First fawn of 2017 spotted; windmill project

We spotted the first fawn of the year recently. This is the first photo, taken on May 8th. But just as quickly as we spotted them, they trotted off. 

A few days later the doe and fawn were spotted again. This time they hung around long enough to get some good pics. 

Time for a little clean-up activity.

Feeding time!

Time to leave this yard, can't stay in any one place for too long!

The windmill project....

I decided to build a windmill for the backyard some time ago, but didn't spend much time on it. Been collecting pieces and parts for it for a year or so. I did not have a specific design in mind. It just sort of evolved over time and was based mostly on whatever metal parts and pieces that were laying around to use.


Here's a photo of it during the build process. Each vane is a foot long, with the diameter of the entire fan measuring 32 inches across. 

 The blades are 16 gauge steel, as is the rudder at the rear. The bearing for the fan assembly is meant for the wheel of a garden hose cart. The whole enchilada is sorta heavy!

 The pipes used for the frame were left over from a trampoline.

 
Here it is in the final position, it only needs the guy-wires installed to hold it steady.

 It's fun to watch it catch the wind and flip around and spin. There's plenty of wind for it this time of year. 

 

Deer hanging out

The usual type of post, just some more deer hanging out.......

It was quite cold and rainy over the weekend. Several deer decided to camp out in the backyard.  They were there all afternoon. Guess it was too cold to move!

Start off 2017 with more bucks

They're back after a couple weeks of absence. Three bucks and some change in the backyard. Somehow, they've managed to survive the season so far.

An eight-point buck with a young "spike".

An 8 point, 6 point, and the "spike"

They're always on the lookout for predators.

Gotta scratch where it itches!

 Time to mosey on out of here......

Happy Thanksgiving !

                         Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Buck spotted today

This year has brought a good-sized crop of newborn deer to the area. We've seen lots of fawns nibbling here and there with their mothers leading the way. But we haven't seen many mature bucks yet. Today the camera was ready to catch a nicely sized buck in the yard.

The buck was moving around quite a bit, so it was hard to keep him in focus. He appears to have 8-points.

A young doe was keeping a wary eye on this new guy in the neighborhood.

This is my favorite shot. He stopped for a split second giving me time to focus.

Looks like he's sauntering off to find something better than our yard.

No, wait..... there are some new shoots here after all.

Time for a mid-morning siesta.

"I'm watching you, so don't try anything".

Something going on over there?

And after this short break, the buck that stopped here was gone. 

Fawns losing their spots, and a spider

I know you were wondering when a new update to the backyard blog would appear. It's today. These first pictures are from mid-September. Notice that the fawns still have their spots.

   

By late October, it appears that all the spring fawns have lost their spots.

Recently while I was taking a walk along the property, I noticed a funny-looking spider among the fluffy seeds dispersed around a milkweed plant. I looked it up, and found out that it is a "green lynx"spider.

The green lynx spider. Notice its green thorax and yellow abdomen. What looks like a brown tail is actually a milkweed seed.

The spider is clutching and guarding an egg container that it creates for its eggs. That brown lump that looks like a rock is the container. Disguised quite well, isn't it? 


I was going to collect the seeds, but after seeing the spider I just left them alone!

Owl in the area recently

We've been hearing an owl hooting recently. The night before last, we heard the scratching of talons as it landed on the chimney vent, and then the hooting noises. Typically they don't show themselves in daytime very much, but one morning it was cloudy and the owl spent  a few minutes at the water feature.

To get an idea of how large this bird is, take a football and put feathers on it, add wings and a head, that's about the size of this beast.

Here's lookin' at ya.

And yes, I had to add deer pictures to this post also. The spring fawns are getting quite large now. With all the rain we've been receiving, there's plenty of wild stuff for them to eat.

Adult deer on the left, fawns on the right.

Hot summer weather is here

It's getting pretty hot, but the animals are just as active as usual. In this post we have this year's crop of fawns with a MOVIE included. And we also spotted a fox (last picture).


Here are three amigos in the backyard. It's a set of twins, and a (suspected) third fawn from another doe.

There's always something to browse upon in the big salad bar we call the backyard.

The water feature is going to be more and more attractive as the summer heat ratchets upward.

There's quite a bit of biodiversity even in the "manicured" portions of the yard. These three fawns spent an entire afternoon munching/resting/munching in the yard.

The does will leave their fawns for hours at a time while they are out foraging in more dangerous areas. I thought that young fawns only drank milk. I was mistaken. These ones were eating a lot of grasses, unless they were resting in the shade.

They were right outside our dining room window, and they could care less that we were snapping pictures. Their mom would not have acted so tame. A lesson for the fawns to learn.

Can't eat all the time, need some resting time also.

A special treat: Pat switched on movie mode and caught the fawns eating in the early evening.

Also this morning (Saturday July 2nd) we had a rare daytime visit from a fox. It was heading towards an area between us and our side neighbor where I've seen rabbits coming in and out.

Now we're watching for the fox to head in the opposite direction with a rabbit in its mouth! Maybe that picture will be in the next posting. Happy 4th of July!