Watching Wildlife

Yesterday morning was very pretty! The sun has been so red-orange as it’s come up lately. And the windows were covered in condensation yesterday — it’s been very humid here, especially at night. I never really tracked how much the position of the sun changes throughout the year until I lived out in the country. Right now, it comes up a bit north of due east, I’d say — almost in line with our driveway. But in the winter, it comes up south of our barn, which is quite a difference.

A little while after sunrise, I saw a group of deer come into the yard. They often travel in gangs (unless it’s a mother and fawn(s)), but this was six bucks, and I’ve never seen that many males together! It was interesting to see the range of antlers they were sporting. The one in the last photo had the biggest rack, and he seemed to be the boss. They were on guard a bit, but the younger ones were goofing around a little. Seeing animals who feel safe have fun is one of my favorite things.

Speaking of, our deck has been very busy with juvenile birds! Our biggest bird feeder is on the deck, along with suet, and I have some tall branches in a planter for birds to perch on. And I put out oranges for the orioles every now and then. Yesterday, a mother and juvenile oriole visited, and the mother must have told her kid to stay there while she left to hunt, because he just hung around, investigating. I’m not sure how long I watched him for! He was so curious about everything, checking out the chamomile that’s in a pot and a pile of logs in a wagon. Even when he was preening, it was like watching a creature who was still getting used to his new bird body and was fascinated by it. The best bit was when a big moth flew by — he gave chase but lost it pretty quickly, and he spent several seconds literally turning in circles, trying to figure out where it had gone. Eventually mama bird came back with an insect for him, and then they left together.