Today's backyard wildlife

September 1, 2021.

12:08pm
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hooded oriole (female) - ZooChat

6:28pm
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javelina - ZooChat

6:37pm
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javelina nursing - ZooChat

6:38pm
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coopers hawk - ZooChat

6:49pm
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gambels quail - ZooChat
 
Today marks a first for nature in our back garden!

Mrs Pootle found a UK common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) in our garden!
To say I am chuffed (Happus maximus) is an understatement! :cool::p:cool::eek::cool:
In 40 years living in this area I have never seen one! And yes we have a photo, but its on her phone, so will try to up load tomorrow. OK, we did handle it but excitement took over!
 
September 17, 2021.

A neighbor informed me he has seen snakes when walking around the complex at night. So I put on my camera flash and grabbed my flashlight (torch to Brits) and when for a look. Sure enough I found a baby western diamondback rattlesnake in the parking lot near my unit and an adult going into a prickly pear cactus on the edge of another area of the parking lot. I also found a (new to me) nocturnal mouse and if anyone knows the id I would be extremely grateful.

5:19pm
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javelina - ZooChat

5:44pm
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javelina - ZooChat

8:54pm
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wild mouse (species uncertain) - ZooChat

8:57pm
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desert cottontail - ZooChat

9:00pm
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javelinas - ZooChat

9:17pm
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baby western diamondback - ZooChat

9:46pm
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western diamondback in prickly pear - ZooChat

10:07pm
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stick insect (species uncertain) - ZooChat
 
@Fred Hood, do you ever see the feral Rosy faced/Peach faced Lovebirds that are supposed to live in your area? i would love to see some photos if you have taken some. Or any other parrots
 
Astrobird said:
@Fred Hood, do you ever see the feral Rosy faced/Peach faced Lovebirds that are supposed to live in your area? i would love to see some photos if you have taken some. Or any other parrots
Click to expand...
@Arizona Docent lives in Tucson, the lovebirds are in Phoenix. I’ve seen them there, they are very common in some neighborhoods. Phoenix also has Nanday and Monk Parakeets.
 
December 8, 2021.

Today was a first: a javelina gave birth right inside our condominium complex! I just missed seeing it happen. I got home from the grocery store around 1:30pm and saw a group of javelinas on the small lawn across the parking lot from my building. I quickly put the cold items in the refrigerator and went back out with my camera. In addition to two babies grazing on the lawn with their mother (second photo at 1:51pm), I saw two with a mother that was not moving much. She was against a low porch wall across the path from the lawn. She had dug a small depression in the dirt. I saw the babies still had their umbilical cords attached and when I noticed a couple adults eating the afterbirth (far left in first photo) I realized I had just missed them being born.

1:35pm
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newborn javelinas - ZooChat

1:51pm
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baby javelinas - ZooChat

The group continued to graze for some kind of seed pods that were falling from the tree. Some of these fell on a neighbor's stairway and I was surprised to see an adventurous adult work its way all the way to the top of the stairway.

2:10pm
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javelina on my neighbors porch - ZooChat

I finally went inside for a late lunch. Afterwards I went back out with my second camera and wide angle lens and remote release. I set it up on the path very low in hopes the newborns would venture far enough away from mother to look into the lens (as the adults sometimes do). However they were content to just rest on the mother (first photo) or nurse (third photo). The adult that explored the camera approached from the wrong side and only seeemd interested in seeing what Nikon straps taste like.

4:41pm
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newborn javelinas on mother - ZooChat

4:45pm
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javelina tasting my camera strap - ZooChat

4:48pm
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newborn javelina nursing - ZooChat

The rest of the group wandered off and I was wondering if the mother and newborns would spend the night right next to our path. Finally at sunset they got up and I followed them as they slowly worked their way through our complex. They went out the entrance and across the street to a hillside of open desert.

5:28pm
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javelina mother and baby - ZooChat
 
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