The beginning of August

Welcome August.
We saw our first buck in velvet close to home while having coffee in the morning. He was walking amongst several does who just stared at him as he walked through the neighbor's field and woods.

Something alarmed the gals and they took off to the west while the buck took off to the east. They look hazy because of the smoke and some fog.

I have 4 o'clocks blooming all over the place. Each year, I collect the seeds and then randomly drop them into different areas.

Some of them have grown to nearly 5 feet tall and others are being entwined with morning glories.

It's a mess in this spot, but I am enjoying the mess. I may chop it all down after a frost and see what comes up again next year.

Thankfully, Little Richard has been busy helping with the yard work. I put him in some spots that seemed to be growing faster than the rest of the yard and he did a nice job overnight.

Mornings are still the best to go look at things in the garden. The past few mornings are cool with fog and smoke.

The bees are really busy in the pumpkin plants I planted ... ahem, sort of ... by accident in front of the house.

Actually, having them so close is nice. I can see how the bees work the flowers and I can watch the funky pumpkins grow!

These pumpkins are a cross between some gnarly bumpy pumpkins I had last year and the original whitish-yellow pumpkins I had. So it will be interesting to see how large they get. 

I have several other pumpkins in another spot in the pasture that I fenced off. 

I have tossed pumpkins in for the mules to eat the past few years and it seems that they eat them and then stomp the seeds into the ground.

Here are some more flowers to enjoy. All of them taken early in the morning with dew drops on them.

I sure do love the morning glories!

 

Rest is nice....

 Almost a full moon!

And love is in the air!!!!

In fact, love is in the air so much, that he jumped the hot wire after the doe did and....he ended up chasing her through our front pasture and beyond the forest to the west.

Cold frosty mornings bring out the Rut Season and the bucks become mate happy. They can't help it. But it sure is fun to watch.

I stood behind a tree [wearing insulated coveralls, little gloves, hat, and insulated boots for about 40 minutes in the dark waiting for the first light.

I was rewarded with the following views.

I do this right up to the start of gun season in the early mornings and late afternoons. It is my quiet time, where I can sit or stand still and just be...

and watch wildlife....

Coyote visitor to our side/front yard while I was up at the neighbor's shooting the Northern Lights.

Back again...I wonder what attracts them?

However, it seems they don't go into the pasture as the mules would not tolerate their presence.

And then off again a couple of nights later. I changed the location of the camera and set it to a 10 second video along with 3 shots.

We'll see what the coyote is up to perhaps from a different angle. In truth, our land is 1/4 mile long but it is 500 deep wide. 

So they could just be going from the woods to the east to the woods to the west. Rarely do they track through the area where the girls are. The mules chase them and if they caught them, they could very well kill them.

~~~~~~

We've had 3 nights with temps below freezing so the hard frosts are here to stay at least until tomorrow. But the flowers are done, the leaves are dull, and the winds are picking up to blow them away.

Oh Fall Beauty, you were so fleeting but enjoyable!

Passing by the pond....

I thought I'd go past the pond for a while now at least each time I went to town and back. 

How adorable is this? Mom or Dad [I can't tell which] were feeding the chick!

I was able to sit in my Subaru and watch them without disturbing them. 

I've discovered other birds that are coming to this area also. Now I wonder.

We've had a few very dry years and that caused the fast flowing stream here to slow down and sort of bog up. When that happened, the trout fisherpersons that used to visit with frequency at these spots has literally dried up.

I have not seen a fisherman in this area for over two years. I think the fisherman have gone to the spots with easier access? I don't know. 

So...

does that mean the birds are coming back? Does that mean that the birds are finding fish that they eat?

On Thursday the girls and I spotted the Great White Egret and...and... a Blue Heron.

Both birds were at the edge of the stream bank and it appeared that they were fishing. If they are finding food, that means the fish are in the stream.

If the fish are abundant in the stream, that means the stream is in good health.

Now I am not posting these shots with any indication of where they were taken on Social Media. My purpose is to enjoy viewing these birds on my trips to town --- or when I take a notion to drive to this spot.

In my mind Social Media that tags an awesome location for something like wild life or certain landscapes [that would be ruined by crowds] shouldn't be shared. 

Since most people literally fly past this spot and never slow down to look, I think the birds will be safe from harrassement.

I'd hope to see all of these birds a few more times. 

It's a wild wild life....

Here are some trail cam shots from a new Trail Cam I got called Garden Pro. I'm not endorsing them one way or the other, but compared to my old camera, they sure have improved.

Coyotes

The bucks have not started shedding their antlers, but it looks like there might be some really nice ones out there to pick up once they do. This guy looks like he is scenting a deer. But I have no idea....

This spot is like a highway for the does this year. They come and go in groups up to 8 sometimes. They cross back and forth multiple times a day.

Then there is always one that loves to stand in front of the camera and smell it. Or do they know they are doing the forest version of a selfie???

We always get a big kick out of these type of shots.

I can't be positive, but I think this was the Big Trophy Buck that all the hunters were asking me about this fall and then again during gun season.

I think this is the same fella I 'shot' in November in the meadow just east of where he is standing in this photo. If it is the same fella, I'm pretty tickled that no one nabbed him during the hunting seasons.

He is absolutely regal.

This shot below is him chasing some girls as it was breeding season. 

Many other photos we saw from the trail cam included hundreds of photos of does and young deer walking by along with nightly walks by raccoon who travel the same trails as the deer and coyotes.

We don't feed any of the wild animals as it is illegal in our county plus they are surrounded by abundant sources of food which include hundreds of acres of corn fields and soy bean fields to glean off from.

This photo is from this summer. I took it while taking an evening walk. 

I think we have plenty of deer around here!

It has been a mild winter so I think their numbers will increase.

Oh! One more Wild Life shot!

Eleanor! She is an outdoor cat who belongs to our neighbor. She has been spayed and has all of her shots.

She divides her time by hunting at my place and at the neighbor's place. He feeds her inside his workshop.

She likes to sit in the shed and observe me doing chores on most afternoons. She is not a friendly cat as in ... -- don't come near me--. I don't try to pet her, but I do talk to her every time we meet.

Leading up to Gun Deer Season

 Everything is set for the 'invasion' of the woods tomorrow morning. Our little farm is 25 acres of deep forest with a small meadow. Our property is 500 feet wide and a half mile long with steep terrain and a small creek in the middle of it.

My neighbor to the west sometimes hunts or will allow some other folks to hunt on his land. He always takes them along our fence line and shows them where NOT to hunt or shoot. He is a wonderful neighbor and is always very conscious of our animals and land.

During gun deer season the normally abandoned 600+ acres of land to the east of us is inundated with hunters. Some are from the family that owns the Estate and some are friends of friends of friends who are invited to hunt the BIG hunt. In many years past we've had folks drive down our driveway to our house thinking they could just use our drive to get to the neighbor's land. We've used do not trespass signs, and for years we put a chain across our driveway to keep the riff raff out.

Many years ago a bunch of walking hunters with guns decided to walk through our yard thinking they were still on the neighbor's land. My husband who is a Vietnam Veteran did not take kindly to that.

However. That all said.
In 30 years we have not had a mishap other than a bullet from a hunter hitting the tree that hubby was sitting in.

Thus...
I am forbidden to walk in our woods for NINE DAYS. Can you imagine me getting sidelined like that???

Actually this nine days is always set aside for a deep house cleaning and reorganization of the junk in the basement which includes purging.

So this is where I have been sitting for many mornings with a camera to watch the antics of our local deer.

Just over the thermos, you can see my little 'hut' which looks in a western direction into the woods.

My mules generally stand nearby waiting to catch the morning sunlight.

The view from my little 'stand' which is only about 6 feet off the ground. I can get a pretty nice view of the meadow that is east of us. 

I won't be in either of these places while the big hunt is on. 

I may do a more traditional female thing when I am bored of cleaning house. I may go and visit some of the craft fairs that will be happening locally.

Some photos from this week's sittings at my look out spot:

This little buck had been chasing little doe yearlings....

Yearlings in the early morning...

Random shots from this week:

So from this afternoon until the evening of the 26th, I most likely won't be sitting out in my little place or wandering the woods.

It will be some sort of torture for me. However, the house should get cleaned, organized, and we should enjoy watching the birds at the feeders.

I think there will be some Lego play involved too. We have a Christmas Village to complete!

Oh Deer...it is that time of the year

The leaves are gone from the trees and the foliage in the woods has died back making the spotting of deer easier.

This doe was feeding under one of the apple trees on the other side of the driveway. She and three others walked alongside the fence and up the driveway to investigate what my neighbor's woods had to have for munchies.

The photo below is part of the reason why electric fencing is awesome and awful. During the rut, the deer just tear it down.

The hot wire will be removed as none of the mules bother the fence any longer. This hot wire kept our elderly mule from jumping the wire fence and crossing into the neighbor's land. It is disconnected like all of our valley fencing is right now. 

 Then there was this guy yesterday morning who was scanning the meadow as does were busy eating around the apple trees.

At first I couldn't figure out what I was seeing. I thought it was bare branches of a dead tree and with the long lens I was able to see this magnificent buck. No matter how much I dislike what deer are to cars and crop damage, ...

there is nothing like seeing a buck like this.

He was built like a beef bull. Thick in the neck and everywhere else.

Eventually the chase was on. I don't know if any of the girls were actually ready for him. But they ran across the meadow and disappeared into the woods below.

I went back out in the evening and sat in the little tree stand I'd made this summer. For a long time nothing happened until I saw these does at the apple tree.

This doe seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sunlight.

This one across the meadow walked along quietly browsing. I can generally see them walking this route late in the day.

As the sun went down some little ones came out into my meadow.

Then a little buck came through browsing and sniffing the air. He walked along as if he owned the world then dipped into the woods.

This is the time of the year where I get to enjoy the movements of the deer. There are a LOT of deer this year. 

I don't hunt for venison but I never turn down the meat if someone gives some to us. I like it. If I did hunt though, I imagine I could feed the two of us well. When Rich hunted, our freezer was always stocked.

Right now? I'm happy photographing them and watching.