I had a great vacation in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. At Oxbow Bend on the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park was a very cute Beaver who was very active at dusk.
I’ll be posting more images from my trip throughout the week. Sorry for the off topic posts, but I had fun out west!
During the week I was away the flegling learned to fly high along Riverside Drive exploring buildings from the 70’s through the 100’s. Today, when I caught up with the fledgling, I discovered that it had learned to perch on street lights, just like its parents.
The fledgling, who has seemed so mature over the last few visits, reminded me that it is still a youngster today. While I was there it spent a great deal of time on the ground, had fun staring down squirrels and generally acted like a kid. It was nice to see there was still some kid left.
When I arrived at Riverside, I found the fledgling eating the remains of the squirrel that it caught on Monday. It then spent some time in a few trees east of the playground, before crossing the hightway.
It settled in to the area near the nest, then went closer to the Boat House Café, stopping both on the ground and in a few trees. One of them was a tree the father used to roost in, so I expected the fledgling to stop. However, I was surprised to see the fledgling take off and make its way to the other side of the cafe, to the south.
It stopped above a set of dumpsters that are used by the Parks Department and the Café. The area is full of rodents as a result. The fledgling settled down about fifteen minutes after the robins and went to sleep. I suspect that the fledgling will be having a nice breakfast after it wakes up!
The video has a treat at the end, a firefly.
The evening started with two troublesome Mockingbirds trying to get the fledgling to move. The fledgling stood its ground. The bird then enjoyed the puddle in the rocks.
Then the fledgling killed a squirrel very effectively having tracked it from about 50 yards away. On Sunday, the fledgling was seen atop a high apartment building on Riverside Drive. The immature fledgling of just a few weeks ago, is growing up fast.
The video posted below has about a minute of the struggle between the squirrel and the fledgling. The squirrel’s death takes a full minute. If this would bother you, you might want to skip watching this video. (On the other hand, if you have teenagers, invite them to watch.)
Five Eastern Screech-Owl were released in Central Park by the wildlife rehabilitor, Bobby Horvath and his family on Saturday.
The Red-phased owl Bobby released last year is doing very well in the North Woods, so Bobby was comfortable releasing more owls into Central Park. Central Park may have its risks, but it lacks Great-Horned Owls which are becoming a major predator of Eastern Screech-Owls on Long Island where Bobby lives.
Two adult Red-phased owls were released and three young Gray-phased owls. Thanks for your loving gift to the park, Cathy and Bobby.
The first pictures are right after the release. The later pictures are of one of the gray owls after dark (long exposures without flash).
