Whale Watching from my Back Deck

[Bonny]

This is pretty cool. I can't actually see them but I can see their water spouts. We're a mile back from the beach and up on a hill. There must be a pretty good food source in the little bay that we overlook. This is the first time I've ever seen this in 20 years of ownership.

Share with us your cool wildlife stories from your home.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Very cool!!!!  Is this the new deck the tree company bought you?  

My wildlife story is not as cool.  

We had a huge dumpster in the driveway for construction debris.  It gets taken away and dumped periodically.  Apparently, someone dumped garbage or their uneaten lunch or something in it this last round.  DH took the puppy out just before he went to bed a couple of weeks ago -- close to midnight.  They were standing in the yard near the dumpster.  DH heard a noise and looked up to see a huge bobcat prowling in the dumpster.  He said he and the puppy never ran so fast back into the house, LOL.  Of course, we called and had the dumpster taken away the next day.  But, the bobcat keeps returning on a regular basis to check and see if there is any "free" food.  We have motion detector flood lights in our back and side yards.  Our bedroom has no curtains yet (trying to find ones I like).  So, everytime the floodlights snap on, I snap awake to see who's out there.  Several times it has been the darn bobcat prowling the yard at 3 in the morning.  I live on a third of an acre in a rural suburb but about a half mile from a major intersection and smaller state highway (one lane going in each direction).  Just not the kind of place one expects to find a bobcat.  

I love nature.  Just not that up close and personal.  And, I don't want my little pup becoming some other animal's snack.   

[NoNamePerson]

WOW. I'm jealous! 

[Lizard Queen]

A year or 2 ago, there was a Peregrine falcon sitting on the back fence.  A squirrel approached it on the fence and was chattering at it and shaking its tail at it.  I've got some pictures of that somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

Also, shortly after buying my house 8 years ago, a wild turkey was in the back neighbor's yard, went all the way around the neighbor's house, and hopped over the fence on the other side.   I never saw wild turkeys in this area the first part of my life, but they are freaking everywhere now, starting about 10 years ago.

[Deleted]

Local bear snacking on the neighbor's cherry trees. He's been going up & down the walking/running trail locally. Like I need another reason not to exercise!! Thanks Mr Bear.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Don't have any pictures (except old ones on film) - but a huge great horned owl perched himself on the railing of our deck a few years back. It sat there and looked in the kitchen window for a couple of hours before taking off again.

(We had a big fake owl decoy sitting on the railing to ward off starlings from the robin nests - so maybe the owl thought the decoy was a possible mate).

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We live in town. Our official subdivision has about 35 houses, and we're one quarter mile from the high school. So, while it's a small town, it's not rural. There are five black tail deer who've been roaming about of late. Last month, when we first noticed them, DH had pulled out of the driveway to go somewhere. He called and said the deer were walking in the middle of our road. I told the girls that. DD#1 was quite excited because she fancies herself an outdoorswoman even though she's really not. DD#2 shrugged her shoulders and went back to reading. DD#1 went prancing down the block to look at the deer. DH had paused on the block out of our subdivision (which is perpendicular to our cul-de-sac). DD#1 got half way up the next block and ended up right next to the deer before either DD or deer realized they were right next to each other. She shrieked, the deer scurried, and DD got into the car with DH. DH turned around, drove her the block and half back to the house, and she ran inside the front door. 

David Ocean Robert King. 

[Opti]

Really cool Bonny. I think the time I had 5 turkeys in my yard, up in the trees, at the last house I owned, was the most interesting. Did not know turkeys would roost that high, until I saw it. Two adults and three half grown youngsters.

Saw two fawns recently while driving. Very thankful they were tucked in at least a couple yards from the road!

[Tennesseer]

Jul 11, 2015 20:28:14 GMT -5 Bonny said:

This is pretty cool. I can't actually see them but I can see their water spouts. We're a mile back from the beach and up on a hill. There must be a pretty good food source in the little bay that we overlook. This is the first time I've ever seen this in 20 years of ownership.

Share with us your cool wildlife stories from your home.

It didn't say where in California, but today on ABC's Good Morning America national news ticker scroll reported whales "frolicking" in the water close to shore.

Meanwhile, off the coast of Seward, Alaska the other day, this occured.

Wait for it...wait for it...it's worth the short wait.

[violagirl]

I've lived near the water my entire life and have never seen a whale. I probably should do a tourist thing and book a whale watching tour. I had a friend that camped one at the beginning of September on a small island near here. She said as you lay in the tent at night, you could hear the song of the humpbacks. I always wanted to go camping there to hear it. My husband who used to be very out doorsy refuses to go camping any more.

There is not much I haven't seen in the field behind my house  - deer, coyote, raccoons, foxes, pheasants. A few weeks ago a bear ran across. As an owner of small dogs I am thankful that I decided to put up a fence (as they think they are big dogs and would chase anything they saw in the field) and so far the animals don't really seem to be hungry enough to attempt any shenanigans.

You also have no idea how huge eagles are until you see one flying directly over you just above the level of the house and make eye contact. Also my small dogs chased the eagle. Good thing I was there to prevent their stupidity from being fatal.

[The Captain]

Jul 11, 2015 20:28:14 GMT -5 Bonny said:

This is pretty cool. I can't actually see them but I can see their water spouts. We're a mile back from the beach and up on a hill. There must be a pretty good food source in the little bay that we overlook. This is the first time I've ever seen this in 20 years of ownership.

Share with us your cool wildlife stories from your home.

Ummm...let's see

1.  Had a deer run into and hit my car at House -1
2.  Had a deer run through and destroy our garage window at current house
3.  I have a small herd of bunnies destroying my veggie garden
4.  There's a squirrel pancake on the street in front of our house

Sorry, that's all I got.

Not really - the house we moved from backed up to a nature preserve.  We had foxes on our lawn.  DH actually saw a few coyotes take down a deer (not my thing but he was fascinated) and we've seen all kids of birds from owls, to bald eagles, to Osprey's (which are supposedly even rarer in our area than eagles).  

Pictures, woman, Pictures!!!!

[Tennesseer]

A number of Memorial weekends ago, I had a blue-fronted amazon parrot feeding at my bird feeders. He stayed the whole weekend on a telephone poll or its wires the whole time other than to come down and feed. I don't know if he ever found his way back home.

Picture of a blue-fronted amazon parrot (not my hand or photo).

[Bonny]

Wow, these are great stories and pix!

Keep 'em coming!

[Bonny]

Tennesseer,

Could it be this story?

www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/Whales-feeding-frenzy-at-Farallones-a-feast-6373733.php

We can see the Farallones from the house on clear days. They are about 30 miles off shore.

[Deleted]

Now that we have a house on a lake, I'm expecting more interesting wildlife.  The previous owners tell me deer come through (and that flower bulbs must be protected because the deer eat them like candy) but so far all we've seen on the lawn is a turtle and way too many Canada geese.  They swim out of my way when I'm kayaking and they're in the water.  I saw a dead one in the water yesterday.  DH grinned from ear to ear (he doesn't like Canada geese) and swears he didn't kill it.  I believe him since we haven't found the slingshot he used to scare ducks out of our pool in our unpacking.

[Tennesseer]

Jul 12, 2015 9:09:02 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Tennesseer,

Could it be this story?

www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/Whales-feeding-frenzy-at-Farallones-a-feast-6373733.php

We can see the Farallones from the house on clear days. They are about 30 miles off shore.

Bonnie-it was just a 10-12 word blurb stating whales were frolicking off the California coast. No specific detals. Think of it as your whales. As good as any sighting.

[Bonny]

Jul 12, 2015 9:13:45 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Now that we have a house on a lake, I'm expecting more interesting wildlife.  The previous owners tell me deer come through (and that flower bulbs must be protected because the deer eat them like candy) but so far all we've seen on the lawn is a turtle and way too many Canada geese. 

They will leave daffodils alone but they will eat the flowers off of tulips and leave the foliage.

Welcome to the wacky world of "deer proofing". Please note that the deer do not get the memo about "Deer Proof" plants and will taste just about everything.

In general they will leave plants which have strong smells such as salvias and other plants in the mint family. But they LOVE roses. They come up on my front deck to make sure they trim the whole bush!

[Lizard Queen]

Jul 11, 2015 21:47:07 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

A year or 2 ago, there was a Peregrine falcon sitting on the back fence.  A squirrel approached it on the fence and was chattering at it and shaking its tail at it.  I've got some pictures of that somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

Also, shortly after buying my house 8 years ago, a wild turkey was in the back neighbor's yard, went all the way around the neighbor's house, and hopped over the fence on the other side.   I never saw wild turkeys in this area the first part of my life, but they are freaking everywhere now, starting about 10 years ago.

Found the pics.  Here's one of them:

[dannylion]

That is so cool, Bonny! What a great experience.

I grew up in a town with a big arboretum and artificial jungle and a huge flock of resident peacocks.  The peacocks could easily fly over the wall and wandered all over the adjacent neighborhoods. Used to drive my dog crazy when the mosied through our front yard.

Where I live now there are hawks and deer and groundhogs and chipmunks and squirrels and foxes and snakes and toads and frogs and bullfrogs and turtles and herons and cranes and migrating ducks and geese and various birds of the woodpecker variety and of many other kinds but no whales. There might be whales in the Chesapeake Bay, but I can't see it from my house.

[Cookies Galore]

I was driving home from the train station a few weeks ago and all of a sudden there was a huge black shadow next to me. I look over and it was a vulture swooping down to snack on a deer on the side of the road. I've seen them flying in the air but I've never seen one that close. Holy wingspan!

There are red fox dens in Ocean City, NJ. They have gotten comfortable with people and I swear the ones I saw near the boardwalk were posing for pictures. Cutest little things!

[Bonny]

LOL, apparently other people saw the news too. Looks like there are two whale watching boats as well as a really big sailboat in our little bay. Oops make that 7 boats! It almost looks as busy as crab season!

[dannylion]

Vultures! I forgot about vultures. We have them here too. Interesting but very weird.

And I just remembered I once had a peacock on my garage roof here in Maryland one Saturday morning. There were peacocks living on one of the big estates down the road, and one of them set off to see the world one day. 

Not as cool as whales, though. 

ETA: Whoa! Rockit has bears. Try not to get eaten by bears, Rockit.

[Anne_in_VA]

We get egrets and herons near us.  Several times we've been driving somewhere and had to stop until they crossed the road.  The egrets are almost as tall as our car.  

We used to have a house in KY and had deer and other critters come up into the fields around the house.  We had a pond on one end of the property and had lots of animals that would come up to drink.  I loved to sit there and watch them.

We currently have a hawk that stays in our neighborhood.  The squirrels hide when he's around.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

We have several pockets of cranes in the sloughs and seasonal ponds, often with blue herons sprinkled in. I've never them try to cross the road though! A few years ago, there was some special kind of duck in one of the seasonal ponds. Bird watchers galore showed up to look at the poor duck. 

[Tennesseer]

Jul 12, 2015 11:07:04 GMT -5 Cookies Galore said:

I was driving home from the train station a few weeks ago and all of a sudden there was a huge black shadow next to me. I look over and it was a vulture swooping down to snack on a deer on the side of the road. I've seen them flying in the air but I've never seen one that close. Holy wingspan!

There are red fox dens in Ocean City, NJ. They have gotten comfortable with people and I swear the ones I saw near the boardwalk were posing for pictures. Cutest little things!

Where I worked before retirement, out company headquarters had multiple buildings and abutted a golf course. All the buildings have reflective glass. The building next to ours, was about 12 feet away. Under the corner of the building, a fox pair dug out a den to birth their kits. Once the kits were old enough, they played outside the den. We could watch them from 8-10 feet away and the adults and kits would not see us. So they played with abandonment. Interesting to watch the kits play. Outside of the den was a mess though; scattered geese feathers and bones. The adults caught Canadian geese that were grazing on the golf course fairways and brought dinner home to the kits.

[Lizard Queen]

I showed my DH those bear pictures, and he said the same thing.  Yikes!  Beautiful flowers, BTW.

[Peace Of Mind]

Like ViolaGirl we get tons of wildlife but nothing as cool as whales since we're not on the ocean like SOME lucky/blessed/spoiled people are.      The only story IMO that reaches the cool factor was back when we lived in the Philippine Islands and we'd get wild monkeys in our backyard twice a day and we would occasionally see a Monitor Lizard.

DH has seen a small Black Bear on our property a few times but I've only heard the Coyotes and see an occasional  Gator hanging out.  The rest that I see is the usual that we see here at home and the list is too long to even mention but it's pretty much everything but whales and dolphins and sharks. 

We do get a lot of Eagles and their offspring around our pond which are awe inspiring to watch.  I had no idea just how huge their heads are (and how wide their wing span is) until one flies right by you and turns and looks you in the eye.  Just Wow!!  I felt like I got blessed or something amazing was given to me when that happened it was so cool.    They  teach their babies flying maneuvers and how to fish now and then.  I always thought I was seeing Osprey but I found out they were Eaglets because their markings are different until they mature.   We had a fish kill recently (not enough oxygen when it gets this hot) and we had about a dozen Buzzards cleaning it up for us.  Huge bass were dead all around our pond.  We never smelled anything they were so on top of things.  They also have an amazing wing span and they're quite pretty. 

[Tennesseer]

Peace Of Mind-you bring up vultures.

The bearded vultue is an old world vulture found in mountainous areas of southern Europe, northern Africa and Asia. It does not eat the flesh of other animals as a rule. Rather, it eats the bone marrow of the dead animals. The vulture is able to crack smaller bones and get the marrow.

But when the bone is too big, it picks up the bone with its claws and flies up to around 160-490 feet in the air and then drops the bone onto rocks below to shatter the bone. It then flies to the ground and lands by the broken bones to pick at the exposed marrow. It is the only bird species to eat bone marrow.

It also does not have a bald head like other vulture species. Because it does not stick its head into dead animal carcasses to eat the innards, its head does not get covered in rotting offal and bacteria like bald head vultures heads do. Somehow, the bald headed vultures are able clean their bald heads after dining.

Nothing is wasted in nature.

[moneymaven]

Our home is semi rural, and used to be very rural before all of the development. We have deer, foxes, a barn owl that sits on the roof nightly and hoots. Before all of the recent construction in our area was done, we would have the occasional bear or mountain lion show up. Coyotes are also becoming a big problem and killing the beautiful foxes.

[Deleted]

My favorite trail to ride my bike winds through a wooded area along a river. One day I saw a huge shadow of a bird cross the path. I looked up, but there are tall trees near the edge of the trail, so I didn't see what had just flown over me. A few days later while I was resting in an open area on the same trail, I watched a hawk (I guess) drifting around overhead. He was so far up in the air and his wingspan still looked so big, I couldn't imagine how big he'd look if he was closer.

Soooo, my brilliant self got on the internet to see if there really are hawks in the area after I saw that big bird. Not only are there hawks, but there are also bobcats and coyotes. Good grief! It's in the middle of a city! I joke about how I hope a bear doesn't get after me on the trail (I hope it's just a joke ), never really thought about what might really be lurking in those woods other than snakes, turtles, squirrels and deer. I see turtles and squirrels all the time and I've seen deer on another trail near that one. For whatever reason, there's a herd of buffalo next to the 2nd trail. I'm ok riding past them, there's a fence between us. If I see a snake, I might fall off my bike.

A couple weeks ago an armadillo wandered out in my path. I was amazed. I'd only ever seen them dead on the highway on roadtrips and had no idea there were any around here. I was startled and I swerved to give him plenty of room, but I didn't fall.

Bears and alligators roaming my neighborhood, I don't think I could handle that. As it is, I'm going to pretend I didn't read about the bobcats and coyotes all over everywhere. My wildlife sightings have been pretty tame so far. I prefer it that way.

I saw whales when I was in Hawaii. We weren't looking for them, I just happened to spot them in the distance when we were on a tour and had stopped at a site that was above the water, like cliffs. The whole trip, I wished my kids were there with me to see how beautiful Hawaii is, but when I saw the whales, I wished even harder that they were there to see them too. I don't know why the whales mattered the most to me.