Environmental Study Of Lechtenberg Park

[Turtle]

Back in post #62 Cedars wrote:

 

Have you considered Tree Swallow or Violet-green Swallow? They can appear dark when not lit well. The Flycatchers listed for your area dont seem to have the pronounced white throat and breast area this bird shows. Another possiblity is the Bank Swallow, at times the bird in the video seems to have a band across it breast, and other points it seems white...

 

Thanks Cedars. I get so hell-bent on plunging ahead I sometimes forget to look back. :) Nothing like a hell-bent turtle eh? :D ;) How fast could one really be? :D I'll make the title changes and add the entry to my bird list. :)

[freeztar]

I think we have ruled out raccoon as a skull, the tooth count alone seems to be too high.

Ok...We are getting somewhere. :hihi:

Fox and coyote are still possible based on tooth count alone. The shape of the skull tends to lead me to exclude coyote

 

I wouldn't suspect either, but...

but because of the size, if it was a young animal, everything changes. I dont know that we will find a pic of a young coyote (+/- 6 months), which is the age I would look at.

 

The teeth count should remain somewhat consistent across age, so I think it is an important identifier in this case. Another helpful identification tool would rest in the knowledge of locals, or local reports, of wildlife. How common are opossum in your part of WA, Turts?

If I have enough time this week, I will attempt to get some pics of the opossum skull I have. I am going over to where it is in storage, and I am pretty sure I know which box I put it in. But its a busy week I have coming up.

 

A skull collector? :hihi:

[Cedars]

Thanks Cedars. I get so hell-bent on plunging ahead I sometimes forget to look back. :lol: Nothing like a hell-bent turtle eh? :hihi: How fast could one really be? :) I'll make the title changes and add the entry to my bird list. :)

 

Well I screwed up. Forgot to bring the camera with me. I will try again next week (or sooner if my plans change).

 

Could you take a pic of the skull looking straight down on it? It may not show on your example but one thing that stuck out when I was looking down on it was there is a small bone running from the eye socket to the cheek bone, divinding the area between eye socket and ear spot. This divide is not present on the other skulls I looked at. It was a very thin bone and I am not sure you will be able to find evidence of it on what remains of your sample.

[Cedars]

A skull collector?

 

The opossum skull was a gift from a friend. He found it while hunting and brought it to me. Its from Missouri.

 

I am curing a bear skull right now but I should have boiled it first. It sat in someones freezer for about 4 years before they decided they werent gonna finish it, so.... they gave it to me.

 

Your friends dont give you cool presents like that? :hihi:

[Turtle]

Ok...We are getting somewhere. :)

... Another helpful identification tool would rest in the knowledge of locals, or local reports, of wildlife. How common are opossum in your part of WA, Turts?

 

Opposum are quite common here both in the wild areas as well as suburbia.

 

Could you take a pic of the skull looking straight down on it? It may not show on your example but one thing that stuck out when I was looking down on it was there is a small bone running from the eye socket to the cheek bone, divinding the area between eye socket and ear spot. This divide is not present on the other skulls I looked at. It was a very thin bone and I am not sure you will be able to find evidence of it on what remains of your sample.

 

Roger Wilco Here's the top view:

 

[freeztar]

I believe the cranial ridge that Cedars reffered to is the Sagittal Crest, which is said to be pronounced in opossum.

[Turtle]

Back in post #62 Cedars wrote:

 

The Flycatcher...

 

Have you considered Tree Swallow or Violet-green Swallow? They can appear dark when not lit well. .... Another possiblity is the Bank Swallow, at times the bird in the video seems to have a band across it breast, and other points it seems white.

/past Post

 

We dont have the Violet-green Swallow here so I could only suggest it via book information.

 

mmm...i wrote Tachycineta bicolor as the Tree Swallow ID, but in my Audubon book of Western US it's not listed. they list the American Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea. is the latter correct?

 

have we mentioned the possibility the skull is from a skunk? :thumbs_up :)

 

PS not a skunk...never mind. >> Striped Skunk Skull from Skulls Unlimited

[Cedars]

mmm...i wrote Tachycineta bicolor as the Tree Swallow ID, but in my Audubon book of Western US it's not listed. they list the American Tree Sparrow, Spizella arborea. is the latter correct?

 

Depending on when your book was printed, the specie accounts can vary. Audubon is a good general field guide for sure, but there has been alot of increased knowledge on ranges and varied distributions and some changes as to what is a separate species and what is just a variation of color.

 

All About Birds: Tree Swallow

[Turtle]

Depending on when your book was printed, the specie accounts can vary. Audubon is a good general field guide for sure, but there has been alot of increased knowledge on ranges and varied distributions and some changes as to what is a separate species and what is just a variation of color.

 

All About Birds: Tree Swallow

 

OK. i transposed 'sparrow' for 'swallow'! :eek: what a maroon. :) fortunately i use pencil for my record entries. Tachycineta bicolor it is. :thumbs_up

[Turtle]

Racoon San accompanied me on an impromptu visit to Lechtenberg today of some 5 hours duration. debriefing to follow at a turtle's pace.

 

of premier interest - and thanks to Racoon's keen eyes - we sighted and videographed a Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura. here's a clip of this large impressive bird.

YouTube - Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwzzqBxePEo

[Turtle]

unidentified flower(s) and assorted scat & bones.

 

 

[Cedars]

:) Racoon San accompanied me on an impromptu visit to Lechtenberg today of some 5 hours duration. debriefing to follow at a turtle's pace.

 

of premier interest - and thanks to Racoon's keen eyes - we sighted and videographed a Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura. here's a clip of this large impressive bird.

 

Thats a pretty good shot of this giant bird. I have tried a few times with little luck. The birds seem very shy and flighty when they are on the ground or in a tree, which isnt very often for my experience.

[Cedars]

unidentified flower(s) and assorted scat & bones. :)

 

 

This one I know of. I have them growing sometimes here (this year my patch died due to the drought). Deer eat the tops off them too, which drives me nuts.

 

Jewelweed

[Cedars]

unidentified flower(s) and assorted scat & bones. :)

 

 

 

Are these the bones from the skull?

[Turtle]

Thats a pretty good shot of this giant bird. I have tried a few times with little luck. The birds seem very shy and flighty when they are on the ground or in a tree, which isnt very often for my experience.

 

i have more video clips which i'll get up as soon as i learn how to edit them. in reviewing the footage last night i realized there were at least 2 and possibly 3 Turkey Vultures together in the immediate area. inspite of Racoon's & my close proximity and not-so-quiet banter, the birds seemed unconcerned with us. I suspect it was because they had the creek between themselves and us.

 

i will add Jewelweed to the image title; thanks again for another ID Cedars. :)

 

the bones do belong with the suspected opposum skull. i was somewhat surprised that they were pretty much all still there, and once again were it not for Racoon's sharp eyes i would have walked right past them.

 

back with those vids later this afternoon now. :)

 

YouTube - Turkey Vulture 2 - Cathartes aura http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNszKt0RkZ0

YouTube - Turkey Vulture 3 - Cathartes aura http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le3aT5dY_OA

YouTube - Turkey Vulture 4 - Cathartes aura http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZDuDGfLDlg

[Cedars]

i have more video clips which i'll get up as soon as i learn how to edit them. in reviewing the footage last night i realized there were at least 2 and possibly 3 Turkey Vultures together in the immediate area. inspite of Racoon's & my close proximity and not-so-quiet banter, the birds seemed unconcerned with us. I suspect it was because they had the creek between themselves and us. :)

 

I wonder if these are some migrants working their way south from an area where they did not have much human contact, therefore no reason to worry.

 

They do have an ugly head but are an impressively large bird when you get close to them.

[Turtle]

I wonder if these are some migrants working their way south from an area where they did not have much human contact, therefore no reason to worry.

 

They do have an ugly head but are an impressively large bird when you get close to them.

 

i suspect they are resident birds as i used to see a group of them regularly riding thermals ~4 miles south of the park on a Columbia River bluff. i never could get a photo for a good ID as they stayed so high. i have one more vid with one flying, but i have to figure out how to cut out all the wild camera swings and garbled babble.

 

in video #3 there are actually 3 Vultures. at the begiining you see one swoop to the ground, then i pan right and pause and there is one hidden center frame, and then i pan left to the obvious bird.

 

sorry for posting it here and letting the birding thread go a bit lame. :) thanks Cedars for taking up the slack over there plus helping out here with id's. :) :cup: :)