With Valeri Ponzo; a successful chase of the Ruddy Shelducks that have frequented this area for more than 3 years. This was a stationary count. I forgot to record the weather, but it was sunny and probably around 80 degrees. We left at 1042 and headed to Ocala National Forest.

With 5 small ducklings!

Visual Description: Organism is a Squirrel belonging to Genus Sciurus. Height is approximately 6-8 inches tall. The organism has a posterior Brown-Gray Coat with small streaks of amber coloring on its sides. It’s anterior side is white, covering the chest belly, and pelvis. Estimated tail length is approximately 6-8 inches.

Location and Habitat: The Squirrel was found inhabiting a tree near Castor Beach at the USF Tampa Campus. The organism’s habitat can be defined as a thinly wooded urban/suburban area. It has likely made its home in the Cultivated Trees in this area of the USF Campus

Note on Behavior: The Squirrel is feeding on a Human-made food source in the photographed observations. It is likely that these Squirrels are adapted to living in Urban and Suburban habitats, scavenging for human food as well as its natural food source. The squirrel carried the food up into the tree and stored it somewhere out of view.

Reference:
https://www.nsis.org/wildlife/mamm/squirrel.html

В пруду в сквере у Новоспасского монастыря. Пара с 10 утятами, пара с 8 утятами и огарь отдельно. Соблюдают нейтралитет, хотя селезни порой принимают угрожающие позы. Плывут к кормящим людям, причём даже выводят утят на берег, где стоят люди, а к корму уже собралась голубиная стая. +23 °C.

NB: про голубей см. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/164205845.

Photo taken moments after sunrise. ...When I arrived, both adults were sleeping side-by-side, presumably with the cygnets on their backs.

Though it is very, very sad to see this pond's cygnets taken by the snapping turtles, "Mute Swan populations held steady between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. " I LOVE (!) the Mute Swans; but I went on to read: "With few natural predators, these aggressive nonnatives can increase their population quickly, displace native species, and damage aquatic habitat by overgrazing vegetation, creating a dilemma for wildlife and habitat managers. In the Maryland region of Chesapeake Bay, Mute Swans drove the last colony of Black Skimmers off their breeding grounds and trampled Least Tern nests and nestlings on the bay’s sandbars. Mute Swans are also displacing Black Tern colonies in New York." (Source: Conservation section of https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mute_Swan/lifehistory)

Also, Mute Swans' clutch size is 2-5 eggs. This pair having produced 7 again this year could imply they are evolving to compensate for losses to the snapping turtle(s). (Source: Nesting section of https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mute_Swan/lifehistory)

Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/157014451@N04/49234738802/in/datepo...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_nutcracker

ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B...

may 23 23-9 Common Mersanger (Mergus merganser) with a large brood of 18 chicks on the Tuckaseegee River, Jackson County, NC.

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