I skipped breakfast and went out to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk. It was foggy at the river, too, but not as bad as it was by the house. And by the time I left the preserve, the sun was trying to shine through the haze.  Along the usual suspects, I spotted 25 deer at the preserve today. I think that’s the most I’ve ever seen in one outing.  Mostly small herds of females and a couple of fawns, but I also saw about 5 bucks from spike-bucks to 4-pointers. I also saw a pair of the bucks jousting, but they moved down a hill and into a shallow gully so I could only see the tops of their heads.

Oh, and another neat find was seeing one of the Red-Shouldered Hawks working on her nest above the 4B water post marker on the Pond Trail. The nest was built about a year ago, and the hawks didn’t use it, but they might this year. Because of where the nest is placed, it’s almost impossible to see anything inside of it. I could hear the female calling from it and saw her head over the edge of the nest as she moved twigs around.  But if the hawks use that nest and have babies there, there should be some great photo ops are the parents bring food to the kids…and as the kid grow and fledge and learn to fly. Lots of bare branches in the trees around the nest-site for them to light on. I’ll have to keep my eye on that spot…

One funny moment was when I spotted two Wild Turkeys by the nature center posturing and strutting to their reflections in the glass doors.  One of the turkeys kept trying to peck his reflection in the face, to no avail. I couldn’t help but chuckle at them.

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

I walked for about 3 hours and headed home.