Close Encounter with a Coyote

Recently, I was in the Rio Grande area of Texas. On New Year's Day, we visited Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Los Fresnos, Texas, in search of raptors. They have a fabulous driving tour where we viewed many Northern Harriers, White-tailed Hawks, and Crested Caracara. We counted over 25 Osprey, most of them feeding on fish from the nearby waterway.

When we were almost finished with the loop of the tour, near dusk, we noticed a car stopped by the side of the road. We pulled up slowly, thinking they may be watching a raptor or other bird. Suddenly, I spotted a four-legged creature in the road up ahead. A coyote!

My normal encounters with coyote here in Indiana are from afar. They are usually skittish, dashing quickly into the brush by the side of the road. Sometimes, I spot them in the distance in a farm field on my way to work in the morning. And, one early morning, I had the luck of spotting one loping through the park on the edge of the woods. I was pretty excited one was up ahead and was eager to get a good look.

This one seemed unafraid. It trotted by the other car, stopped for a brief second, as if sizing the passengers up, then moved on, closer to our car.

It kept heading toward our car, as if it was a greeter for the park. I carefully rolled my window down, just in case I could take a photo.

By this time the coyote was almost in front of the car. Then, it surprised me and came right up to my side of the car. If I had reached my hand out of the window, I could have scratched it behind the ears! It stopped and looked at me for a minute, as if to say "Hey, there!" then moved to Eric's side of the car.

The coyote silently vanished  into the brush to the side of the road behind the car. Eric backed the car up slowly to take another look. The coyote was lying down, totally unafraid, acting as if it was at peace with us being there. Such an awesome encounter!

Coyotes here in Indiana have an average weight of about 30 lbs, similar to a medium-sized dog. Their food preferences include rabbits and rodents. I usually see them in the rural areas, but there was a good sized population of coyotes at Skiles Test Park on the northeast side of town a few years ago. You could hear them howl whenever a siren sounded! I hope you have the opportunity to see one of these fascinating creatures. Check out this website  for more information on coyotes in Indiana.

Snowy Owl near Indianapolis

This weekend, many people were treated to looks at a true rarity to this area and a gorgeous creature, to boot, --a Snowy Owl! Those of you who are Harry Potter fans may be familiar with his owl, Hedwig. Hedwig is a Snowy Owl.

The owl had been spotted at the Indianapolis Regional Airport in Mount Comfort, formally known as the Mount Comfort Airport. Don Gorney and other birders kept tabs on the bird all weekend. Eric Martin and I were able to drive out there Sunday afternoon to take a peek. My photo above was taken with a point and shoot camera through a car windshield in the rain. The plastic-bag-like-object is the owl. :) It is hunkered down on the ground taking cover from the rain. Even though it wasn't super close, we were still delighted to watch it turn its head while it checked out the coming and goings of the people who came to visit it.

My friend, Don Gorney, was able to snap a better photo on the previous day, Saturday. Thanks to Don for letting me use his stellar photo. With the light barring on the feathers and the pattern on the tail feathers, Don thinks this is an after-hatch year male. Younger birds and females would have darker spots on their feathers. For a photo of a juvenile bird, check out my post from a few years ago of a Snowy Owl I saw in Cleveland, OH.

To see a Snowy Owl brings up mixed emotions. It is such a graceful flyer, floating effortless along as it hunts. But, most Snowy Owls that visit Indiana in the winter do not make it. Many times these owls get hit by cars and trucks as they are sailing across the highway, looking for a meal. Snowy Owls glide very low along the ground, as they search for food, and this puts them right smack in the path of a vehicle.

The Snowy Owl's normal range is in the arctic tundra, throughout Canada and the Northern United States.  Snowy Owls have a favorite snack of lemmings. Lemmings are cyclic in nature. Lemming populations will grow in number year after year and the predators, such as owls and fox will increase along with them. Eventually, they will hit a population threshold and the predators will apply too much pressure on the lemming population. The lemming population will plummet and the abundant predators will be forced to look for food elsewhere. The Snowy Owl will move southward looking for other food. These cycles seem to occur about every three or four years. A combo of a good breeding season, producing many juvenile owls, and a possible crash in the lemming population up north may force many Snowy Owls to the south.

If a Snowy Owl finds a good food source, and doesn't meet an early demise from a vehicle, it will tend to stick around for quite a while. As of today, the Snowy Owl was still at the airport. Hopefully, many of you will have a chance to view this gorgeous winter visitor!

Snow!

This morning at Southeastway Park, we were greeted by a dusting of snow. Though I am not a big fan of driving in the white stuff, I do like the way it looks. Here are a few shots from around the park.

 Our bird feeding area looks like it has been generously sprinkled with powdered sugar.

 Little tufts of grass poking through the snow reminds us it was seventy degrees just this past weekend.

 Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) adorned with ice crystals.

Mother nature all mixed up-the grass dressed in rich summer green, the shrub in fall colors, and the dusting of snow. Notice the cardinal in the tree on the right?

Orchid Fest!

Yesterday, we visited Garfield Park Conservatory and Sunken Gardens for their annual Orchid Fest. What a treat! 

We were wowed with stunning floral displays, experts on hand to answer questions and beautiful orchids for purchase.

I honestly was overwhelmed by all the luscious smells and colors, I can't remember what any of the names are of these orchid varieties. So, just enjoy!

Orchid Fest goes through Sunday, Nov. 13th, 2011. Admission is $3 per person or $8 per family.

  And, while you are in the area, after you have wowed your senses of smell and sight, why not go up Shelby Street a bit and visit Claus's German Sausage and Meats and delight your tastebuds?! I just discovered this place. Wow! Delicious sausages made in-house. Well worth checking out!!!

Monarch Caterpillars

Our nineteenth annual Bug Fest is soon approaching, so last week Miranda and I walked around looking for caterpillars for the monarch butterfly station.

We soon hit a small patch of milkweed, only four plants, that was covered with tiny caterpillars. We found about 20 or so of the minute creatures. The caterpillars were only a few days old. To get an idea of how small they are when they first hatch, I have a paper clip in the photo for reference. Please click on the photo to enlarge it on your screen. The caterpillar is to the right of the C-shaped mark on the leaf.

Here I have cropped the photo so you can see it a little better. Notice the teeny stripes on the body. Soooo cute!!!

These little guys are growing like gangbusters, so I will have to post more baby pictures in the future!

On the same note, Naturalist Linda Gilbert from Geauga Park District, up near Cleveland, OH, posted this amazing video of a monarch caterpillar hatching from an egg. The egg is about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen.  Thank you, Linda for taking the time to film this miraculous event through a microscope and for allowing me to share this video!

Would You Eat This?!?!

Game show time. We are going to play "Would You Eat This?!?!" The following delicacies were offered to our Survivor Camp participants during the Eating Challenge. Tribe members would face off against the other team, each member having to pick what concoction they would have to partake by drawing a number from a cup. Points were awarded when a team member successfully choked down, errr I mean, eagerly gobbled the goodies. And it had to stay down. 'Nuff said.

A favorite of my father's, canned oysters. Looks gross, smells questionable and the texture is weird. These qualities make the perfect combo for the Eating Challenge.

Psyching out the opponent is part of the game. This looks like intestines and you could easily tell the other team it tasted terrible and pretend you could barely choke it down because it is soooo horrid. What is it really?

Simply dried bamboo shoots. Easy to eat, no bad flavors. Just looks intimidating...

Another psych out food. Snow fungus. No foul taste, but a weird appearance and texture.

This winner is truly appalling. Salted Snake-head fish. Very, very salty, fishy and stinky. Triple yuck.

By far one of the worst foods on earth, in my opinion. Silkworm pupae. Yep, the pupae of a silkworm moth and a by-product of the silk industry. Not sure why anyone would crave these, but if popping these in your mouth while you relax and watch sitcoms tickles your fancy, more power to you!

Squid in natural ink. The added element of tentacles combined with the putrid smell makes this food a real challenge for the campers to surpass.

I was intrigued when I found these bad boys at the Saraga Market. Preserved duck eggs. Eggs are not supposed to be black! And, yes, they taste as bad as they look.

So, there you have it. Some of the offerings for our Survivor Eating Challenge. Have I tried all these foods, you may ask. Yes, it is my policy that if the kids have to eat it, I do too. I will eat it right in front of them at the end of the challenge to assure them the foods are safe. Do I dread doing so, you betcha! But the campers do have a blast trying the different ethnic foods and psyching out the other team. All in good fun! :)

Something to Make You Smile...

The summer day  camp at Christian Park put together a super cute video to the Selena Gomez "Who Says" song. Great job Rickey Knox and crew!

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