What kind of scat is that? Bastrop birds and wildlife

Tammy Brown

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A lot of seeds and some fur in this fresh scat close to the lake.

My foot is there for size comparison.

Can anyone identify the source?  Big raccoon?

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How about this track?  It looks like a mountain lion to me.  Cat shaped and over 3″.  Folks  report that there are a few mountain lions  around but they are rare.  Maybe just a big bob cat?  Found by a water trough not too far from the house.

Another discovery from today.  The beaver has been busy felling this small tree by the lake.  DSC_1650

Last night we saw him swimming fast across the creek from this direction toward his dam.  I’ll see if the tree is still there tomorrow.

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This zig zag through the grass puzzled me until I got closer. Leaf cutter ants made their tiny version of a game trail carrying boxwood leaves to their underground nest.

I love introducing my friends to Little Piney and had a great time birding with Mary and Andrea today.   We spotted this double-crested cormorant several times before he perched across the creek long enough to be identified. We heard this little downy woodpecker knocking above us.

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A dead tree across the way where the herons and osprey perch to fish is now a high rise condo for chickadees! We saw them popping in and out of a small hollow.  The busy couple spent the day making round trips from a mossy tree, gathering the soft goods that make an apartment a home.

 

 

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Just before dusk, Ken and I watched these two pileated woodpeckers courting.  The female preened while the male approached her then swooped away several times.

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The trees are budding out and soon these beautiful creatures will be even harder to spot.  I guess then I’ll busy identifying the trees and wildflowers.  I planted a new tree yesterday, a native black cherry.  Many thanks to my gardener friend in Austin, Michael Charles, who just happened to have one he had been growing in a pot for the last five years!