A Toss Up Between a “Fawn Day” and a “Bird Day”, 10-01-19

After settling the dog back into his bed, I headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for my regular Tuesday volunteer trail walking gig there.

On my walk, I saw quite a few mama deer with their fawns, and think I counted five sets of them. At one point, I found the twin fawns lying in the tall grass without their mom. As I was trying to get photos of them, mom showed up from my right and they ran to greet her. Both of them tried nursing at the same time, but mom wasn’t having that and stepped up away from them, shaking one leg behind her like an extra, “get off that” gesture. Hah!

One of the twin fawns, Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus, waiting for her mother.

By the river side, a small herd of the deer, including a fawn, came down and walked in the shallow water for a while. I think the lead deer was thinking about crossing the river, but the current was too fast for the fawn, so they all came out again and continued up the trail.

CLICK HERE to see the full album pf photos.
Video of Fawn: https://youtu.be/Js-qDN7YBfI
Video of Deer in the River: https://youtu.be/5SmYndQ0mYw

I came across a couple of Red-Shouldered Hawks and saw a Cooper’s Hawk flying overhead a few times, but I couldn’t get any good photos of that one. He was too fast for me, and then when he settled down for a second, he was totally backlit. These guys are recognizable, even in silhouette, by their long-long tails. Near the river, I saw some American Kestrels in a tree.

It was very much a toss-up between a “fawn day” and “bird day”, actually: my walk included seeing Acorn Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, a Yellow-Billed Magpie, some Bewick’s Wrens, Mourning Doves and a flock of Cedar Waxwings in the top of a tree.

Speaking of the Acorn Woodpeckers (which I just love; they’re so humorous), I was able to get photos of some of them with acorns in their mouths. This time of year, they’re busy plucking the acorns from the trees and loading them into their granary trees… while they fight off the Scrub Jays and Squirrels that try to steal their caches.

Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus

Oh, and the black squirrel was out! I hadn’t seen him in months. I only got a couple of distant shots of him, but it was still a nice surprise to see him and out and about again.

I walked for about 3½ hours and then headed back home.