Hogs in the backyard

I get up just before daylight and take a short hike around the yard with a cup of corn. I have 4 rabbits living out there and toss a bit to them…near each patch of  “wildlife habitat” (brush piles), the rest goes down by the turkey feeder for the turkey, rabbits, squirrels and raccoons…if any is left by the time they come in.

After  my walk a few mornings ago… I took my coffee ….climbed the ladder to the boat and sat down to enjoy the sunrise and to see if I could hear the Eastern Phoebe I had seen a few days before.

While I enjoyed my coffee I spotted a big black critter come strolling out of the woods. My heart jumped…it was still dark and at first I thought we had a nice black bear stopping by….bummer…it wasn’t!!  It was a nice big black hog, though. Unfortunately, I had no camera that morning….but today I got lucky….

I was able to get a short video…but it was too dark for snapshots. Don’t know why…but my camera can do video when it’s somewhat dark, but not pictures.

She looks as if she’s had a litter of piglets…a bit thin…I was sorry I scared her off.  

A few minutes later my husband said she was back…but it wasn’t her…it was a different one.

I didn’t want to scare him before I got a photo…so  I went out the front door and snuck around back. He didn’t hear me because the central heat was on. I managed to get two fairly good pictures before he spotted me and ran off.

This must be the one I saw a few days ago…it’s much fatter.

Those plants in the background, with the yellow flowers, are very invasive and hard to get rid of. I had a momma hog and 6 young ones coming in a few years ago and I put them to work. I would toss corn into  all the big patches of weeds at night, and by morning they would be rolled up into big balls. Unfortunately my yard was a mess when they got done. But it has taken a few years for the weed to start taking over again. So …maybe I’ll put Momma to work once they quit blooming. There isn’t much for the bees and butterflies to feed on at the moment.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female)

It took me a few days, but I did spot a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I don’t see these big yellow butterflies very often and usually only one at a time. 

The butterflies and hummingbirds love this plant, but I cant remember it’s name.

 

I managed to get one picture of it’s face…

but she kept turning her back to me…guess she wanted to show me how beautiful she is.

 

You can see why she is easier to photograph than some of the other large butterflies.

Is this a Rusty Blackbird?

While checking the updates on the blogs that I follow, I saw a picture of a bird that looked familiar.  www.askthebirds.org had a photo of a Rusty Blackbird.

I had a bird come to my feeders last winter and spring, that I could not identify.

After looking at the Rusty Blackbird, I am hoping I have found it.

It came in with all the Indigo and Painted Buntings, the Cardinals, Catbirds etc. But it was the only one like it.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (male)

Here is another very large Swallowtail with a wingspan of about 5 inches.

I had been watching it on the bottlebrush for several minutes and was surprised when it was still there after getting the camera and heading out. Unlike most of the other large Swallowtails…it was content to spend several minutes with it’s wings spread. I was even able to get a picture of the underside.

I am always surprised at how fuzzy their bodies are.

Maybe tomorrow I will find a female.

Deer

The deer here in FL are much smaller, but still beautiful and fun to watch.

My friend, Debbie, lives just down the road. She gave me a call and told me there were several deer in the field next door. So I grabbed my camera and headed on down the road. This doe looked right at me…

Then they started to move to the other side of the pasture away from us. It was still pretty early and not much light. They didn’t seem to be bothered by the flash..you can see their eyes reflecting it.

Just as I shut the camera off…..a nice buck joined them and they went bounding across the field.

I would love to have them at my house, but the woods are pretty thick. I will put out a salt lick …just in case.

Eastern Phoebe (immature?)

I spent a few minutes talking to my Dad on the phone…when I looked out the window and saw a bird on the shepherds hook that I hang my feeder from. I had never seen one like this before.

I grabbed the camera and took a couple of pictures. They are  not very good. I was shooting through a tinted window and screen. Naturally…it turned away as soon as I got the camera.

It had a dark gray head and light yellowish green (olive) underbelly.  When it moved to the  fence it bobbed it’s  tail the way a Gray Catbird does. I am pretty sure it is an Eastern Phoebe. I listened to it’s  song on the www.allaboutbirds.org site, later I heard the same song in  the woods.  I sure hope it comes back. It’s supposed to like bugs..we’re loaded…and berries…the Brazilian Pepper bushes are fruiting and a  few are  starting to ripen. Maybe it will winter with us.

Another look at the Gray Catbird

He’s sitting in the Tangelo Tree waiting for me to put the camera away so he can take a bath.

 

The least little movement and it’s off and away.