch. It appeared to be a 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 year old male Black Bear of about 150 pounds or so. Private Property - No Public Access.
Tracks seen at the Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area while teaching a tracking workshop to Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologists. First county record as far as we know.
Thanks to @isabelgb, @thompsonmark23, and @sage_ray for contributing to understanding of this unique mole HUMERUS. This paper offers helpful confirmation: https://kb.osu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/f9ee1dc4-2aac-54b3-adec-d5e174bbc3eb/content
Found alone about 20 feet from pond edge, in soft mud. If it was an otter scat, there would be more liquid binding, there would likely be several pieces, and there would be tracks/drags around it. GBH is the only bird that regularly eats crayfish and could produce a pellet of this size.
on secured dumpster, SFSC Sierra Nevada Field Campus; my hand span is 7"
Harassed by two American Crows while flying over Union Bay. Viewed from southwest section of trail starting from UW Center for Urban Horticulture.
While in mating posture with male clasping her head, the female uses her ovipositor to scratch a slit in cattail leaves, where she then deposits her eggs. These marks are extensive throughout the cattails.
Width of metatarsal pad is greater than 50mm, so likely a male
Right front (1st photo) and left front
From left to right across top: 2 humeri, 1 femur, 2 tibia. Rib below.
about 5 feet above water, midway up a 10 foot rocky cliff / wall.
banded on left leg but unable to see any numbers, been hiding out since yesterday’s storm
1000th Observation 🎉
One of the best species of all time
Skull, keel, coracoid, and two long bones present. IDing as robin based on size, but I welcome alternative considerations. @lizardking
Wings broken off, some primaries and scattered. Alums and some primary coverts present. One secondary with a broken quill tip. Feather end damage hints towards a mammal as predator, but wing split and lack of any body feathers or other parts (except for really neat sclerotic rings!) suggests it may have been killed and carried away by a bird.
Predation by sharp-shinned hawk. Witnessed. Major wing feathers plucked, contour feathers fell in puffs, and the hawk flew off with the body.
Bear in an oak tree. Probably dispersing young male from Sonoma County. Found bear scat on a trail in Olema Valley back in April.
A case could be made for Barred Owl at this location, but it would be on the extreme large end of the track length. GHO seems more likely.
Fronts have 4 toes registering and rears have 5. Tail drag visible.
The color and patterning are a great fit for ruffed grouse secondary, but I am struck by the fact that this a full inch longer than I’d expect for a feather of that type.
While the metatarsal pad is prominent (as is more commonly seen in turkeys), there is no hallux showing in these tracks. There is good texture showing on the pads in the semi-firm mud, but the toe margins are smooth sided (not bulbous), and each foot shows some proximal webbing between toes 3 and 4.
Tracks from one of the “Sikik” (Arctic Ground Squirrel) living in the riprap along the beach in Nome.
Jumping up onto a log. Last image is from an individual jumping down from the same log.
~2 month old baby. Mother was in same tree (a willow).
Scat and urine patch from a juvenile Bear, accompanied by tracks (last photos.)
Last fall's scat composed entirely of tough fibers. Cambium feeding sign?
Other Bear sign abundant in immediate area including much fresher, more typical scats.
Tracks made with droppings. A large number of droppings where they were eating several dead catfish. Lots of feathers from Turkey Vultures, but no way to tell if there were any Black Vultures there or not.
Cocoon on a dead Prunus serotina branch
Similar to Brown recluse egg mass:
https://bugguide.net/node/view/41273
I saw these red fox pups at a den along the railroad tracks in the Shinnecock Hills Preserve.
Such a perfectly corvid bill shape, I think this is the only option. Will double check size later. I have never encountered something I confidently could say is fish crow in person and rarely online. Very excited to double check this when home.
Vertebra and cranium found a few feet away. Unsure if vertebra is associated by cranium almost certainly is.
with confirmed sighting of the bird
Walking
Scat on mound, tail drag through middle, front and hind tracks on the left. There were 4 of these mounds along the riverbank at 15-20 yard intervals.
Tracks
Fresh tracks and hopping trail in fine silt.
Fresh tracks in fine silt.
looks like someone sawed off the antlers (skeleton was not far from an infrequently used trail), so I’m guessing it was a young bull that died in summer or fall.
Found in a discarded beer can along a forest road. The shrew likely entered to seek beer remnants, got trapped behind the flap at the opening, and died from hypothermia or starvation in the wet conditions. The sheared fur and exposed skin suggests the shrew may have also suffered injury from the sharp metal in trying to escape.
Female. Feather in first picture has a pinched shaft giving a more pronounced bend. Last picture is coverts?
Squarish owl tracks in a dust patch near an old barn where 3 individual owls of this species were seen roosting a few minutes later.
La longitud de la navaja es de 60 mm.
This mother had three cubs with her.
Otters making more otters!!!!
In a trot. Rights at top (and inset), lefts below.
Medida del ancho 4 cm
Medida promedio entre ondulaciones 16.9 cm
Se observan dos tipos de locomoción:
Ondulación lateral
Rectilinear
Se infiere por las medidas y lugar que pueda ser Boa
with Microtus spp. for size comparison
Eggs coll. 23 April, 2024 on Quercus nigra
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209184166
Maybe... on Liquidambar styraciflua leaf. Reared from egg.