Skip to main content

Mt. Auburn Coyote

Unlike my last visit back in May, there was no assortment of migratory warblers today at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, but the wildlife certainly kept me entertained. The sweltering heat must have brought the animals out of their hiding spots.

Today was the first time I saw or even heard of the famous Mt. Auburn Cemetery coyote family. During my first pass over Indian Ridge I saw a photographer with a large scope on a tripod trying to get a shot of the mom who was staring at us from between two gravestones off in the distance. Can you see her? Try clicking on the picture for the enlarged view.

Throughout the day I also saw a groundhog, some very nervous squirrels (explained by pictures to come) and some cute chipmunks. You can see his chubby cheeks in this picture:

Squirrels are not too exciting but I couldn't help photographing this one who was up in the same tree that the chipmunk was underneath while I was so close:

While photographing this house finch:

I noticed a (what I assume to be) a Red-tailed Hawk (or possibly a Red-shouldered Hawk) in the same tree:

'Sleep with one eye open'- click on the enlarged view to see what I'm talking about. In fact, I found this article on the subject: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9902/03/birds.eye/. I'm sure there's more recent research but it's interesting just the same.

The was a Great Blue Heron hanging out at Auburn Lake. That same photographer told me it was scared away by the coyote, but by the time I saw it the bird was back at the lake, but up in a tree:

I even got this video of the bird cleaning itself:


I have more pictures to come, including a mystery bird- perhaps a female tanager or oriole. It was a great day!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Difference Between Grackles and Starlings

I saw a sad sight today during my lunchtime jog—a dead grackle. Or was it a starling? I'll get to that in a minute. I was making my way down to the trail along the Charles River when I saw what I thought was an injured bird in the middle of the road. It was just sitting there and I figured it was just stunned or maybe had an injured wing. The bird probably didn't have much of a chance, but the least I could move it out of the road. As I got closer to the bird I saw it had its mouth open and then I realized the gruesome truth—it was dead and was frozen in that position. I just got shivers thinking about it. The poor thing. Anyway, so it got me to thinking 'What is the difference between grackles and starlings?' I use the two interchangeably and haven't really made an effort to sort it out. Until now. I like to use All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as an online resource. The site is comprehensive and easy to use. (I also really like the 'Cool ...
26 comments
Read more

Killdeer Chick in Yellowstone National Park

These were taken at West Thumb Geyser Basis, along the beach. It was really cool to get to watch these little chicks up close and personal. I had never seen Killdeer chicks before- only adults. These pictures are from our trip to Montana/Wyoming in July 2012.
1 comment
Read more

Indigo Bunting at Mt. Auburn Cemetery- Lifer!

I was so excited to see my first Indigo Bunting today. I quickly ran over to Mt. Auburn during lunch to take advantage of peak warbler season before it's over. I'm going to be in San Francisco for work all next week so I fear by the time I get back the birds will have moved on. There were a lot of birders there today and of course lots of activity around the Dell. That's where I saw a flash of blue fly into the undergrowth at the edge of the water. None of the other birders with scopes set up were bothering to look at it. I'm assuming they had already seen it and were focusing on other more exciting birds- such as the pair of screech owls that have been reported at the Dell recently. Here is where I first sighted him at the edge of the water. There was also a female cardinal there splashing around trying to cool off. He then flew up into the bushes on top of the wall behind the Dell, where I got a better picture. I was very pleased with the day! It's addicting tho...
8 comments
Read more