Land/Water Wildlife

Three days ago I was walking on a narrow trail about a foot wide with heavy brush and water on each side. Suddenly I saw a fairly large animal coming straight at me from the opposite direction. It was moving very quickly so I said STOP, and it stopped about eight feet in front of me and stared at me. We looked each other up and down for several seconds and I said: look pal, one of us is going to have to back track. It did the gentlemanly thing and turned and went back the way it came. I don't see many river otters and certainly none this close.

 

Wonderful!

 

Snapping turtle catching some rays to get warmed up.

 

It's good news that Rosie is going to be famous....I don't think she'll be the only one either.

Not too many marshmallows Hydrogardener, or Rosie will be needing a dentist next.

 

What are the chances of meeting an otter face to face? Very low I would have thought. Lovely images too.

 

This is quite an advanced Wasp Spider, I don't usually see them this big in mid July, it is still small and has another moult to go before properly mature.

 

I'm sorry about the image quality, I had to grab my camera quickly before they disappeared through the fence into my neighbour's wilderness.

Red Deer

 

Another image - a bit better than the others.

 

Every so often I come across a fearless buck and I leave it alone to do its thing while I do mine.

 

Stunningly beautiful. I envy you.

 

I have, at last, found some tiny Crab spiders, two on the Buddleia which have disappeared today and one on the Salvia Amistad, barely 2mm in size.. Being white they are not exactly Camouflaged.
!

 

I've been watching a pair of blackbirds collecting the petals off of my Feijoa tree, they appear to be feeding their young on them, Sparrows eat the petals as well as bluetits.

 

I wonder if the birds get nutrients from the flowers ..
Feijoa sellowiana - Wikipedia
"Food uses
Although the skin is edible, the fruit usually is eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. The fruit has a juicy, sweet seed pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin.[citation needed] The flower petals are edible.[7] The most common uses are eating raw, desserts such as sorbet, sweet pies, crumbles, or in salads. They are regularly consumed by birds.[14][15][16]"

 

Oh so its well know that birds eat the flowers.
I know the petals are sweet tasting so I assume its that that the birds like, almost like eating fruit.

 

... and you didn't even know what exotic treat you were giving them.