wildlife

The turkey spotted on a fifth-floor ledge on Federal Street yesterday safely flew the coop. This morning, the Animal Rescue League of Boston reports, it was strutting its stuff near the Federal Reserve Bank on Atlantic Avenue (here it is trying to break into the bank). Around 2 p.m., it was still in the area, Jen Gray tweeted:

Turkey Sighting: Near Congress and Atlantic ... walking down middle of street.

High turkey.

Turns out Mr. Carlson was right. Although it's a bit hard to tell in Dave's photo, that's a live turkey on a fifth-floor ledge at 133 Federal St. in the Financial District this morning.

UPDATE: A turkey was spotted today on Boylston Street near Tremont (and here it is trying to get into City Place - if only it had opposable thumbs). Another was seen in Chinatown. Have urban turkeys come home to roost or do we just have one visiting bird taking in the town?

Photo by Hingham Police.

Hingham Police report:

Resident requests officer check on seal in their backyard today. Appears uninjured. NE Aquarium requests people leave alone.

Look what they rescued from behind a fireplace in Randolph today.

Galen Moore of Jamaica Plain reports this is the print of an animal that killed and ate his neighbor's chickens. Yes, plural and, yes, Jamaica Plain. He wonders if anybody can tell what sort of animal did the fowl deed.

Early this morning, John Hawkinson tweeted:

Just saw a rabbit in Mid-Cambridge 20' off Mass Ave. When did this start?

Quite awhile ago, according to our go-to guy for matters Cantabrigian, Robert Winters:

There were rabbits sighted this past year off Harvard Street between Trowbridge & Ellery Sts. They're around.

Nat Tarbox adds:

Walk around the river path near Harvard, there is a rabbit every ten feet.

Kathy C reports:

last summer, cute bunnies in weedy parking lot at Mass Ave and Albany.

Siobhan Gallagher cautions:

Look closely at them. Don't think they're our cottontails but, rather, an invasive breed.

The MBTA's released this video of a raccoon attempting to get down to the Red Line platform at Downtown Crossing on Jan. 20 by way of the up escalator.

He's a little hard to see, but after the startled guy flees, look at :23, 1:05 and 1:28 for the best views.

T spokesman Joe Pesaturo reports animal control took the masked intruder away before Transit Police could issue a citation for fare evasion.

The Revere Journal reports on what draws the hunters to Revere - and why its state rep wants to keep them out.

Good Morning Gloucester posts a nice photo of a snowy owl, with a sad coda:

I took this photo yesterday in Rockport – Magnificent creature! By this morning, he had died in the same place – just tragic! The Animal Control Officer who came to collect him said often owls ingest rodents that have been poisoned – please ask your readers to re-think using poison.

We spent a some time on the north side of Jamaica Pond today, watching the geese (and some ducks and one seagull) flocked around the one remaining patch of open water on the pond (what looks like open water near the boathouse in the photos below is actually ice):

Brookline Police tweet one of the thug Toms that had terrorized townsfolk was captured today after an officer shot it with a beanbag gun. Wicked Local Brookline reports, however, the beanbag injured the bird enough that it had to be euthanized, leaving police two more aggressive avians on which to perfect their beanbag technique.

On Prince Street, WCVB reports. Another photo.

Zelenyoko photographed some DIY opossum removal in lower Roxbury this morning.

A bird in the hand. Photo by Rescue 2. More photos.

Boston Fire Rescue 2 on Columbus Avenue in Roxbury found itself involved in an unusual rescue yesterday when somebody dropped off an Arctic Little Auk that had apparently been blown into town by the storm the other day. The species, not normally seen in these parts, dines on seafood and cannot take off without an assist.

Firefighters named the exhaused bird Olive. After a Twitter effort to find someone to care for her, Boston animal control showed up at the station and took the bird before an anticipated hand off to the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth today for a little R&R.

Because some of them were recordings.

Sarita reports on a pre-dawn birding count in Jamaica Plain that involved cranking up a loudspeaker playing "screech owl trills" to try to attract the birds:

Today's Screech owl count was 8, which is a very respectable number. The two first I didn't see, but they both were attracted to the sound from our speaker and vocalized through the dark. The third and fourth ones I eventually got to see - they started tussling with each other up a tree and tumbled down to the ground. Number five we heard from a close distance. ...

Brookline Police have issued tips for residents on how to survive until the National Guard or Will Smith can be brought in to take care of "the three most hostile tom turkeys." Among the tips:

Don't Let Turkeys Intimidate You – Don't hesitate to scare or threaten a bold, aggressive turkey with loud noises, swatting with a broom or water sprayed from hose. A dog on a leash is also an effective deterrent. ...

Cover Windows or Other Reflective Objects – If a turkey is pecking at a shiny object such as a vehicle or window, cover or otherwise disguise the object. Harass the bird by chasing it, squirting with a hose or other means of aggression.

Naturally, Angry Brookline Turkey is now pecking out updates on Twitter.

Via Follow Me Here.

WBZ reports residents now live in fear of the marauding poultry pack, which has tasted blood and shows no signs of ending its relentless attacks on the terrorized townsfolk. Town officials say their hands are currently tied by a state law that classifies the gobbling goons as "protected."

A concerned citizen checks in from Allston this morning:

Large number of crows circling above intersection of commonwealth and Harvard. This could be a bad omen for bike riders, hipsters, college students with upcoming finals, or even the expected winter storm.

The Proper Bostonians reports on the scene in the Public Garden, where owl watchers and photographers converged this evening to watch an owl in a beech tree (right near the fountain/statue that shows a mountain lion catching an owl):

A few more owl-watchers showed up as the light faded, having heard rumors from a bearded guy named Peter. As we talked and craned our necks, the owl finally took off, and we followed on the ground, exclaiming over the magnificence of its wings as it swooped through the trees. It landed on a high branch that gave us a much better view of its yellowish beak and dark, round eyes. Barred owls have beautiful brown, camouflage feathers and we had an excellent view of it now. Behind us, a group of serious photographers with massive telephoto lenses had materialized, setting up lights and tripods. One trained a spotlight on the owl. This troubled my owl-watcher friend and me, but the owl didn't seem to care. It stayed put and suddenly regurgitated a lump of whatever owls regurgitate... feathers, fur and bone fragments, I think.

Brookline's punk poultry is getting out of hand again.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Hoot was too badly hurt to be saved.

The MBTA reports workers found this owl huddled near Waban station on the Green Line this morning and named him Hoot, before transporting him to a local animal hospital.

Earlier:
Owl removed from Park Street station.

Chris Devers watched the sun go down from East Boston yesterday.

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

And dachshunds generally prove somewhat useless in getting them out.

Or maybe we're just noticing these stealthier predators after years of paying attention to their flashier, daytimier cousins, the hawks. The above is not some impressionist painting of what an owl might look like, but an impressionist-like photo of an owl in a tree near Sullivan Square in Somerville on Saturday night, taken by Bill Ritchotte. "Hedwig?" he asks.

Then there's this owl in the Fens.

Earlier:
An owl in the Park Street T stop and one in East Boston.

Rob Watson photographed a "vaguely foreboding owl hanging out" above a Park Street exit tonight. A very real and alive, if vaguely foreboding, owl, he assures us.