Day 4 of my 4-day Birthday Weekend. Happy birthday to me!

I got up around 5:30 this morning to a dense overcast and drizzly rain. I waited until the sun came up a little bit more before heading over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk.

Because it was chilly (around 45º) and drizzling, I didn’t expect to see much or get many photos, but I needed the fresh air and little bit of exercise my walks afford me. I was kind of surprise, then, when I came across the deer – LOTS of them – out browsing in the grass despite the rain. The fawns weren’t too happy about it, but the other deer didn’t seem to mind.

CLICK HERE to see the full album of photos and video snippets.

One group was made up of does and young bucks, and some of them were standing stalk still in the grass, all looking in the same direction, and one of them was giving out a loud, snorting alarm.I couldn’t see which one was making the noise, but I think it was one of the old does. The snorting was very loud, and I tried to see what might have spooked her. Before I get a look, however, the lead doe turned and bolted through the forest and the others scrambled after her…

Later on the trail, I came to spot that smelled strongly of cat urine, and I found some scratch marks in the mud (along with the smell) that I think might have been made by a Bobcat. Maybe that’s what frightened the deer…

At another spot, I came across a mama deer grooming her fawn. The fawn refused to take its eyes off of me – I think it was confused (or mesmerized) by my umbrella – even as its mom licked its head and throat, cleaning its fur and lapping up the rain water from it.

Then, as I was on my way out of the preserve, I saw a large group of does and bucks run straight up the steep incline from the front of the preserve to the residential houses at the top of the hill. That hill is probably at a 80º angle from the forest floor. I don’t know how the deer managed the climb, but they did it nimbly and quickly.

The only other critters I saw were several California Scrub Jays, a Red-Shouldered Hawk, and a bachelor flock of Wild Turkeys. I’d seen a flock of females outside of the preserve on the residential streets, but all the boys seemed to be inside the preserve. One was trying to get others to challenge it, but no one was in the mood to fight. Several of the boys stood and posed for me, so I got quite a few photos of them.

It was a wet walk, but a nice one.