Month: July 2024

Hummingbird Fountain

I bought this fountain 3 years ago as people said hummingbirds found it attractive and would use it to bathe. Finches love it and use it often to drink and bathe in. I have only seen hummingbirds show rare interest in it and never when I had my camera. Finally I was sitting with my camera nearby when one drank from the bubbling top part of the fountain.

Close Call!

While going through the trail cam photos I noticed what I am going to say was a very close call. A coyote is stalking a mule deer fawn and the mom confronts him. I think this ended happily for the fawn. Lets look at the photos.

At 6:43 AM the fawn is passing through this grassy area. Mom must have passed through earlier. The camera never picked her up.

Same time and date the fawn is looking out front having moved a few steps forward.

Twelve minutes later a coyote is seen. He/she is sniffing the grass where the fawn paused and I think urinated.

Coyote is sniffing around and looking for the fawn I would guess.

Now you see the doe come back and apparently confront the coyote while the fawn I hope stayed hidden. I didn’t get anymore photos of this incident. I hope it turned out okay for the fawn. Coyotes do kill and eat fawns and yes, it is part of nature, but I have to root for the baby here. I think Mom saved the day.

What are the Boys Up to?

While the moms are busy nurturing and protecting their fawns the bucks are enjoying the idle life. This is an easy time of the year for them. The forage is good, it was a wet winter. It is quiet as people don’t venture out on the trails in the heat. In short, its summer and the living is easy. They are growing their horns and storing up energy for the battles and mating that will take place in autumn.

This looks like a small buck with what may be first year antler growth. He may end up with two spikes or may develop a split.

This one already has some height, and you can see the start of the split. Probably will be a tall two point. This buck is most likely a two year old.

This is a nice symmetrical set of horns growing. He won’t be huge, probably still just a two pointer with thick beams. He will have some size and I think he will be handsome come fall.

So far these last two photos of the same buck show the largest or highest horns. There are still 3 and a half months of growth time left. It will be interesting see how these guys develop as the time goes by.

Still no Mountain Lions showing up on the cameras. Last photos of them were taken in February. I am still seeing the Bobcat. No kittens with it but hoping to. Next post, photos of him or her.

Fawns

I am remembering why I didn’t leave the cameras out in the summer. It is unpleasant at 90+ degrees to walk out to them and retrieve the memory cards. Also, I forget how lush the grass growth is at the height of summer. Rattlesnakes are constantly on my mind as I tread carefully along the trails to get to the cameras. The sets across the river are going to have to wait as even with an early start its too hot to walk to them and back. Alright, enough complaining. As I walked along the trail yesterday morning I was watching for tracks as usual and spotted my first set of tiny deer hoofs in the dirt.

After seeing these I was excited to check the cameras and see if I had captured any newish fawns.

This little guy looks about two to three weeks old. I am using the cheapest trail cameras they make as I worry about them getting stolen. I think they take pretty good photos sometimes. This is a keeper.

I think these two may be twins. This is a common occurrence with Mule deer births.

Mom and newish fawn headed to the river for a drink.

I think this little guy could hear the trail cam click. It is such a quiet sound, but even young animals have the wariness to pay attention to small details and sounds

All the moms look healthy and well fed. They are sporting their reddish summer coats.