This thread is so long it takes ages to go down and put a picture on!

That is really nice, Connie - the picture, not the blizzard

We had 12 inches of snow over the weekend..the deer
came out to play and eat!! Against the white background
it was really easy to spot them...plus there are tracks all
over my yard!!

Cool pics.

Here's a mocking bird outside our window this afternoon:

Great pics.

Oh ... I can't see it from this computer ... I can't wait to get home to see it!

Now that's cute!

I saw this little guy on the weekend. Must've been really hungry to be out in plain daylight. So cute ....

Sorry it's a little blurry, but I love these guys!

To answer your questions: roughly two thirds of Israel is desert or semi-desert, but even those areas aren't necessarily barren. A lot depends on the time of year, in a good rainy winter much of the desert turns green

Actually the areas I photographed these animals in are really scrub. The deer mostly live in woodland areas, and the gazelle are found all over the country, with a two sub-species preferring the desert, and one found in the more temperate areas.

The Eurasian Jay is sitting in a jacaranda tree I think. It's of course a Latin American tree, but they grow well here and a bunch of them have been planted in the parks near my home. Very pretty in bloom.

If you're curious take a peek at this website for more about local wildlife and landscapes:

http://tinyurl.com/yjjbl9

This guy is a Mediterranean house gecko, usually most common in the warmer months, they like hanging out on walls, and while they are usually seen outside, we've quite often had them inside too. Useful to have around because they eat all kinds of annoying bugs. I snapped this one outside my building.

Hey, Leiah! 

Beautiful pictures.  there is a definite scarcity of green in them though.  Is all of Israel desert?  that bird is wonderful looking.  We have a lot of Mockingbirds here in Oklahoma and they mimic things too.  they are good at cats which must be a quick learn.  What kind of tree is he sitting in?

These are common in all the parks, woodland and yards. They often visit my balcony too, I put out fruits and nuts for the bulbuls, another common bird, but the jays often get the food first. They are real characters and fantastic mimics - this chap was mewing like a cat!

These are some of the most endangered species of deer in the world, and Israel is home to the largest captive herds which are part of a conservation programme to reestablish them locally, as they have gone extinct throughout their range, save for a little herd in Iran. Today small herds have been returned to the wild in northern Israel and near Jerusalem, where I photographed this one.

I photographed this gazelle on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but we get them on the outskirts of town here too, sometimes see a small group of them in the very early morning in the vineyards and olive groves in the neighbouring village's fields.

We don't get much in the way of wild mammals here, too built up around my house and too many feral cats...

Racoons, oppossums, woodchucks, squirrels - so exotic for me

This IS my back yard.   Really!

http://www.care2.com/c2c/photos/view?g2_controller=care2:UserAlbum

The above is to my albums.  For more fascinating pictures of wild life in my yard go there.

mary g

Thanks Charlotte on the p-nut feeder photo!!!  I wonder if squirrels could chew through it though?   I love my squirrels and give them peanuts but I want to see some woodies come and chickadees, too.   Of course my furry critters will want some too.  LOL   Oh, on your second post I'm not sure if there was supposed to be a pic posted but I didn't see one. 

Jenny, that sounds like a neat feeder!!  I must try one.  Right now I have a thistle sock with thistle seeds and there are several that eat on it at the same time with more hanging around waiting!!  LOL

I've been fortunate enough to have plenty of goldfinches that visit my yard.

To start off with I bought a feeder that caters to these little lovelies.  It's a hanging tube feeder but the holes in the feeder are located beneath the perches. The little fellows flip upsidedown and feed.  I've seen a few other bird species manage this maneuver but not many.  It seems that the goldfinches are quite content with it. 

I fill the feeder with plain Niger seeds and they seem to love the stuff.

Peace,

Jenny 

I love the swan and squirrel pics!!  Especially the "sneaky" little squirrel!!  He's almost hidden.  LOL

Elizabeth, I love all the bird photos!!  The dees are so cute and the Red Grosbeak? is beautiful!   Thanks for sharing those!

Nicola, I'm sorry you haven't been able to post a pic of the Humpback Whale yet.  I hope you figure out.  I'm not sure if I can help you but I'll be glad to try.

- Vicky

sorry, unfortunately I can't seem to post pictures of the humpback whales, I seem to be able to do so for my other photos but these ones must have been saved differently or I accidently protected them! I'm not technically minded.

I'll keep trying though.

N

Big fat juicy sunflower seeds - finches love them.

Thank you Amanda (from all of us)    Here is a pic of my first Goldfinch of this 2005 season.  It was taken through my storm door so it's not real good (you can click to enlarge).  I love my goldies!   Vicky

I managed to catch these little fellas just a few moments ago. I missed the perfect photo opportunity right after Bill snowblew the paths in the grass to get to the feeders, there were so many birds on the ground I couldn't count them!! There are a large number of them that live in this pinetree in our front yard. (pic #1) That little houseshaped feeder is only a few feet away from the same pinetree, and they sit on the branches waiting their turn. I never realized these little guys chased each other away from the food until I watched them today!

Heres one above water

We just got a fresh 3" of snow last night. Here is a little fella all puffed up trying to stay warm!

Nice photos, Andy.  Here are a few more of my backyard visitors taken this past year.  You can click on the pics to enlarge.  Vicky

This fellow was definately looking for a hand out at Central Park in Manhattan this past sunday   (just like a city dweller, No Fear lol)

Since the pic of my raccoon was kind of small for viewing I'm trying to post it another way.  I want to see if you can click to enlarge.  Thanks!   Vicky

Jeanette, I saw your oppossum pic!  Aren't they awesome?  You captured him perfectly!

Dawn, that was very kind of you to stop and help the oppossum.  I hope he survived, too.   I once found a woodpecker sitting in the middle of a busy road and stopped, threw a jacket over her (as not to scare her) and put her in my car.   I put her in a cage for 3 days to make sure she had no injuries and she let us hold her.  BUT after the 3rd day she pecked at us which told us she was ready for release.    We named her Angel. 

Vicky

This past year I have been seeing more and more wildlife visiting my backyard.  It is really exciting!  Here are a few pics of my visitors.

Hi Vicky,

I have a couple of Opossum pictures on here somewhere, but I forget where I posted them. On this thread is my Pigeon named Eagle Beaky. He had my spare room all last winter, but He moved out front into a big cage. I have a small house in it with shredded paper, and I just piled some straw in there yesterday. I made a big mess. I am trying to get Jimmy to find a way to put plexaglass on the front of it, so that he doesn't have an cold air going in there while he can see the birds eating.

AWWWW!   I am so glad Donna sent me a link to this site!!!  I adore animals but the only wildlife pics I have (so far) are squirrels and oppossums.  ALL the pictures posted on here are fabulous!!   Especially Andy's "wild" kitten.  LOL    Vicky  

My friend Vicky took this picture of one of her squirrels. Looks like he is well fed. hehe

Hi!

I had just had to write in my "opposum" contacts.  I remember one night a few years ago, I was going out into the backyard for something.  But, as I stepped out the door, I noticed this very large opossum just hanging out & eating up the cat food that I leave for the ferals/strays.  He was the biggest opposum I have ever seen- I'd say he was about the size of a cocker spaniel.  Needless to say, I just stepped back into the house & opted to wait until he had finished his dinner!  LOL 

About 2 monthes ago, I was on my way home from work - I work nights, so it was about 2AM.  Anyways, I'm only going about 35MPH because at the time of night, the deer are everywhere, among other animals.  I seen something in the road just up ahead & drove up slowly to it.  I seen that it was an opposum & he had been hit by a car.  He was bleeding, but I don't think it was so severe that he would die.  However, he was in shock & just sat there in the middle of the road.  I tried to get him to move, but he just sat there.  I could not just leave him there to get mowed down by another vehicle.  So, I pulled over, & went over to him w/some cat food (yeah, I keep it in the car, too, just in case) & tried to coax him off the road with the cat food.  This did not work, he still just sat there.  So, I went to my car & got my sweater & went back over to him.  I went up to him & touched the tip of his tail.  He turned towards me & hissed (yes, they do sound just a cat!) but didn't move toward me at all.  I got closer, put my sweater around him & slowly began to move him towards the side of the road.  He didn't attempt to bite me or even hiss again & I was basically holding him.  I then had to lift him up a bit, since the edge of the road was higher towards the woods.  He just sat there, breathing kinda hard where I had put him.  I got some more cat food & put it directly in front of him for when he was up to eat.  There really was nothing more I could do for him, I did what I could.  I hope the little guy made it & that his injuries weren't too severe.  Their fur is very soft, too, which surprised me (I don't know why), I guess I just didn't expect them to be so soft.  

So, those are my opossum stories...I just had to write in & add my stories & experiences to everyone else's. 

Take care everyone!!!   Dawn      

He seems to be crazy about himself, so I gave him my make up mirror.

I've never seen an armadillo, but there are lots of Opossums here. I am about 1,000 miles away from Florida, so there are a lot of their animals we don't see here.

A priceless picture that I missed was the night that I went out to one of my cats buildings where they have a picnic table and eat. It was late, and I was just checking on things.

My cat JC was sitting on one of his pedestals, and as I walked in there, he never turned his head, but his eyes kept clicking back and forth to the table like he was trying to tell me that something was there, and that he regarded it as awful looking. It was like he was trying to tell me not to make a sound.

I looked over, and there was an Opossum having the cats dry food for dinner. I am sure I will never see a facial expression like that of JC's ever again.

Anyway, my concern was How will this Opossum leave my yard with the netting up there on the inside, but they swing around like monkeys, and can climb back out. Cats don't bother Opossums or skunks. At least mine don't. I had a Tom cat that lived on my porch, and he was a fighter, but he would just sit and watch the skunks or Opposums eat his food. I haven't heard it, but from what I understand, an Opossum hisses like a cat.

Their MO to let me know they have been there is a bowl turned over. They knock everything over, and have a big appetite. They are cleaning me out of dry food now in one of my yards that doesn't have electric fencing, so I start putting some canned stew in there to slow them down. LOL

We have a family of wild turkeys around here too, but I haven't seen them in a while. Since I have my digital camera now, I will get a picture if they come back.

We also have red tailed Hawks around here, and the turkey buzzards which are very big. Loads of birds too. I have a Pigeon that my husband rescued over a year ago. He took my cats litter box and spay room for a whole winter. His wing was injured but healed on it's own, however he can't fly. We have a huge cage for him out front now. His name is Eagle Beaky. I will have to post some pics of him.

I went to the yard at midnight to check on some of my outside kitties, and saw him, and went back into the house for the camera.

sorry.

I'm having problems with my albums, will try again once they work.

Shame, it's a nice piccie.

;o)

FINCH  

Finch is a general term popularly applied to more than 1,000 species of stout-billed, seed-eating birds that are classified in several different families and subfamilies. Among the weaverbirds, Ploceidae, for instance, are many species called finches (see WEAVER FINCH). The WAXBILLS, Estrildidae, are also a type of finch. Charles Darwin based much of his theory of evolution on birds now known as DARWIN'S FINCHES (Geospizidae). In a more restricted sense, however, finches belong primarily to the subfamily Carduelinae of the great family Fringillidae, which also includes the cardinals, buntings, grosbeaks, towhees, sparrows, and many other birds. Other carduelines, which are not specifically named finch, include the siskins, redpolls, crossbills, and pine grosbeaks.

Most finches, regardless of their classification, are primarily seedeaters, with stout bills and a well-developed gizzard. But even the seedeaters usually feed their young, for a few days at least, on more easily digested insects. Exceptions occur among the goldfinches (see GOLDFINCH), redpolls, and some other carduelines. Goldfinches, for instance, delay nesting until new thistledown is available for building their compact, waterproof nests and until the softer, pulpier new seeds of the year are available for feeding their young. Then the young are fed by regurgitation of partially digested seeds.

Many finches are brightly colored with red, yellow, or blue predominating, as in the purple (royal red) finch, goldfinch, and indigo bunting. The painted bunting is an extreme example of bizarre coloration, sporting a breathtaking combination of red, blue, green, and yellow. Most finches are very musical, with songs that vary from the soft twittering of goldfinches and canaries to the spirited warble of the purple finches in flight. Many authorities consider finches the highest and latest development on the avian evolutionary ladder.

Nothing really exciting in the way of wildlife in my imediate area except these guys lol.

Is it really wild?

Feral Kitten

Here's "Buddy", our little racoon:

Sorry this is blurry,but we took these at a Raptor Center in NC.They take in birds hurt by hunters and other accidents.

I took this from our car at Cades Cove TN.If you look close there is another deer in the background.

This was taken in Georgia on our summer vacation at Calloway Gardens.

Wow! They look like they're actually posing for you to take the picture! That is awesome! I liked Chuck too! LOL!

PJ

Here is a photo of some of the deer that visit my backyard and eat the grain I put out for them!!!

Here is a thread to share your photos of wildlife! 

Here is a photo of "Chuck", my groundhog!!!