Weather

[WhistlingBadger]

Now that November is upon us those of us in the Mountain West ( @jaylach and @WhistlingBadger ) can expect anything from a mild and pleasant Indian Summer to blizzards and below zero temperatures . I like to be my own weatherman and make my own predictions from things I see . I haven’t as yet seen too many of those big flocks of robin sized birds wheeling around and back and forth yet as they get ready to migrate . The flocks I have seen are small too . I take this as a sign of mild weather for the foreseeable future but as we all know around here that can change quickly . But something I saw yesterday also makes me think warm weather . I saw a live grasshopper .

I've been seeing those big starling flocks for a couple weeks. I always think, wow, great directional schoolers!

 

[Back in the fold]

Actually hit 70F here in Sheridan on 11/1/2025.

Those 'robin sized birds are most likely common starlings. Had a HUGE flock come through Sheridan a few days ago. I'd bet money that there were at least 2000 of the beasties.

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We hit 68 here in Billings . It’s nice but it’s supposed to change overnight . Those flocks of birds are awesome when they get really big ! I’ve often wondered how many and it has to be in the thousands.

I've been seeing those big starling flocks for a couple weeks. I always think, wow, great directional schoolers!

Aren't they something ! Not so unlike those giant schools of sardines you see on nature shows .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

We hit 68 here in Billings . It’s nice but it’s supposed to change overnight . Those flocks of birds are awesome when they get really big ! I’ve often wondered how many and it has to be in the thousands.

Aren't they something ! Not so unlike those giant schools of sardines you see on nature shows .

One of the coolest things I ever saw was a flock of glossy ibis out at our old place. These are big birds, probably a couple feet long from break to feet. There were probably 15, 20 of them, just cruising around in loose formation. Suddenly they tightened up and started maneuvering in unison, just like those starling flocks. That was impressive, and it was even more impressive when a prairie falcon zoomed right through the middle of them. They didn't break ranks, though, and the falcon just kept on flying without a look back.

 

[Back in the fold]

One of the coolest things I ever saw was a flock of glossy ibis out at our old place. These are big birds, probably a couple feet long from break to feet. There were probably 15, 20 of them, just cruising around in loose formation. Suddenly they tightened up and started maneuvering in unison, just like those starling flocks. That was impressive, and it was even more impressive when a prairie falcon zoomed right through the middle of them. They didn't break ranks, though, and the falcon just kept on flying without a look back.

I pity the poor saps who live in the cities and never get to see things like that . We are blessed to live where we do .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

True. But once I saw a peregrine falcon whack a starling, catch it in midair, and haul it up to a power pole where it plucked and ate it. Right in the middle of Portland, Oregon. Nature finds a way...

 

[jaylach]

True. But once I saw a peregrine falcon whack a starling, catch it in midair, and haul it up to a power pole where it plucked and ate it. Right in the middle of Portland, Oregon. Nature finds a way...

When I lived in Florida there was a huge pine tree in the back yard that had several visitors including a horned owl, osprey and red tail hawk. Then there was the large racoon that would visit the yard. Oh then there was the opossum that lived at the top of a palm tree. Had several palms -- I detest palm trees -- that I kept very trimmed as rats will use them for nests if overgrown. The only palm I didn't keep trimmed was the one with the opossum as an opossum will hunt and eat rats.

This was Jacksonville beach Florida which is a highly populated beach community. The entire Jacksonville area had a population of over a million si I would consider it a large city yet there was wildlife all over the place,.

Thinking about the hawk I had a roomie in the house for around 12 years. She would feed the doves and the doves would feed the hawk.

An interesting fact with most falcons is that they don't attack prey with open talons. At least some can dive at speeds around 200 MPH. They will close their talons sort of making fists. Especially when taking another bird they will dive and hit the prey with the 'fists' killing or disabling the prey.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

They will close their talons sort of making fists. Especially when taking another bird they will dive and hit the prey with the 'fists' killing or disabling the prey.

So mantis shrimp are falcons of the sea...

 

[Colin_T]

True. But once I saw a peregrine falcon whack a starling, catch it in midair, and haul it up to a power pole where it plucked and ate it. Right in the middle of Portland, Oregon. Nature finds a way...

I used to walk around the neighbourhood at night and one night I was looking up at the power pole because there was an awful high pitched sqeaking going on. It turned out an owl had caught a small bird and the bird was screaming for help. After about 30 seconds the owl bit the bird (presumably on the neck) and the bird went quiet. It was pretty gross to watch and hear but that's nature. Things need to eat, even us.

 

[GaryE]

I pity the poor saps who live in the cities and never get to see things like that . We are blessed to live where we do .

I'm always going to defend the city life, though I see no reason for anyone to live in suburbs. I've done that, and it was lost time in a lost place. But have you never seen the great herds of cockroaches run up a kitchen wall in perfect, precise unison? Have you never watched rats live their complicated lives? Have you not seen peregrine falcons dive from office towers through flocks of pigeons? Raccoons rise from garbage cans like Oscar the Grouch?
There's lots of urban wildlife!
Now here I am, in the country, with ice on the grass this morning. I have coyotes prowling about. I've seen bald eagles bust into trash bags, followed by raccoons. Ground hogs have eaten my veggies, and deer have devoured the flowers. It makes a city boy feel at home.
It's all very interesting, and all negatives aside, I have seen wondrous things here - dolphins, whales, songbirds, migrations, deer with the zoomies, bears... But in the city, I saw great things from Homo sapiens - great creativity, people working together, fantastic diversity, poets, artists, musicians, and people with great ideas trying to make them work.

Wherever you're tuned to watching other animals, including humans, you'll find beauty. If you have sense and empathy, you're lucky as long as you're open to seeing that. Plus if you're in a decent city, there are more fish stores with lower prices.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm always going to defend the city life, though I see no reason for anyone to live in suburbs. I've done that, and it was lost time in a lost place. But have you never seen the great herds of cockroaches run up a kitchen wall in perfect, precise unison? Have you never watched rats live their complicated lives? Have you not seen peregrine falcons dive from office towers through flocks of pigeons? Raccoons rise from garbage cans like Oscar the Grouch?
There's lots of urban wildlife!
Now here I am, in the country, with ice on the grass this morning. I have coyotes prowling about. I've seen bald eagles bust into trash bags, followed by raccoons. Ground hogs have eaten my veggies, and deer have devoured the flowers. It makes a city boy feel at home.

I like Oscar the grouch. Oscar the grouchy racoon sounds like a scream

I (touchwood) don't get many cockroaches here, the rats and ants keep them away. I do hear the rats playing rugby in the roof and I see them out the back eating my plants and sunbathing on the paving during the day. And I watch millions of ants doing their annoying little things in my place all year long, including invading the cupboards, eating paper products and drinking the toilet water (this is normally at the height of summer when it hasn't rained for a few months). I also get to play step on the bug every day when multitudes of flying and crawling insects, spiders and other creepy crawlies invade my place. Personally I would prefer it if the bugs stayed outside and didn't try to eat me during the night when I'm asleep.

 

[GaryE]

Here in eastern Canada, winter does stop the bug growth. I was in apartments with roaches, but never had them as pets. We get ants galore, flying critters, mosquitoes and biting black flies, but all for a few weeks only, in seasons. Some try to make up for their short run by swarming (black flies farther north) but it's all very different from a warm climate like yours. We got below freezing last night, so it was a rough one for any bugs not already snug as bugs in rugs for the winter.

When I first went to the tropics, I thought I'd get eaten alive. In Gabon, we took our daily anti-malarials, but I think I only got bitten at one stream, and there, not by mosquitoes but by annoying tiny gnats. This winter, it'll be the anti-malarials again as West Africa may be different.

 

[Back in the fold]

@GaryE l’m not knocking city life because I live in a city , if you could stretch your imagination to call this little burg a city , it’s just I feel sad for guys that never see truly wild wildlife . We don't have cockroaches in Montana , or so I’m told , and I’ve never seen one but we have pigeons up the wazoo and I love watching them . I guess you could call them wild because they’ve made concrete , bricks and asphalt their natural habitat . Just so happens there’s a show on PBS tonight I want to see . “ Nature - The Pigeon Hustle “ . It’s about pigeons in New York City and London . I once worked with a guy from Chicago who called them flying rats and I thought that was unfair . Another guy I used to go rock climbing with didn’t like them because of one time at Devils Tower and our local crag . Pigeons were in huge numbers and you would have to climb through massive amounts of droppings but I didn't mind . They have a barnyard smell that is not offensive , to me , but actually kind of nice . I like to watch the bigger bunches of them because there are individuals among them with very unique and pretty markings . No two are completely alike . I saw a show about them once where they proved that pigeons remember people and go to friendly people for food but stay away from guys that treated them mean . That’s cool in itself but did you know this - ravens and crows not only remember bad humans but teach their young to recognize them too . I’m not talking about teaching them to recognize bad people only but to recognize people who treated their parents and grandparents bad . Those birds hold a grudge .

 

[GaryE]

I moved into a house where crows had been fed by the previous person. I happen to really like them, and fed them for a short time when the adults were badly injured from a bald eagle raid, and couldn't fly well. Then I backed off.
I saw the battle happen at eye level out of a second floor window, and those birds defended their babies against a much larger creature with incredible courage. Eagle talons and beaks make nasty wounds, but they didn't back down. I have great respect for them.
The crows are now cool with me. They expect nothing, and don't fear me. They do tease my dog when they're bored. I like them, though they sing like I do.
Last night, I came around a highway curve to an accident scene. As I tried to get to the outside lane to give the cluster of cars and trucks space (there was help already there) a fool behind floored it , sped up and cut me off, and I had to slow on the inside lane for a short distance. I drove over a dead deer, with a solid thump but no damage, and avoided a car bumper in my lane. There was no damage to me and the deer was already a goner.
I notice the crows are interested in the car today.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

It was 70 degrees yesterday. By Monday the high will be 31 with snow.
Ugh

 

[jaylach]

Still weird here in Sheridan WY, A week into November yet we have yet to have any snow even at night. Normally we tend to get night time snow even in later September. The 10-day forecast still calls for no snow; a couple of days in the mid to upper 40's then back in the 50's and 60's. Actually this is fine with me as long as we get the needed snow in the mountains it can rain here instead.

Sigh, yet SO many people still believer that global warming does not exist.