So, this past weekend was partly spent doing some yard work, and that included picking up these...
These are mostly husks from hickory nuts that come from a shag bark hickory tree that is right outside one wall of my shop. Every late summer and fall. I hear a pretty constant banging on the roof from the squirrels knocking these down onto the roof.
Full one in the husk on the left, and the nut in the hard shell on the right. They can be eaten, but we don't. The squirrels and chipmunks love them though. We raked up a 5 gallon bucket full of the debris, and there's more to come.
Lovely!
Only seen once every few years where I live, but when I go somewhere on a Motorway (Autoroute, Autobahn, Freeway) they are fairly common, looking for the road-kill from the cars & trucks. Must be rather smart not to get killed themselves 😉
Thanks.
they are not uncommon here, i have some times seen them catching mice and such when the farmers are harvestin.
They are pretty versatile.
Short-eared Owl season coming up here, some years we get 20 over-wintering, some years 2 depending on the abundance of the mouse & vole population. Don't think they go for tractor-kill.... But for someone without the many Euro-1000s lenses they let humans get within 10-15 meters when they are perched on posts and regard 2 meter vertical clearance enough when flying. Shame they come out close to sunset when there isn't enough light for lenses I can afford.
This afternoon's walk ...
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum) female
Small White (Pieris rapae)
Both are pretty common.
A red kite from today.