A pair of red tailed hawks moved into the huge pine at the edge of my lot this spring and raised a brood. i’ve been watching their giant shadows skim the ground from my office window, and listening to their cries. And to those of the jays, who seem to think it’smgreat fun to mimic the hawks!

Oddly, we used to have hawks all the time. That was why I stopped feeding the birds because they swooped down and got a bird in the yard. I kind of felt like I was setting a banquet table for the hawks. I wonder if that is why I don't see them any more. I do still get a lot of robins, since mostly they eat worms. I've had cardinals and jays all summer. But no hawk.

That must be so much fun to watch a brood of them raised!

Well, yesterday, in about a half mile stretch of road I came across a dead squirrel, a dead skunk, and a dead possum lol. And then a very live vulture. Saw another few vultures today, still feeding. Something tells me that's not what you were thinking of when you started this thread lol, but the vultures are always cool, imo.

:)

Dee

P.S. On a lighter note, the bird activity was through the roof today. Felt like I was in a Hitchcock movie, looking out the window lol. Birds buzzing and flitting about everywhere. Love when that happens!

Dee, is it rural where you are? I never see anything dead and never in 40 years seen a vulture in these parts.

Hard to really define, PM2. I'm midway between Bridgeport and New Haven, so not really a rural area. But the immediate area I live in was traditionally the farming area of my town (as opposed to the industrial section about 5 miles away downtown by the river). Unfortunately there are not many working farms left, but there is still some fairly sizable acreage that is still wooded and/or fields, so there is the usual assortment of deer, possums, skunks, raccoons, turkeys, hawks, eagles, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and once a mountain lion sighting or two lol. And an occasional bear. There are a few main roads here where people drive way too fast, especially at night or in the early, early morning, so the nocturnal animals in particular are often victims of speeders. And so hence the vultures.

:)

Dee

Dee, see, to me, that sounds pretty rural compared to where I live. No fields, or local farms, or wooded areas close by. I'd prefer an area like yours, although, now, it would take some getting used to. [g]

PM2, it's definitely all relative lol! I grew up in the city, in an area of rowhouses near factories, very urban. I would watch the sun set out of our back windows over the General Electric factory (quite beautiful actually!). Our front yard was smaller than my current living room. When I moved "up here" I looked out my door at my 9/10ths of an acre and thought I owned the world lol! And honestly, I was spooked at night. I had always had someone below or above me (your typical urban three-family house) or on either side of the wall from me (my rowhouse and then my condo) and it was sooo dark up here. When I looked out my door at night, my thoughts were more like "if someone breaks in and tries to murder me, no one will hear me scream". LOL. I thought I was in the boondocks.

Now, I don't feel that way any longer (honestly wish I had more distance between my neighbors and myself!) but sometimes visitors come to see me and complain that I'm "way in the boondocks"! Of course people who live in upper New England or areas with much sparser populations and acres and acres of land would not think of my area as rural or country or boondocks, but again, it's all what one gets used to. But luckily I do love where I live and feel blessed to live here, so I'm happy with it, dead animals and all!

:)

Dee

Margariteville - Many of the forums have low activity so feel free to post here any time. This forum is often pretty slow too, but we do seem to post consistently.

Sounds like you and Dee have a lot in common. Hard to believe you have that much wildlife so close to NYC. In my suburban locations with small 1/4 acre lots, we have coyotes nearby that I've only seen once in 30 years. We see some deer at times near a park about 5 blocks away, that has a small lot of trees next to it. We've found a possum in our rubbish once. once in awhile we smell a skunk, plenty of rabbits, a groundhog 4x in 20 years, We used to see a lot of hawks but haven't been seeing them since I stopped feeding the birds. This year is the first time we've seen a group of turkeys move through the neighborhood, but I haven't seen any setting up shop.

I've never seen a Vulture, but honestly, I while I know they have their purpose, I find them creepy and hope we never do. [g]

Prairie, it gives me great pleasure to see the extent of wildlife in the immediate NYC area, some things in the environment do seem to actually have improved in recent years, we have also had a record number of shark and whale sittings just off shore (NJ and LI)..., due to feeding on large schools of fish.. Ha ha, in my area 1/4 acre is considered a large property. I have just over that but there are wooded, public lands all around me. I have a good friend that lives NW of me by some 40 miles (higher elevation/more rural), regularly sees Bald Eagles now, Rattle Snakes, and Black Bears all over. OK, I could live without the snakes and the bears but it is a good sign to see nature so vigorous in a pretty dense area of the country. Regarding the vultures, they're not that bad, and now I am absolutely fascinated in them. They can eat what would KILL most animals, eliminate the stench of death overnight, and the potential proliferation of other diseases, and are not really interested in us...., unless, well you know. LOL, Halloween IS just around the corner.

Welcome to New England, margaritaville! Or at least to the NE forum!

I saw my first vulture about twenty years ago, five years after I moved to my "boondocks" lol. They are pretty cool to see!

You know, actually, although I did grow up in a city in a very urban setting, at my edge of town was a large tract of woods called Remington Woods. It used to belong to Remington Arms, and then General Electric took over the Remington Arms factory. Stupidly, in my opinion, the city is now looking at developing the woods into a light industrial area. I say stupidly because it is completely across town from the harbor, rail lines, and I-95, and the infrastructure they would have to build is ridiculous. Talk about re-inventing the wheel. Especially since the downtown area, where said harbor, rail lines and I-95 are, is practically abandoned. So yeah, instead of rebuilding the downtown area, lets tear down the last remaining bit of woods in the city and do a crap-ton of road building and re-building to try to attract industry that probably would prefer to go overseas anyway.

Sorry lol. The whole point of my bringing up Remington Woods is that it was not too far away from me when I was growing up, and it was always so cool to us kids to see even just a few skunks or possums, or the rare deer sighting, walking down the street lol. But I still was not prepared for the wildlife I see where I live now. My kids used to laugh at me when they were smaller and we'd drive by a field of cows and I would get all excited. To them it was not a big deal, growing up around it. To me it was very exciting!

:)

Dee

It is encouraging to hear of wildlife that are surviving so close to densely populated areas. I guess for the most part they haven't much choice, since habitat is not as plentiful.

Yes, I can see the value of the Vulture for sure. Just happy to know they are out there doing their job but not in my neighborhood...lol.

Dee, I grew up in the city in neighborhoods with 3 deckers in them. Quite a happy environment for the kids in the neighborhood. Plenty of activity and playing. We had a small hill next to our house that was great for sledding in the winter. We could walk to a small square with shops and a movie house that was 3 blocks away. That was supplemented with trips to Maine in the summer and to the beaches on the North Shore. Squirrels and pigeons were the main 'wild' life. [g] But I was always drawn to the country and to farms, or ranches or mountains. Never got there...lol. Now I'm in the suburbs. But I think the rural life might have been a little too much for me in looking back. So, I'm more or less content.

"...Squirrels and pigeons were the main 'wild' life..."

Haha, very true, very true!! And yes, I don't know how the adults felt lol, but living in an area of 2- and 3-family houses and rowhouses is a kid's dream! A hundred kids per square inch, always someone to play with and something to do (even if we did have to play in the streets), always something close by to walk to, even if it was just the corner store, and don't even get me started on Halloween lol. Wow, did we clean up that night! I mean, doors in the rowhouses are 20 feet apart. One after the other, all down the street. Candy for year in one night lol!

So yes, my husband and I, when looking for a house, wanted something more suburban. We got what we thought was the boondocks. Interestingly, my kids always said they wanted to move to the city because it was boring where we lived (and to think we wanted to give our kids space to run and play lol!) My son did live in Boston for 10 years, but he's back home now (temporary - pandemic-related) , talking about buying land, and my daughter just bought a house down the street, so I guess they like the more rural thing too after all.

Me? My ideal situation? An apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan, and a small farm in north/eastern CT. The best of both worlds! Ah, a girl can dream, can't she?

:)

Dee

Dee, I'd forgotten all about Halloween! Our neighborhood was amazing at Halloween. Three doors to knock on for every house...lol. And there was a small hotel down the street...an Inn I guess and they put out hot cocoa and donuts for all the neighborhood kids on Halloween. Tons of candy and no one telling you sugar was bad for you. [g] And parents thought nothing of sending you out with all the kids to trick or treat and stay out late.

Definitely, the suburbs were boring in comparison when we finally moved out there. I guess that's why they had to do organized sports.

i can't even think where I would ideally like to live. But lots of places I'd like to visit.

PM2, sorry you havent been seeing much. you can take any one, or forty, of our hundred+ chipmunks.

Nekobus, Yes! The Blue Jays are quite the mimics! I love it!

Margaritaville, that is really interesting about the Florida vulture. I love vultures and that they are on the clean-up crew!

Dee, I’ll go in on that apartment woth you!! I have always said if I ever won the lottery I would have an apartment in NYC. I have family in Gramercy Park and I love all there is to do in NYC.

We have had lots of wildlife here living next to a hundred acre oak forest.

Of note is a new visitor who is going to town on one of our oak trees in front.

kept seeing a squirrel up the tree…..but tons and tons of large branch tips were laying on the ground every morning when we went out. What?? have never seen this before. How could one little squirrel do all this damage?

one dark evening our neighbor was walking his dog and there was a porcupine in the tree. the little bugger!! Wow! I cannot begin to say how much material it has broken off to get to the acorns attached once the tips have fallen on the ground.

a number of years ago i opened my front door in the evening and there was a juvenile porcupine looking up at me! it proceeded to nosh on my annuals on the porch. Hadn’t seen one since.

I have also been having words with a mama and her still spotted, but large fawn. They are having some fun in the new garden we put in down by the street. The mama just mocks me when i go out and politely ask her to leave.

Just yesterday we saw a peregrine falcon chasing a raven over our yard. It seems one of the resident falcons in Manchester has been coming out to our neck of the woods.

also saw two bald eagles soaring over my parents new property in same town I’m in. Always love seeing them!

AND!!! Best of all, after about a six-week hiatus my little black squirrel greeted me at the kitchen window this morning!! I missed him so much! Completely made my day. i have him somewhat trained and he waits for me to put out seed for him and doesnt run away. He has learned the sound of the shaking seed cup. My husband trained the turkeys with the seed cup too! They come running to the window like a bunch of cats!! 😀

T2D you're on! We'll split the apartment and coordinate our weekends lol!

You reminded me - before buying this house I had a rowhouse-style condo. Quite an urban setting but behind us was a huge steep hill that was covered with trees and shrubs, which was pretty much the only thing holding it up (literally - behind the condo building next to us, for some inane reason they scraped the hill bare and sure enough there was a landslide. Very frightening! Those poor folks looked out their back door at a huge concrete retaining wall. We got to look at greenery.)

Anyway... This wooded hill gave the illusion at least of being in a rural setting with squirrels, chipmunks, and lots of birds. My kids would never eat the crusts on their toast, so I used to put them on the back deck railings for the birds. Or so I thought.... One morning I'm in my kitchen and hear something at the sliding doors. I open the blinds and there's a squirrel, scratching at the door! I realized that HE was the one eating the crusts, and apparently I hadn't gotten his breakfast to him in a timely manner that morning! To this city girl it was a hoot and I loved feeding that demanding little critter every day lol. Just like another kid haha!

:)

Dee

Thyme - I’m sure I’ve used you as an example of how many chipmunks a person can have, just recently on one of these threads. [g] This summer I had just the one resident chipmunk who was very much making himself at home early in the season and I was surprised that he was chittering all the time, so I would notice him more. He did stop coming and I can’t help thinking it was the new addition of our daughter’s new dog who is here often. Your property has to be a magnet for them…lol.

I never wanted to live in NYC. My husband had to twist my arm to visit when we were dating. But if I had to live in NYC, I’d want an apartment overlooking Central Park. [g] While I used to be more interested in some of the activities and things to do, places to see when I was younger, the older I get the more I’d rather go to the mountains or the ocean or a garden somewhere. I would like to see the 9/11 memorial though. I think they did such a great job with that. I was preparing myself to hate whatever they did, but I really love it.

Wow, a porcupine! Now that is something I have never seen! And glad I haven’t had one in the neighborhood. I know my sister’s dog got caught by one once and ouch! The poor dog! But yes, fascinating. You have entertainment there every day, Thyme!

I notice that none of us have photos to share. [g] I don’t know about anyone else, but my attempts at photos of anything moving are very boring. Too far away, not sharp enough and sometimes just a blur. What we really need is for Jane to do a tour and visit everyone on the forum and take photos of their wildlife to post. Lol

I don't think anyone would appreciate any photos of a dead possum or skunk lol. But I do have a really old, really grainy pic of a vulture in my driveway. Taken from FAR away lol, hence the poor quality!

:)

Dee

Dee - wow - That is a BIG bird! lol I guess you must have a lot of dead animals on a regular basis to keep one of those around. Good photo!

"Dee - wow - That is a BIG bird! lol I guess you must have a lot of dead animals on a regular basis to keep one of those around. Good photo!"

It does provide a different twist on, the circle of life.

P.S., Several years ago, we were invaded by gangs of wild turkeys who attacked people. Decades ago the federal government tried to reestablish the turkey as its numbers had dramatically declined. Their program was a huge success and the birds are definitely back. Turkeys are freakin' huge! Do you know the crazy mixed emotion you get when being chased by a gang of wild turkeys down a block, it's a unique mix of hysterical funny mixed with near terror!

"... Do you know the crazy mixed emotion you get when being chased by a gang of wild turkeys down a block... "

Yes. Yes I do....

These fellows followed me from my garden about 200 feet to my back door (where the picture was taken from). I walked very quickly, but did not run, not wanting to get the turkeys too crazy as they followed me. My husband laughed at me. Then he went outside to see the turkeys. A few minutes later I see him out the window RUNNING (and my husband NEVER runs). And then I saw the turkeys running behind him....

:)

Dee

OMG, too funny.

I have a similar story. I came home in my car but could not get out because turkeys surrounded me and one of them jumped to the top of the car. I texted my partner who came out to distract them so I could get out of the car, but then they started chasing after him. These turkeys were like four feet tall with attitude, no need to question that birds ARE indeed modern dinosaurs! Turkeys also have beautiful, iridescent coloring. LOL, I first saw them on the preceding Thanksgiving eve when I was preparing for the following day's meal. So, I was drinking wine and cooking when I peer out the kitchen window at dusk and see a veritable conga line of turkeys advancing into my yard. I assumed it was too much wine, until the next day when they were all over and I was able to take pics of them. Thank g-d for the wild turkeys of North America, back again!

Gee, margaritaville, maybe we should start a thread about people's funny experiences with turkeys, lol. I have to say if my husband called me out to distract turkeys, I might tell him he was on his own! Being a city girl I have a healthy respect for (i.e. fear of lol) any animal!

:)

Dee

I do not have any photos, but the wildlife is part of daily life where I am. The turkeys are starting to gather in larger groups for the winter; right now the biggest groups are about 10, but by winter there will be flocks of 25 or more wandering around in the fields and woods. They are a lot larger than my little dog, but he would happily chase them if he were off leash, which he isn’t at this time of year. Leashed or not, the turkeys do not trust us and will head of quickly in the opposite direction when they see us coming.

I have been seeing large skeins of geese flying overhead, likely fattening up on dropped corn in recently harvested fields, and then moving to the river for the evening.

There has been a family of four bears, a mama and triplet cubs from this season, at the far end of the corn field, gleaning dropped corn, and deer are also often in the field grazing, but never both together.

Because we only had our first frost this week, there have been insect eating birds like phoebes and other flycatchers as well as warblers, wrens, and other south-migrating birds like turkey vultures and sapsuckers around. But the winter birds like juncos have been arriving, and the all season birds like barred owls, redtailed hawks, chickadees, and robins are quite active fattening up for colder and leaner times.

Friend in the highlands of North Jersey just told me that there was a puma/cougar walking about in her neighborhood lately.

That's not the usual wildlife you see in your neighborhood. The poor animal must be losing it's haibtat to come into residential neighborhoods. I hope it doesn't end up being killed because it gets into trouble. That would sure make me nervous if it were in my neighborhood.

Oh my, a puma! Reminds me of the sightings around here a few years back.

This, from 2011:

"...Then in June 2011, there were reports of a mountain lion in Greenwich and, for the first time, a photo...

https://www.connecticutmag.com/the-connecticut-story/there-are-no-mountain-lions-in-connecticut-so-why-do-we-keep-seeing-them/article_c03d308a-f52a-11e9-9a84-5ba07033defc.html

Also, "...On June 11, 2011, in Milford, CT, a mountain lion was killed by a motor vehicle. It is the only confirmed presence of a cougar in recent years. This young male cougar was found to have DNA from other cougars found in South Dakota which means it traveled about 1,800 miles east...."

https://goodmorningwilton.com/woodcock-nature-center-column-mysterious-mountain-lions-of-ct/

I will add, there is a farm at the end of my road, and I worked there for a few years. That year (2011), the farmer told me he saw a mountain lion walk across his front yard, cross the street, and head down my road (towards my house lol! Yikes). He also had a GREAT corn crop that year, and he swears it's because the mountain lion scared away the deer and raccoons. At the farmers market one day I was in a conversation with this farmer and a few other people, and I said, oh, he (the farmer) thinks he saw a mountain lion, and the farmer cut me off and said, "I didn't THINK I saw one, I DID see one!" He was adamant, and quite frankly I believed him. Especially when I was at his farm on the ground working and would suddenly look up at the tall grass beyond his fields and wonder if I was being watched. It was kind of spooky!

Also, while looking up the 2011 sightings, I see there were sightings more recently too, in 2019 and just last August! I forgot about those!

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Cougar-sighting-reported-in-New-Canaan-Thursday-16398687.php

Nothing around my house except the usual suspects. My daughter lives down the street and says she is constantly hearing coyotes howl at night (and says it's creepy lol!) but I don't hear them. Perhaps there is a coyote route by her house. Or I'm just a heavy sleeper lol!

:)

Dee

Prairiemoon, her area of the state is has a lot of woods (part of the Appalacian Trail), bears and coyotes are common there, as are also a lot of RATTLESNAKES in the warmer months. But puma would certainly be a newsworthy story. My friend is also quite into hiking into the woods, but she always takes her dog and somehow, the animals always know when something potentially dangerous is around. As soon as the dog starts to act nervous she knows to turn back and go take a different trail, usually it's been bear that were spooking them, but maybe now there is more to spook the dogs.

I was thinking of this story today and realized that they had a lot of fires out that way recently, right? There have been 10 states in the Western part of the country that have had huge wildfires. I can see where there would be a lot of misplaced animals looking for somewhere to settle in. 1800 miles is a long way to travel though. I find it pretty shocking that in 1800 miles an animal wouldn't find somewhere to settle and end up near a residential neighborhood.

Margaritaville - Yes, I don't think I'd feel quite as free and comfortable to walk in the woods with a puma around. [g] And I'd worry over my poor dog!