Worth Wildlife Ranger

[SpinyLiving]

Hey everyone SpinyLiving here
So I got this idea when I was sitting around at home with nothing to do
I decided that every day I will devote some time to going out on my bike to photograph and document every animal I come across
I also carry basic reptile catching equipment such as gloves, my "snake stick" (It's just a stick ), and some cloth sacks
I carry the reptile catching equipment because sometimes I find animals (reptiles in particular) that are in places they shouldn't be and I feel obliged to move them to an area that would be better for them
Other times, people ask me remove different reptiles that have gotten into their homes
Sometimes it will ask you guys for help when I can't identify a species
Anyway I don't mind people copying this thread
In fact, I encourage it!!!
Go out there and make new discoveries in your neighborhood and share them with the amazing community that is ZooChat!!
I hope other wildlife ranger threads soon begin to appear as this is an interesting topic that anyone can do as long as they have a camera or phone and their own two legs (just an expression people with prosthetics and people in wheelchairs can do this too)
I will try to post my adventures daily but I can't guarantee this
This is SpinyLiving signing off

 

[SpinyLiving]

So today's the day! I'm listing my first wildlife ranger expedition!
The entire expedition was about an hour and a half
The first animals I came across were some small birds feeding at someone's bird feeder
Although I couldn't identify what species of bird these guys were, I have a feeling they are some sparrow species as those little buggers are everywhere
The next animals I came across were the ducks, geese, and gulls of our neighborhood duck pond
I couldn't tell what species the ducks and gulls were but the geese are defiantly Canada Geese
Some of the ducks looked like this one (who was an excellent model by the way) and were brown with dark brown markings
While others looked just like the first duck but had blue and white markings on their sides
I suspect that the males have the blue and white markings while the females and juveniles are brown with darker brown markings
Here are some photos of the Canada Geese and the unidentified gull species
If anyone wants to solve the mystery of the unidentified ducks and gulls be my guest
A piece of info you guys should probably know is that the duck pond used to have 2 species of duck, Mallard and a species that resembled the species of duck we have now
So, there is a possibility that the ducks we have now are hybrids between the two
The next thing I came across wasn't a animal but something created by one (no I'm not talking about poop)
Our duck pond has a sort of cathedral and while I was biking by this caught my eye
They appear to be some sort of wasp hives but I may be wrong
If they are wasp hives then they are probably mud-builder wasp hives, a rare wasp in our area
The zoologist part of me is saying "YES" while the other part of me is screaming in terror
You see I have Apiphobia, which is fear of bees and other flying, stinging, swarming insects
Anyway, the final animal that I saw was the Gray Squirrel which was hanging out by my house
Anyway, thank you for reading the first post in the Worth Wildlife Ranger thread!
I will try to post later today as I am going to Kankakee!!
This is SpinyLiving signing off

 

[Kakapo]

I think the ducks are all mallards. By the head coloration, the first one looks like more a female, and in the other photo, males in eclipse plumage or juveniles. Every sex, stage and age of all the ducks have the same blue and white patches in secondary flight feathers. It's just that they can show or hide it completely with the surrounding body feathers.

About the wasp nests, reminds me a lot the nest of genus Sceliphron, but I know less the American fauna, so I can't be completely sure. Anyway they're not from any "swarming" species, that's for sure. They're from solitary wasps. Unlike social hymenopterans, one can approach safely to solitary wasps nest without being stung.

 

[birdsandbats]

So today's the day! I'm listing my first wildlife ranger expedition!
The entire expedition was about an hour and a half
The first animals I came across were some small birds feeding at someone's bird feederView attachment 362055
Although I couldn't identify what species of bird these guys were, I have a feeling they are some sparrow species as those little buggers are everywhere

These are House Sparrows.

The next thing I came across wasn't a animal but something created by one (no I'm not talking about poop)
Our duck pond has a sort of cathedral and while I was biking by this caught my eyeView attachment 362065
They appear to be some sort of wasp hives but I may be wrong
If they are wasp hives then they are probably mud-builder wasp hives, a rare wasp in our area
The zoologist part of me is saying "YES" while the other part of me is screaming in terror
You see I have Apiphobia, which is fear of bees and other flying, stinging, swarming insects

About the wasp nests, reminds me a lot the nest of genus Sceliphron, but I know less the American fauna, so I can't be completely sure. Anyway they're not from any "swarming" species, that's for sure. They're from solitary wasps. Unlike social hymenopterans, one can approach safely to solitary wasps nest without being stung.

These aren't wasp nests at all, but Cliff Swallow nests. They often nest on the underside of bridges, cathedrals, ect.

 

[Kakapo]

Ah, then it should be much bigger that I tought first. The nests of Sceliphron are nearly identical but about 3-5 cm long, various dozens of them could be stuffed into a single cliff swallow nest