Passionate Puma

An Effort to Capture the Golden Fur and Intent Gaze of our Visiting Puma

So, one night around 10:00 pm, I rounded the bottom of our driveway with a little speed to climb the hill, but braked to a stop immediately.  My headlights illuminated a large yellow figure as it sank to the ground, frozen, midway up the drive.  A grey ferral cat froze in a sitting position  halfway between us.

Two large yellow dogs sometimes visit the home above us, but I'd never seen a dog sink frozen to the ground when a car pulls up.  

I waited.

They waited.

Golden, Molten, Intensity of the Cougar 

Finally, the cat rose, took one step, froze again.

All questions ceased.  The cougar was on it's feet and halfway to the ferral cat in hyper-alert stalking mode, then froze.  It had no more interest in my purring car.

Unsuspecting of what was behind,

the grey cat dove over the side of the drive.

All molten muscle, like lightening, the cougar flew after

into the darkness.

The Drive where the Dive Took Place

My son stands at the site of the dive.

This winter we had another visit.

Cougar Tracks in the Snow

Tracks across the deck.

Hoping never to meet the owner in person.

Comparing Mitts

It's a little disconcerting to find cougar prints:

* five yards from the house,

* within the fenced back yard,

* having walked the fence before leaping in.

And what was the attraction?

Is it possible he/she also has a passion for camelias?

These are our first.

We Thank Thee, Lord

John C. Slemp

For all the blessings of the year, For all the friends we hold so dear, For peace on earth, both far and near, We thank Thee, Lord.

For life and health, those common things, Which every day and hour brings.  For home, where our affection clings, We thank Thee, Lord.

For love of Thine, which never tires, Which all our better thought inspires, And warms our lives with heavenly fires, We thank Thee, Lord.

Flittering through Buckhorn

Oh my gosh!  Quick, get the camera!  

A dozen busy little beauties flitting and fluttering around our beautiful Mermaid rose on the last day of the snow melt... 

What could they be?  (Can you pick one out in this photo?)

We could see with the naked eye that they were colorful, almost blue, with variated coloring around the wings, but they just wouldn't hold still long enough to get a good look!  

Thank goodness for cameras!

 Sure enough, in five minutes they're gone, apparently finished with the goodies. Check the photos:


* Beautiful yellow crown,
* Delicate back pattern,
* Black eye slash,
* White wing tips,

What else?


* Yellow throat,
* Yellow side slashes,


None of the experts list or picture this bird: neither Peterson's nor Audobon's Field Guide; neither the internet nor the iPhone Audobon App. What are these little delights?


More clues:


* White circle around the eye--interrupted by the black slash,
* Insect eaters!

Of Vireos, Warblers and Flycatchers we first settle on Vireos, then  Warblers, but nothing quite fits.  The Myrtle Warbler is close, but it has a white throat and yellow rump.  The Audobon Warbler is close, but it has a yellow rump.  Can we find a yellow rump?  Back to searching the rose pictures for another bird to blow up.

Hooray!

Fuzzy photo, but we've spotted the secretive yellow rump!

Audobon's West Coast Warbler!

Further reading reveals that the East Coast Myrtle Warbler (white throat), and the West Coast Audobon Warbler (yellow throat), once separated by the Glacier Age, are now considered together as the...

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Welcome to Buckhorn!

Praise Him!

For the Beauty of the Earth

Foliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917)

For the beauty of the earth

For the glory of the skies

For the love which from our birth 

Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to Thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Thanks for this carnival of feathers and fun!

Who's the Top Tom?

 Turned the corner on the way home last week and stopped for the show. 


I didn't have a good camera with me, but pulled out my phone to get these shots.  Three big toms were keeping ladies on both sides of the road entranced with their beautiful tails and dance.  At first the ladies were on both sides of the road, but as the car came down the hill, most moved to the right and away -- still watching the toms.  Once I had my phone camera in place, I began inching down the road, taking a couple of photos.  That's when it became clear who the top tom was.  

Two of the toms hesitated, tails diminishing, while the third turned slowly to face "me" off (me being a big black sedan).  As I approached closer, the other two toms slid off the road -- the winner of this contest never backing down his bluff manner, but wisely backing to the side of the road, ultimately following the hens as I passed by.  There was no question in any of our minds as to who placed first in the TOP TOM contest!

Wondering... Fisher or Marten?

Sunday Surprise

Today we came home to find that a mystery visitor had come to call, probably attracted by the "sweet scent" from the pick-up load of mulch dropped yesterday.

Black, mulchy tracks led from the wet mulch to a pool of red, muddy water. From there, they became the color of the red clay. Plus, we got the extra dividend of the tail print -- seems s/he sat for a moment or two fishing in another red puddle.

The prints seemed large for a racoon, but... we decided to check it out.

In the neighborhood we've seen: skunk, fox, raccoon, ringtails, mink (we think), mountain lion, bear... This doesn't really look like any of these, but. We checked it out.

Racoon? would have heel marks.

Fox? would have four toes.

Skunk? tracks not paired, heel showing.

Bobcat? four toes.

Weasel? usually only shows four toes.

Mink? would be smaller.

Ringtail? would be smaller.

Fisher? Ahhh... Maybe.

Martin? Also.... Maybe.

Fishers and martens are similar members of the weasel family. Fishers are darker and bigger. Track patterns are similar to martens, but larger. This can be confusing, because Fisher females are half the size of the male. Two essential differences:

Fisher

* width of single print >2.5"

* width of side/side prints>4.5"

Martin

* width of single print <2.5"

* width of side/side prints<4.5

Judging from the distance across the two prints, this is the track of a small fisher.

Did you notice the tail print this fisher made after taking a muddy dip? Because it's a print of the underside of the tail, it's uncertain the full length, but the underside is a minimum of 9 inches. Hmmm... large marten? (fisher tail length tail length 13-17")

Guess we'd better do a bit more research.

Your thoughts?


PS: tracks appeared during church (between 9:30am and 1:30pm), so it is not a strictly nocturnal creature.