We continue to enjoy regular visits from a small herd of Rocky Mountain mule deer – a couple of young bucks and several does. On Christmas Day, a lone doe settled into our backyard for a long stay, chewing cud and doing her best to stay warm. I didn’t feel like dashing outside (it was -30C with wind chill), so I powered up the nearest camera and took a couple of quick shots through the bedroom window. Then I had some fun with Lightroom. Here she is…
It’s been interesting to watch the deer feeding in our backyard, which was completely re-done in 2012. They keep nibbling away at the tree branches, to the extent that I’m going to have to spray some kind of repellant on the apple trees. They consistently dig up the herbs we planted around the back patio (oregano, thyme) and take regular bites off the Joe Pye weed near the Cotoneaster hedge. I noticed the other day that the Echinacea seem to be disappearing, too. I’m a bit surprised they haven’t eaten much of the flax, but maybe it’s not quite high enough in protein to be appealing this early in the winter. Only time will tell.
I’ll also be watching to see when the bucks drop their antlers, which should happen some time in February.
Do you have the chance to observe wildlife or birds on a regular basis? If so, please share what you’ve learned over the years by leaving a comment.
Observing nature here in SoCal today, I noticed a hummingbird stealing bits from an old hummingbird nest outside my window. I imagine she is using it to make a new nest somewhere else. It is a bit warmer here than there! : )
I love your posts!
How wonderful to see a hummingbird at work. And how interesting to learn that they re-use one another’s old nesting materials. Hummingbirds are hard to spot in our area, although I know we’re on the edge of their summer territory. We had a hummingbird feeder in our front yard one year from May through September, but never spotted any visitors. I would love the change to photography a hummingbird some time…perhaps a visit to SoCal should be in our future travel plans!
As far as wildlife goes, since I live in Central highlands, Queensland Australia, in my backyard, I get a lot of wild birds, cockatiels, Sulphar crested cockatoos, galahs, rainbow lorikeets, and the odd black cockatoo. Just out of town, you always see Kangaroos, emus, and dingoes.
All those birds sound so exotic to us…we only ever see them in the zoo or a pet shop. Same thing with the kangaroos, emus and dingoes. I imagine that dingoes are somewhat like coyotes here…meant to be in the wild, but are pretty comfortable in urban environments…generally avoid humans unless they’re sick or starving. Thanks for describing backyard wildlife encounters in Australia. Very interesting to read!