Outdoorsman Thread

[Dinadan]

Treefarmer and Colonel - y'all are making e itch! The mosquitoes and noseeums are so thick in our back yard that I do not even want to go out and pick figs. Just as well I guess - all this rain is making most of the figs split before they are really ready.

Bestgear - when I was a kid we had a peahen show up at our place one day. First I knew of it was when an unearthly scream like nothing I had ever heard before came out of one of our pecan trees. My mon told me it was a peahen and to scatter some of the corn that we used for chicken feed under the tree. Soon enough the peahen flew down and made herself at home. She stayed around our place for a couple of years hanging out with the chickens, then disappeared. Maybe she went looking for a mate. We lived almost a mile from the nearest neighbors, and I am pretty sure that no one with a couple of miles had peacocks, so that bird did some traveling to get to our place.

Scott - I cannot tell the species of your hawk from the photo, but if I had to make a guess I would say Cooper's Hawk. My guess is based one third on the way it looks and two thirds on what it is doing. Here in the Southeast if a hawk is hanging around a backyard beneath the canopy, then in my experience it is almost always either a Cooper's or a Sharp Shinned. Those two hawks can be hard to tell apart (both are Accipiters) but the Cooper's tends to be lighter underneath. We usually have a bird feeder in the back yard and occasionally a Cooper's will make a very fast swoop at the feeder in an attempt grab a bird.

[garddogg56]

Gutch ya

[zp4ja]

Gents,

Way behind on this thread as far as responses. Been real busy lately and as we all know. Get a few pages behind and hard to recognize all the posts and admired contributions. I will do the best I can having said that...

Great stuff Dave. Enjoyed chatting with you yesterday. Looks like a great, memorable time as we discussed. Hope many more in your future my friend.

Phillip and Wade, Looks like a nasty bugger for sure. Great pic Wade. Not a fan of skeeters but I guess God deemed some purpose so I just deal with them as they come. We had swarms of mosquitoes, not sure what type, very small though for the past few years. Plastered the windshield. They swarmed all around like a small cloud but never saw them all alone as I recall.

Very cool Tom. My experience was quite different with the Peacocks I have encountered. Glad it seems like a good experience for you though. They ate many bedding flowers, attacked the cats whom were not provoking them, crapped on my car hood and burned the paint, etc. It was a bunch of males. Some beautiful creatures. This was years ago, belonged to someone else and they would wander in and terrorize the place for a bit. They ate the flowers, my lady would replace them against my better judgement and eat them again. Beautiful pics from you. Glad the male found a mate.

Nice pics Scott. No input as to what Raptor it may be but birds of prey are just really cool.

If I missed someone's post, I apologize to not respond as I probably liked it but failed to address specifically.I always like this thread but sometimes, life get busy. You all know how it is I am sure.

Regards, Jerry

[CheckSix]

Thanks Jerry!

That trip was a memory maker. Table Rock Lake is an amazing place. Wed the 14th, we finally found the schooled up Bass and were getting bit on just about every cast. That's when fishing is a blast.

[philco]

While visiting my brother and some friends who were all camping this weekend, I saw this owl perched on a fence. He flew down to the ground and then back to the fence several times. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo but it was dark.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Had a paternal uncle and aunt that spent the last years of their life in Bayou La Batre.

Is Chambeau's still there"

Do the Moonies still own everything?

Charlie

[RobesonsRme.com]

Here's a blowup of Scott's hawk. Any larger than this and it starts to get pixelly.

Charlie

[LongBlade]

Speaking of owls ... I often see them in the forest but at a distance or flying under the canopy... this Barred Owl a few years back landed not far off my yard and just sat there for 10 minutes - which allowed me to get off some photos... this big old owl was about 24" tall - one big bird!!

[Quick Steel]

Excellent shot LongBlade.

[RobesonsRme.com]

We live next to The Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve, a Birmingham City Park that is basically wilderness.

Our neighborhood has owls all the time. Sometimes, they are quite close, sometimes not. I've been here since 1979 and I have never actually laid eyes on one of them.

Charlie

[Mumbleypeg]

Y'all are reminding me of a lot. We have a lot of great horned owls and barred owls like the one Lee posted, and can hear them calling every evening. The two species have different calls, and you can hear them calling back and forth. I see one occasionally. They're both large owls but the great horned owl has a wingspan up to 5 feet. Posted a picture of a barred owl sitting on a fence post in my pasture in this thread a few months ago.

Also have a lot of red-tailed Hawks. When I'm cutting hay one or two will come sit in a tree or on a telephone pole and watch for mice, rabbits or whatever is scared up with by cutter. They'll swoop down, smack it, and then fly off with it. A few minutes later they come back for another round.

A neighbor has a peacock that calls during the day - sounds just like a woman yelling "help!". It originally belonged to another guy who lives about two miles away, but it won't stay there - decided for some reason it likes my neighbor's place better.



Ken

[TripleF]

Had the grandsons starting at 11:00 today.....went fishing, to the park, and swimming.....and wrapped things up at 4:30.
Oh, and we stopped by Wal-Mart to purchase some fishing lures.....

[treefarmer]

Scott,
The child labor folks are going to be trackin' you down. That's good for those young fellers!
Let me compliment you on purchasing the Beetle Spins. That has been a great lure for Florida fresh water for many years. I've caught near about anything that swims on them, bass, bluegills, catfish, warmouth, speckled perch(crappie), bowfin(mudfish), jack(chain pickerel), gar and even the American Shad in the St.Johns River.
Good job! Wish our grandsons were closer to home.
Treefarmer

[TripleF]

Thanks Philip!! Much respect. We do like them Beetle Spins purty good!

[bestgear]

Bravo Scott - those outdoor experiences will last a lifetime!

[jerryd6818]

OCD alert.

[313 Mike]

Loving everyone's pics and contributions, good stuff all! My daughter Sofia loves making shelters, she made the blue tarped one all by herself with a Y branch for main support and a stout vine for a loop support...and stakes out the back end.
the larger brown tarp one we put up together as a rain shelter where we could sit keep dry. Nothing special, but highly effective.
It makes me so happy that she shows such interest in such things....I think she actually brought more knives along on our trip.then I did!

[Quick Steel]

Mike, you are providing wonderful experiences for your girl. And yourself. Way to go!

[zp4ja]

Great stuff Scott and Mike. Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy the pics with the kids showing interest in the outdoors and associated activities. So much natural wonders to enjoy versus a video game.

Jerry

[treefarmer]

Great stuff, Mike! Close examination shows the wise use of plain old clothes pins. Sofia will know all the little tricks about the garden and the woods! Where's Samuel, hadn't seen him in your posts lately?
Treefarmer

[313 Mike]

Great stuff, Mike! Close examination shows the wise use of plain old clothes pins. Sofia will know all the little tricks about the garden and the woods! Where's Samuel, hadn't seen him in your posts lately?
Treefarmer

Yes Phillip, she is an industrious one for sure, and eager to learn . Samuel is doing well also, here's a pic of the whole crew out for a hike, Sam is sporting my old Marine Corps cover that has been handed down to him..

[jmh58]

Scott.. Sounds like a fun day!! Wanna take me next time??

Mike.. That is way KOOL that Sophia is into the "OUTDOORS" !! And the comment on more knives cracked me up!!! NICE!!! Nice CREW shot!!! John

[#goldpan]

Scott, Mike, it looks tons of fun outdoors with the kids! I remember when I was allowed to cut wood with an axe. Sounds goofy to most people I know, but damn I used to have a good time cutting and splitting fire wood. I used to cut about 2 and 1/2 cords every year.

Well I spent some time in the Sierra Mountains this week. Went fishing with my buddy Dave along the Rubicon Trail with a stop at Loon Lake.

Didn't get any pictures of it, but we were entertained by a pair of WW2 mustangs sporting blue and gold paint jobs. They must have been practicing for an air show. We witnessed a 10 minute long mock dog fight with smoke trails! They were flying between the mountain peaks and diving into the ravines!

Got some nice strikes but no fish. Still it was a great day!

Last night several Hen turkeys showed up in the yard with their babies!

I dont know if they show up to good but there are two tiny little fuzz ball baby turkeys in this pic.

Here a different mom with some older chicks.

There five babies and two moms in this one. Every year they show up with the babies. The moms at some point will all work together to raise their chicks as a group. Its kinda cool. I recognize the turkeys that return every year.

[jmh58]

KOOL pics there gp.. That shot of the lake is a framer for sure!! NICE!!! John

[CheckSix]

Great Pictures Randy & Mike!

I'm off at O'Dark Thirty in the mornin' to go Salmon fishing in Lake Michigan. They should be out there... reports are good.