Deer in the neighborhood

These 2 bucks were grazing along the golf course in our back yard early one morning. I ran outside to shoot the above.

I was coming home from running errands in mid-August and saw these two along the road in my neighborhood. Luckily I had my camera with me so I pulled over and shot these from the car. At first I just saw the one fawn but then the other one came over quickly to see what was going on.

They were right along the golf course and spent some time running around playing. I was afraid I would spook them into the woods so I stayed in the car watching for a while. I’ve spent so many years looking for fawns in different parks around the area and it’s really cool to see them in my new neighborhood.

A busy fawn season

These must be the same deer that are being feed  I was walking on the back trail at Chesnut Park and several deer walked right up to me  I took the above with my phone.

I didn’t find the twins again but there were 2 Moms with one baby each.

Mom taking care of the baby.

I walked down one of the side trails and found this big guy resting.

I’m not sure if this was a Mom and grown baby or siblings but they were so cute preening each other.

Not a deer but a female redstart. I guess fall migration had started with a small trickle of birds coming through.

Eagles, owls and deer, Oh my.

 

My first eagle sighting of the season. He was hanging out near the restrooms at Chesnut Park. He didn’t stay long, taking off towards the lake. It was mid-August. I didn’t realize they come back that early.

I had heard there was an owl sitting at the end of the boardwalk so I quickly walked down to the end thinking he would probably be gone by then or I wouldn’t be able to find him. There he was, sitting almost eye level. He sat there for a while as I snapped a ton of pictures. He was checking out critters on the ground and I was hoping he would swoop down and catch something but that didn’t happen.

I was walking on the back boardwalk and came across a Mom and her baby. As the Mom was feeding the baby was walking around and walked over to it’s sibling.

I had found the twins. It was interesting to see them both licking each other.

After walking around for a while I came back to the back boardwalk and one of the babies was still sitting there with the sun coming through the swamp. The other twin and Mom were feeding behind some trees.

Twins in the woods

The welcoming committee greeted me as I drove into Chesnut Park in late August. Actually, they barely looked up from their feeding to see who had stopped their car. I snapped the above from the car and then headed to the back of the park to park and walk around.

I found the twins in the back of the park. They were pretty big at this point but still cute with those spots. They stayed close to Mom as they crossed the road and then eventually headed into the back woods. Until next year for the babies!

Seeing spots

Back in late August I headed to a park nearby to see if there were any baby deer. I hadn’t been in a while but had heard there were a few there including twins. It’s theraputic to walk around in the quiet woods after a stressful day but seeing baby deer is an added bonus. I found this family right along the parking lot and leaned on my car for a while watching them eat dinner. The baby would briefly nurse and Mom would just keep eating.

I’m not sure what Mom was doing here. After looking it up, the Mom keeps the baby’s bottom clean to help them poop and to keep the scent off the baby. They say you can tell if a baby has been orphaned if it has a dirty bottom. Now that’s a mother’s love.

The adults started heading into the woods for the night and the baby was running to catch up. I did finally find the twins but more on those later.

Summer with the deer

Driving into Chesnut Park in late September, the deer were right at the front gate. When I drove around to the back there were more in the parking area. No babies though.

When I got out of the car and headed to the back boardwalk I saw the babies. The twins were growing up quickly. I stood and watched for a few minutes as they grazed by. For some reason I love seeing deer out in the woods.  Deer and dolphins seem to calm me not sure why.

Linking to My Corner of the World

A Bambi convention

After several stops by Chesnut Park on the way home from work, I finally saw a few fawns in late August. The rain had just stopped so the park was empty of people. The deer were all at the front of the park.

This one was taking a break while Mom kept eating.

These two were very curious about the lady hiding in the trees with the big black box in front of her face. They were hanging out with Mom near the ranger station. I was pretty far back so I could fit them in with my 300mm lens but they kept an eye on me.

Hot morning walk in August

I could barely make out this barred owl high above me in a tree. A few seconds later he flew off farther into the woods, chasing after Mom.

Later I was walking the back boardwalk and heard a weird howl. I was looking high up in the trees thinking it was an injured squirrel but couldn’t find anything. Then I looked straight out into the swamp and the juvenile owl was sitting right in front of me. He’s still got baby fuzz around his head. I couldn’t find Mom but I’m sure she was somewhere close by.

Nearby was a squirrel with a snack.

Not many birds around in early August.

I had heard there were twin fawns at the park. After looking all morning I saw them for a second deep in woods.

A doe resting near the boardwalk.

Pink and green on the trees after the rain.

Photographing New Zealand

Critters in the rain

I left work while it was still raining in early August hoping Chesnut Park would be empty of people due to the weather. That’s when the baby deer come out from hiding in the woods. Early on Saturday mornings when I’m usually there, the park is filled with joggers, walkers and dogs so the deer stay deep in the woods. It was still drizzling when I first got there. I quickly saw 2 hawks that were soaked.

I spotted a fawn staying close to the family.

Not sure if this was Dad or a big brother. It’s rare to see older males at the park. They usually stay farther north and come down to the park during mating season.

This little one had a sibling. Even though the rain had stopped, I stayed in the car to take these. I didn’t want to spook them. They continued to graze and I eventually headed home.