Yard stuff, a fawn, and the curious cat and crazy bird

Wow, we're getting a lot of rain, everything is growing like crazy.

The natural area kinda looks like a short-grass prairie.

These milkweed photos were taken several days ago. Now they're past the blooming stage.

Milkweed plant.

Another milkweed when it was starting to bloom.

A prickly pear cactus variety without any spines.

On Mother's Day we spotted the first newborn fawn of the season. Before I got the camera set up, the mother and fawn had walked into the fringe of the woods. I took a long distance photo and you can barely make out the deer. We haven't seen them since then. 

Click on this to enlarge, and look closely to see the fawn. It's turned sideways, facing away from the doe.

Check out this curious cat. It's not a stray, it has a collar and we see it often. But we've never seen it climb up a tree looking like it wanted to jump on our roof.

Curious cat.

We have a crazy mockingbird around our house. Every so often he sees his reflection in a window  and tries to fight the 'other bird' that it thinks it sees.

Mockingbird looking for a fight!

April activities

This post is all about April except for one shot from March:

OK, now here are the April pics:

Heh heh.......here's the yard maintenance man, which happens to be me

The foxes always seem to be hanging around.

Just another drink.

And another.

Whazaat?

You drink, and I'll watch our backs.

Blah, blah, blah.

Bluebonnet bonanza

It's a great wildflower season this year, with lots of cool cloudy misty days. Luckily, we had sprinkled some seeds from a previous (much smaller) crop of bluebonnets out in a part of our mulch last summer, and look what happened:

Boots and Bluebonnets.

I put Pat's mud boots out by the plants to give you a size perspective.

Right along the driveway, welcoming folks into our yard.

A closer view for y'all.

Latest from the game camera

Some more shots from the game camera.....

Blue Jay.

Early evening sip o' water.

Doves.

C'mon over, the water's fine.

Heading in straight for the water.

Lookout y'all, me first.

Hey what's this gizmo tied to the tree?

Not my best side.

That's better.

Time to wrap it up here.

Foxes are always aware of the camera.

See I told you.

Adios y'all.

Returning avian visitor

Some days you won't see a single deer in the yard. Then they all show up at once.

I counted nine in this pic.

It's hard to get this many deer in a single photograph since they are usually more spread out.



But then suddenly the does all scramble away, because this fella shows up at the party:

The buck didn't stop here.... I didn't even have time to get the camera focused before he was out of the frame.

On to the birding portion of the blog:

Again, I'm slow on focusing but the color was striking so that's why this shot is here anyway.

The cardinal at the feeder.

OK, here's the avian visitor, feeding on bugs that are on the ground or jumping above.

Here's a clear shot at the watering hole. It's a road runner.

After a drink, he's on his way to catch more bugs.

Nighttime critter pics

The foxes have returned after being "absent" for a few weeks. These fox shots are the first ever captured on the game camera.

Look carefully and you'll notice a pair of eyes behind the bush. Fox, show yourself.

OK, you knew that I'd have to throw-in an obligatory deer pic or two.

This fox looks in great health with a full coat of fur.

About seven hours later that night.

Whaazat?

More deer shots, of course.

Fox leaving the area.

And a couple of daytime shots:

Dove.

Broadside!

And OK, we'll let the squirrels use the watering hole too.

What's new in the yard, Part II

The squirrel resistant bird feeder is holding steady, with no incursions that we know of.

The squirrels don't go hungry. The birds are messy, so there's lot's of seed on the ground around the feeder.

Cardinal female and  a bunch of sparrows.

Doves are pretty messy since they don't quite fit on a little feeder.

Moving on to the front yard:

I guess there's something to eat in the front yard too.