Snakes and Such

great pics. thanks for sharing.

Loggerhead Shrike (aka “Butcher Bird” – sorry, i don’t recall the taxonomic name) more likely. It appears that the mask meets over the bill, so, if i’m not mistaken on this point, it wouldn’t be a Northern Shrike (whose mask stops at the bill). I’m not sure where you took the pic, but geographical location could also possibly rule out the Northern Shrike.

White-tailed Kite is a much larger bird of prey with an all white head and no mask, IIRC. Shrikes are actually in the order Passeriformes which comprises the many common small perching birds/song birds we see every day.

Shrikes have the habit of impaling their prey on thorns and barb wire. They take insects and even small birds.

Sorry, i don’t remember much more as it has been over 30yrs since i’ve had any Ornithology courses. Maybe someone more current can give you more info.

I agree this bird looks like a shrike but my estimation of its size was about 17″-2.5 feet. I am familiar with shrikes and agree this looks like one but I think it was too big. Any other thoughts? I have already thought of the obvious which is my perspective was off.

17″, hmmm…that’s probably almost 2x as long as a Shrike (i’m assuming 17″ is the length & 30″ is the wingspan – not sure the proportions are right, or did you mean it was b/t 17″ and 30″ in length, or is that the wingspan? i’m quite confused now). So, it can’t be a Shrike if it was that long, but it sure looks like one. Normally, kites have deep set eyes with a ridge over them. Sometimes the recessed areas around the eyes and under the ridge can appear darker, either from shadows or from an actual darker coloration. Occasionally, the head can be a bit grayish on the top and back instead of all pure white. Still, even taking all this into consideration, i first felt that it was a Loggerhead Shrike (it looks so much like one), but now with the size as you stated, it simply can’t be one. I think that 17″ might be just a bit long for even a White-tailed Kite, but i’m not sure since it has been so long since i studied birds.

Did you see it hover in flight, looking down trying to spot prey or home in on moving prey that it spotted? Kites can do this when they’re hunting. I don’t remember the wing markings that might help identify it as a Kite. Oh,…did it soar with its wings in a dihedral (similar to a Turkey Vulture’s soaring)? White-tailed Kites can soar in this fashion.

Let me think on this. Where was the pic taken?

The photo was taken at about 4200 feet in the Little Red rocks section of the Red Rock area along the eastern front of the Spring Mountains about 15 miles east of Downtown Las Vegas, NV.

A local birder agrees with you. I did not see the bird in flight as it just sat there until I had to move on. It was about 100 yards from me up high on on the top of a red rock butte.

Looking back though my bird books I have to admit this bird looks like the textbook example of a shrike. It is definitely not a white tailed kite as the kite has grey wings when seen pearched. Must be my judgment of the length from tail to head at 17″ to 2.5 feet was off though I would swear…

Hamilton, Laurie,

great photos. not sure if you wanted IDs of the species. if so, i can attempt – just need to know location and size (for some critters, time of yr is helpful, as is nearby vegetation and/or nearness to water, and sometimes elevation, but maybe not in these cases).

off the top of my head, it has been over 25yrs since i've seen one, L's serpent looks to be a Massasauga (pattern and coloration – perhaps unique, but i've learned to be cautious in an ID), but i really need a location to be more certain.

i'm wracking my brain on the spider. i should know this. it's in the gray matter somewhere – or, at least it once was. i'm hoping for Family or Genus; species can be difficult except for an expert, or at least difficult for me even yrs ago. If i'm seeing the pedipalps clearly enough, it's a female.

My photos of the snake are all the same snake. It was taken in the river mountains of southern Nevada in a dry wash about 5am on a hot summer's day. It was lying in wait for a lizard which had caught my gaze until I heard the ominous sound. It is, generically, a diamond back rattler. It may be a mojave green. It was not agressive but then it was not agressive either. If you can identify the exact name of this rattler, that would be great.

The mountain sheep are moutain sheep, the one on the ridge was taken at about 1100 feet in the Southern end of Black Canyon below Hoover Dam. The other was taken on the Arizona side near a tinaja.

The tortise is a desert tortise taken at about 2800 feet on a saddle between two fairly steep ridges, an unusal place, I thought. The location was the RRiver mountains,near Boulder City, Clark County, NV.

The first one I posted is a chuckawalla. They like to be in rock areas like this one where they inflate themselves to keep from being pulled out of the rocks by the preditor. They are the largest lizards, short of the hila monster, in the desert and were eaten by indians who poked a hole in their side, deflating them so they could be extracted and roasted.

I gave the picture a name but it only shows up if you hover over the picture.

This photo was taken this November on the West Slope of the Wilson Ridge of the Black Mountains of AZ just East of the Black Canyon of the Colrado below Hoover dam. It was on a gently sloping ridge

I'm not sure that i can do more than what you already know – Western Diamondback.

Yes it was an Eastern Massassauga that I almost stepped on. I was backpacking on the Bruce Peninsula near Tobermory, Ontario (Canada).

The spider was definitely a lady but what kind she is eludes me.

Could not delete

I give up, I've tried 5 times to post this tarantual including lowering the resolution to near zero without success. The first ones worked so easily…anyone help?

same problem fer me! and why did our BPL ranks plummet — wa sit 'cause we disagreed with some other poster? ;)

I think BPL must be currently working on or tweaking the image posting. I notice there is now an "insert image at cursor" button that allows you to upload a picture, so the picture now resides at BPL instead of being a link to another site. I'm not sure how long the insert image button has been there but I just noticed it today. I've posted pictures at other times but could not today.

Hang tight; working on the image posting code.

OK, picture posting is fixed.

But the old ones y'all tried to do earlier today won't work, they were improperly coded in, so you'll have to go back to edit your posts if you want pics in them…Sorry about that! We upgraded the website code base last night and this was one of the bugs.

hey bd it seems everytime I post my plummets even further – I emailed Ryan yesterday and it is the new ranking system apparently – don't worry – you didn't offend anyone

about the pictures – I haven't had an issue with that – once I figured out where the insert image button was

I meant RJ should reduce his .01 … as the new system gets up and running I may start with a deficit … :)