Thursday, January 23, 2014

Sparkly Trees

Sunshine and blue sky.

the sun beating down
makes the trees sparkle
and the icicles to melt

It rained two nights ago, and in the morning all the shrubs and trees were coated with ice.  The fog rolled in, and we were soon in the doldrums.  Today, however, we are basking in glorious sunshine. 
 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Visitors

Today, a doe and her youngster came to browse in the nearby brush as well as to check the bird feeders.  The youngster stayed hidden, but the doe was much bolder.  I have seen these two deer before - in the summer when the youngster was just a fawn and lately when they've both been browsing on the hillside.

A doe eats Serviceberry twigs

 while her youngster browses between the trees.

This additional photo shows that the doe is probably pregnant.

The gestation period for Mule Deer is about 210 days with the birth of possibly two fawns occurring sometime in May.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Winter Birds


This morning there were two Bald Eagles perched in the trees calling to each other. Not much else was going on though apart from the chickadees flying back and forth to the feeders.