outdoors

John Spyropoulos spotted a pair of bald eagles feasting on a deer carcass this morning along the Tonawanda Creek along South Main Street in Batavia. He submitted this photo where you can see one of the eagles at the top of a tree.

While hunting with her dad yesterday, Novalee Pocock, 14, from Bergen, had a close encounter of the raccoon kind. While in a wooded area, a raccoon came up to her and jumped in her lap. 

According to her mother, the raccoon cuddled right up to her to stay warm.

"She will never forget this encounter with the wildlife while hunting for deer with her dad," she said.

Submitted photo and information.

Brandon Payne caught another large pike at DeWitt Recreation Area yesterday.

Submitted photo.

Chris Merica, of Le Roy, shot this nine-pointer on the first day of the bowhunting season. His girlfriend, Jenna Read, who shared this photo, said, "He practiced so hard all summer for this exact deer! He’s been waiting quite some time for his trophy buck. I just wanted to give him a little shout-out, he earned this!"

Sean Akin of Corfu landed this buck yesterday, the first day of bow hunting this season.

Justin Gugel shared this photo of himself and a 34-inch, 11-pound pike he caught yesterday at the DeWitt Recreation Area.

Jason Smith shared this photo of a male cardinal feeding a female cardinal in the backyard of his Batavia home.

Jason Smith shared this photo of a deer he spotted along the Ellicott Trail this morning.

Angela Schlaggel spotted this white pigeon in the parking lot of The Salvation Army in Batavia and noticed it was wearing a bracelet. 

The pigeon had been at the location for the last two hours at the time Schlaggel sent us the picture this morning.

"It has a bracelet and isn't bothered by my presence at all so I think it may be someone's escaped pet," she said. 

Anna Fenton shared these photos of a butterfly she found in her back yard.

Can any readers identify it?

It was a beautiful evening for fishing on the Tonawanda Creek behind the courthouse in Batavia.

Chris Kuehl, of East Bethany, took this photo of a pileated woodpecker.

Her husband, Chuck, who submitted the photo, said and his wife have lived at their residence for 17 years and added, "We see pileated woodpeckers all the time but this is the first time one keeps coming to our suet and boy does he go through it. We live by a very large wooded area and get a very large variety of birds. Just love living here!!"

James Elmore shared this photo from Thursday morning of an oriole eating some jelly in his backyard.

Judy Schildwaster submitted this photo of a juvenile bald eagle taken yesterday morning off of Route 33 in Stafford.

Photos submitted by Jason Smith, taken in his back yard in Batavia.

Jeremy McClellan submitted this photo of an eagle he spotted off of Route 20 in Pavilion.

A few days ago, we shared a photo from Sarah Wessel, in Alexander, of three eggs in a nest. Today, she shared this photo of two hatchlings.

Josh Hawkins shared these photos he took earlier this week of eagles in Elba.

He wrote:

For three days in a row, multiple bald eagles fed on a roadkill deer in a field on Route 262 in Elba. These were some of the better images I was able to capture with my 300mm zoom lens. The pair in the photos are mature birds because of their bright white head and tail, but I did also observe a juvenile eagle (some white present on the head and tail, but not much) at one point and was unable to capture a photo. They likely came from Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, although I've heard that there is a nest on or near Norton Road in Elba.

Roxanne Noeth took this picture of an eagle in the area of Lockport Road, Oakfield.

Jazmyn Fredo captured this picture today of a bald eagle in Elba, off Pekin Road.

Submitted by Jessica Fredo.