mferr's Favorites
Photos / Sounds
What
European Mantis (Mantis religiosa)Observer
anudibranchmomDescription
Was watching this mantis hunt for honey bees on California Buckeye. She ignored the native bees. After several misses, she caught one, and was bombarded by 2-3 other honeybees for about 20 seconds before they gave up. While finishing off her honey bee, the mantis is grabbed by a female Western Fence Lizard that leaped vertically 9" into the air (I measured later). They land on the ground in a confused heap six inches from my foot, with the lizard on top and the mantis grabbing on to it. Everyone freezes, especially me, since I don't want this battle to go up my pants leg. I move into a better position, and after a while the lizard gets off the mantis and there's a long standoff where they stare each other down from about 6" apart. Finally, the lizard grabs some other small insect (ant?) from the ground and scuttles away under the buckwheat. With the coast now clear, the mantis hustles back up into the buckwheat. The End.
Photos / Sounds
What
Vespertilionoid Bats (Superfamily Vespertilionoidea)Observer
donendicottDescription
Acoustic detection as part of a long-term study in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Borrego Palm Canyon, First Grove. Detected with Wildlife Acoustics SM4-BAT and tripod mounted SMM-U2 ultrasonic microphone. Manually identified from among 1056 bat detections this evening. Four EUMA pulses are bounded by presumed NYFE search phase calls. Second image shows a compressed view of the same sequence. Third image is a shorter sequence on the evening of 7/17 at 8:05 PM PDT. Single two-pulse event AutoID and manually confirmed from 1707 detections on this evening. Three similar detections on 6/4/2021 at 1:53 AM, 6/9 at 1:12 AM, and 6/16/2021 at 3:53 AM.
Photos / Sounds
What
Apache Twig Ant (Pseudomyrmex apache)Observer
nickantDescription
Found wandering on the ground. Im going to assume it fell from high up in a nearby oak tree, there were no others visible anywhere near eye-level or below.
Photos / Sounds
What
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)Observer
benjchristensenDescription
This cat let me hang out in the field with it for 20+ minutes while it was hunting. A few minutes of perfect light happened near the end as it just hung out, and circumstances allowed me to stay hidden behind a structure with it closer than normal as the sun set to get these photos.
Photos / Sounds
What
Greater Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus)Observer
vireo27Description
Shingwedzi Area on 1 November 2019 in Mugg & Bean, Mpumalanga, RSA
