Favoritos de mgiddings

More of my infamously bad bird photos! Took these, freehand(no adapter) through 10x21 binoculars. They aren't common loons, as I am familiar with those & there were a bunch in the same area, so I could compare. These are smaller, more gracile & a different shape from the common loon. My next best guess is Western grebe, but I think red-throated loon is more likely.

Definitely not a dog. Much too large to be a fox & wrong proportions. Watched it hunt for a few minutes. Had an injured fore limb that was not bearing weight, but it didn't seem to slow it down any once it spotted me.

Was found washed up on shore. Fwc was contacted. Took measurements to attempt and ID. Length from nose tip to caudal peduncle was 8 Feet 9 Inches. Length of pectoral fin is 24 inches. Length of head, “ from top of nose to first gill slit”, 25 inches. No nictitating membrane present. Keel at caudal fin present. Deep blue dorsal with a silverish white ventral.

Noticed this caterpillar because of the bright colors & it was waving its front end around. Not sure what the plants are that it was in but there is usually quite a bit of Clethra and other small deciduous shrubs in that general area. It was cool & wet for the past few days.