Mt. Auburn Coyote

Unlike my last visit back in May, there was no assortment of migratory warblers today at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, but the wildlife certainly kept me entertained. The sweltering heat must have brought the animals out of their hiding spots.

Today was the first time I saw or even heard of the famous Mt. Auburn Cemetery coyote family. During my first pass over Indian Ridge I saw a photographer with a large scope on a tripod trying to get a shot of the mom who was staring at us from between two gravestones off in the distance. Can you see her? Try clicking on the picture for the enlarged view.

Throughout the day I also saw a groundhog, some very nervous squirrels (explained by pictures to come) and some cute chipmunks. You can see his chubby cheeks in this picture:

Squirrels are not too exciting but I couldn't help photographing this one who was up in the same tree that the chipmunk was underneath while I was so close:

While photographing this house finch:

I noticed a (what I assume to be) a Red-tailed Hawk (or possibly a Red-shouldered Hawk) in the same tree:

'Sleep with one eye open'- click on the enlarged view to see what I'm talking about. In fact, I found this article on the subject: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9902/03/birds.eye/. I'm sure there's more recent research but it's interesting just the same.

The was a Great Blue Heron hanging out at Auburn Lake. That same photographer told me it was scared away by the coyote, but by the time I saw it the bird was back at the lake, but up in a tree:

I even got this video of the bird cleaning itself:

I have more pictures to come, including a mystery bird- perhaps a female tanager or oriole. It was a great day!