Skunks, Young Birds, and a Video

Recently, a striped skunk living in our yard raised two little babies.  I don't see the mother that often, but every night, the two young skunks visit the cat food bowls.  They are very small and very beautiful with their bold black and white fur.  Below are four photos of them.

Striped Skunk

Striped Skunk

Striped Skunk

Striped Skunk

Another somewhat surprising visitor to the food bowls is a Eurasian collared-dove.  I wouldn't have thought that doves would eat cat food, but I suppose they need their protein, too.  Since the collared-dove it so big, it often has trouble balancing and tips the bowl over.  Below are two photos.  The first is of the dove near the cat food bowl and the second is of it at a water bowl (it almost fell of that bowl, too).

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Eurasian Collared-Dove

The young black phoebe from spring still hangs around our yard.  For a long while, it wasn't able to catch any flying insects, so all it did was land on the ground and catch pill bugs.  I think it can catch the other insects, but it still eats a large amount of pill bugs.  Below are two photos of it.

Black Phoebe

Black Phoebe

The California towhees must have had another nest, because there is a young bird that hangs around sometimes, begging its parents for food.  Below is a photo of it sitting on a bench.

California Towhee

There seem to be a lot of young animals in our yard right now.  A few days ago, we saw a young spotted towhee scratching on the ground.  They look a bit strange; not very much like adults.  They have dark heads, backs, and tails and a tan patch below with white spots on their wings.  They are much duller than adults, and they are covered in dark streaks.  Adults have no streaking.  Below is the young spotted towhee.

Spotted Towhee

A couple weeks ago there was a very pretty adult Cooper's hawk perched on a telephone pole.  Below is a photo of it standing on one leg.

Cooper's Hawk

Below is a video I filmed of a northern mockingbird.  In the video, it is singing and displaying by hopping up and running along the top of the telephone pole.