Archive for the ‘wildlife’ Category

in the air

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Things I don’t see too often around here…

Wednesday evening, after washing the cars, I looked up to see the end of a military jet refueling operation. I say “end” because the two planes flew in refueling formation for about 15 seconds, then the plane behind and below the other plane broke formation and flew off to the northeast. That is the third time I have seen a refueling operation; another time, while visiting my mother in Waterbury, and the first time, while walking The Pies on Beecher Road in Downtown Wolcott.

And speaking of walking The Pies, Thursday morning, I was walking The Pies on Beecher Road and looked up to see a snowy egret fly overhead just above tree level.

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bear sighted

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

I saw a bear on my way to work this morning. He was doing whatever bears do on the lawn of a MacMansion off County Road in Marion. This area borders the forest that extends along the Southington, Compounce, and South Mountain ridge where bears have been sighted before.
I live near the top of Compounce Mountain and I have seen signs of bear visits in the past, but this is the first time I have seen a real life bear in Connecticut.

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morning visitor identified

Monday, June 11th, 2007

After doing some research, it seems that my Saturday morning visitor is an Eastern Box Turtle or Terrapene carolina carolina and he is a female and not a male.

According to this web page, my visitor is a rarity because it’s normal habitat is “coastal regions and river valleys, rarely going above 500’ altitude.” I encountered my visitor at over 900′ altitude.

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morning visitor

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Let me preface this by saying that I was born and raised in the city, so I am always amazed when I encounter any wildlife now that I live in the country.

This morning, while I was pulling weeds in front of the house, my weed removal revealed a round object about 8 inches in diameter. My first thought was that it was a squash, but then I realized it was a turtle with its head and legs pulled in.

I gave the turtle some space and continued to pull weeds a few feet away. Eventually, he popped out his head and legs and sat there checking me out for about fifteen minutes. Then, he decided to hit the road and started walking away very slowly (at a turtle pace).

Forty-five minutes later, he had crossed most of the front yard, but he was heading toward the road and I was worried that one of the neighborhood maniacs might run him over. So, I picked him up and gently deposited him in the woods across the street.

Funny thing is that when I picked him up, he pulled in his head and legs as I expected, but what I did not expect is that as he pulled everything in, there was a whooshing sound just like in a cartoon.

visitor

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