Exciting News!

It has been a really long time since I posted pictures from our trail camera. I suppose mostly because we keep seeing the same animals over and over, so there was no compelling reason to share with you yet again what lives in our forest.

So as we looked through the photos from the last batch we could hardly contain our excitement when we saw... TWINS!

Some years we don't get to see the baby fawns at all. They are just so shy and don't show up on camera until they are much older. The last one I remember seeing was way back in 2011. So this is a double-DOUBLE treat. My only disappointment is that they came through during the bright time of day when the sunshine tricks the camera into washing out the color. Keep your fingers crossed with me that we capture these little cuties again before they get too much bigger.

Into the Woods

Its been awhile since I took you down into our woods for a glimpse of what our trail camera captures. Lately, there have been many pictures of this doe (maybe we'll be blessed with a fawn this Summer)...

A bunny rabbit...

Wile E. Coyote...

 A bobcat...

And my three favorite wild creatures...

Well Hello There

A few days ago, we were headed out for a day of running errands. It was overcast and cool (what other type of Summer morning should we expect?) As we drove along our driveway, we saw someone bounding away across the neighbor's horse field. Nope, not a horse... two deer.

Now you all know that deer are quite commonplace in the woods. At least they are in our woods. But since we moved the dogs onto our property, we rarely see deer with our own eyes. So it was quite exciting for the kids. And, true to form, I happened to have my camera with me. (wink)

Startled by us, but also a bit confused, since we were lower than them, and holding still, they stopped at the end of the field, under a sheltering tree, and posed for a few moments while we rolled down the windows and looked on.

Then a ray of sunshine beamed down and they spotted us. And ran away.

Nice to meet you too.

Passing Through

Although I haven't posted about it much lately, our trail cam is still in constant action, capturing glimpses of what travels through our bit of woods on a daily basis. Lately, these are our most popular critters:

Wildlife

It has been a very long time since I shared pictures captured on our trail camera with you. There haven't been any creature spectacularly new, and winter time is typically quiet on the animal front. But the woods are coming alive again, and although there haven't been any baby deer as of yet, we have seen plenty of Coyotes, both day and night...

Racoon...

and this mysterious creature...

Too small to be a Cougar, too un-marked to be a Racoon, and look at that tail... too long to be a Bobcat! It was moving so fast that the pictures are all blurred. Our only guess is that one of the members of our Beaver family was out for a jog.

And of course there are always pictures of my very favorite woodland creature...

All furry and moving like stealth through the trees. He looks right at home out there in the wild, and I often have to pick leaves and sticks out of his hair and off of his clothes when he returns... at least he returns at all, right? That must mean I have him at least partially tamed.

As far as birds go, there has been some excitement lately... two newly-identified species, and a photo capture of the elusive American Goldfinch, which until now has only been sighted along the driveway...

This Black-Headed Grosbeak showed me a glimpse of his yellow underarms, which I previously didn't know existed...

And new to me is this House Finch, with his lovely strawberry-colored feathers...

Also new, and not nearly as sweet, is the ornery Brown-Headed Cowbird caught harrassing our collection of Band-Tailed Pigeons...

I really need to stop shooting pictures through our storm windows. My new lens is ashamed that I am showing you these pictures at all. I can hear it, sitting behind me on the shelf, complaining about how badly I am mis-representing its abilities. Oh well.

I Need More Hellos.

Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. ~Charles M. Schulz

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. ~Henry David Thoreau

You all have been a balm to my heart this week.
You make this world feel spacious and full of Hellos.


** You know, I had a feeling you were going to ask, and forgot to put a note in here about the photo. It was taken from our bridge down in the woods. Looking upstream toward where our Beaver family are building their habitat. Bear Creek is a year-round stream, and home to trout, water skippers, crawdads, wood ducks, and plenty of other yet-to-be-seen creatures.

How the Tree Fell

We tried to get some exciting video footage for you of the Beavers at work and/or of the tree falling.

With the camera zoomed in right on the tree, and with a wind storm coming, we were sure that we would get something worth showing.

And we did. Just not one of the somethings we were hoping for...

Here kitty, kitty, kitty!

The sad part of the story is that the tree did indeed fall in that windstorm, and the camera didn't capture it. We noticed first thing yesterday morning that the view was slightly altered. The tree that the Beavers ate through wasn't the one we thought, but was tucked farther off to the side of our view.

A little hard to tell, I know, but perhaps that means we are wrong about my lovely favorite tree being nibbled on. Its pretty hard to get perspective of where you are standing from down below, with how thick the underbrush is in places. Time will tell.

The Boys went down yesterday afternoon with my camera to catch some snapshots of the downed tree. Apparently the Beavers have already started to nibble away at the top branches.

As they hiked in, the Boys first saw the top of the tree...

the middle of the tree...

and the base of the tree...

Did they plan for it to fall that way, getting high-centered on an old-growth log? Will all of that tree trunk simply go to waste, or do they have plans to harvest the bark and moss? I am so curious I can hardly stand it!

We have the trail cam pointed at a place where we think they will be working next. Keep your fingers crossed for some glimpses of our clever critters!

Progress Report

Yep... still wearing spots!

Back to the Woods

Our trail cam has not been on duty for quite some time, due to issues with a faulty trigger and subsequent hassle with mailing it in for service, then waiting for.evvvv.er. for Bushnell to decide to send it back.

Finally, brand new model in hand, the Mister headed immediately down to the woods once it arrived home.

And in that first batch of photos? Just what you have all been waiting for...

Together now... Awwwwwwww...

All speckled and long-legged and with those enormous eyes...

Did that make your morning or what?

Into the Woods

All winter long, the trail cam has captured images such as this...

this...

this...

Not one single deer to be seen...

Who sees two coyotes in the next photo?

We didn't realize it before, but apparently our deer population is migratory. Suddenly, a few weeks ago, the camera filled up with pictures of the lovely...

We are now watching for babies! We captured a few last year... I'm hoping for twins this time around.