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| "Earless mule deer" |
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| Great Horned Owl |
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| Pronghorn antelope bucks |
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| Prairie rattler |
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| Bull snake going under house |
April 2013
The birds arrive!
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| Red-wing blackbirds |
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| Red-wing blackbird, perched sparrow, flying sparrow |
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| Bird nest under the propane tank "lid" |
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| Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon color pattern |
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| Meadowlark huddled down |
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| Sparrow fight |
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| Male mountain bluebird |
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| A treeful of birds! |
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| Four robins huddled by my window! |
January 2012
Wildlife was not as plentiful as last summer. I had many birds, a bull snake that ate some of the birds, one rattlesnake and a few bunnies. There were three deer all summer long in our yard, that were no longer there after hunting season. The owl has not come back since May, as far as I know. We saw only one badger at the ranch and a few antelope. It was very hot this summer and we did not get out to the ranch as often as before, so that may be part of the reason I saw so few.
I just went by my kitchen window and two does walked within 10 feet of the house. They were heeded out to the front trees and the fence that provides shelter from the wind. Jim surprised one fawn in the garden earlier this month and managed to maneuver around so the fawn ran out the gate and not into the fence. One deer managed to jump the nine foot fence and then dented the fence trying to get out. It must of successfully cleared the fence as I never found a deer in the garden.
Photo below is the bull snake leaving the tree after eating the contents of the Loggerhead Shrike nest.
May 2011
The deer have begun residing in my yard again. Plus the birds are returning. I have seen a pair of shrike (Northern or Loggerhead, not sure which) one of which took off chasing an owl out of the windbreak! These are feisty birds!! Also, red-headed tanagers, cat birds, robins, many varieties of sparrows. The deer are sleeping by the windbreak and under our bedroom window. Several of the does are pregnant. I keep hoping they will bring the fawns around, but usually they do so only at night. Right now is their "mangy" period--they look bad!
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| Northern flicker |
April 2011
The deer are back--slumbering under my trees and near the caged specimen trees. They seem to like the pond again. I don't have how water hooked up yet (it still gets very cold at night--17 degrees a couple of nights ago) so my hubby carried out some water in containers for them. I am hoping at least some of it stays thawed during the day.
I also have been filling the bird feeders. A forty mph
wind wiped out my last feeder, so I put up a couple of new ones and tied them down better!
wind wiped out my last feeder, so I put up a couple of new ones and tied them down better!
January 17
Found the first casualty of winter in my yard today--a young fawn deer. He just looked like he was sleeping next to my greenhouse. We will drag his carcass out in the open and see if any eagles come in. Check out the Tales of the New west on my web page (www.theaccidentalconservationist.com) for photos of a hawk and eagle that were feeding in my yard.
January 9, 2011
I find that if I use Google Chrome, pictures will download. Interesting, Google compatible with Google. Should note that Mozilla Foxfire also works.
I am putting in photos of deer and sparrows. The picture of the doe (with the blotch on it...) shows a very odd looking doe. She was standing in the wind. A friend said her collar was too tight! Actually, it kind of looks like that! There are also pictures of a deer munching on sagebrush, one eating bird seed under the bird feeder and the sparrows that frequent the feeder.
I will update later with pictures of a hawk and an eagle that were both feeding in my yard!
December 15th
I tried posting but the program simply will not let me do anything--pictures, save a draft, etc. I lack the patience to put up with this so I will return later and hope someone woke up and fixed the program.
August 6th
Grasshoppers continue to thrive. Along with the hoppers, I have had many bird enjoying the sprinkler and dining on the hoppers. The birds love the small pond for taking a dip and a sip. There are king birds, sparrows, grackles, meadowlarks, loggerhead shrikes and robins that I have seen in the last month or so. The king birds are really noisy and like to dive at me when I walk in the front windbreak. The meadowlarks have been really good for eating the hoppers. They always seem skinny in the summer, or maybe they just fluff their feathers in cold weather.
There was a fawn antelope on the gravel road about a week ago. It looked very thin and did not get up and run no matter how close I walked. I tried contacting Game and Fish, but no answer. I didn't want it to get hit by a car. It finally moved away from the road and I have not seen it lately.
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sparrows drying out |
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meadowlark |
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Kingbird |
I am adding pictures and that's about it for now.
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Cave swallows |
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mule deer and fawn (one of twins) |
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pelicans |
The program will not allow me to
move these around even when I edit
the HTML so I apologize for the disorder.
I would have preferred a better layout.
Sorry.
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bunched together pelicans |
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sage grouse with chicks |
May 17, 2010
I have pictures of critters! The tiny bunnies are out and dining every now and then. The deer have been too comfortable in the windbreak, so I had to spray deer repellent. This morning, I went to make sure two antelope fighting over the fence on our road about 2 miles away were not caught in the fence. They were not caught but they were very persistant in their rivalry!
I have filled the pond so the birds and deer have someplace to drink. They are fun to watch out the window, especially the birds. I put the pond in because in dry years the rabbits have been known to chew holes in my garden hoses trying to get water. There were small pans around the yard for them to drink from, but I decided it would be easier to just put in one pond. It's a 35 gallon pond made on plastic. I dug down and sat it in a hole. In warmer weather, I use mosquito rings (they are more or less organic and stop the larvae from developing) to keep mosquitos from hatching in the pond. Then I flush it out periodically, letting the water run down to water the trees in the windbreak.
April 30, 2010
More deer pictures. I tried for a video, but the memory card in the video cam was too full. They'll be back!
The first picture below has a doe that appears to be pregnant. They will not have the fawns for another 3 or 4 weeks. It's really hard to tell if the does are pregnant--considering they have to be able to run and to jump fences, etc, they don't put on much weight and don't really look much different. Antelope are the same way--close to the delivery time, you will notice does that do not run unless really threatened. Instead, they lay still in the sagebrush. The deer don't seem to bring the fawns in my yard until the fawns are fairly old. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is the presence of my fence. I doubt the fawns can jump the fence very easily. We actually had one three or four month old fawn try to jump the fence and break a leg. Game and Fish came out and "removed" it. You can't fix broken deer.
Yesterday I was digging up trees to give to the neighbors and frieghtened the owl in the windbreak. He was pretty well hidden in the branches. This is common in summer when the leaves hide him. One summer I couldn't mow due to a nesting owl that did not want me in the windbreak and would dive at me if I came in! He left after a month or so and I finally got to mow very tall grass! I really like the birds, so I don't mind.
April 4, 2010
The deer continue to visit the yard. There is one fawn that stays here even when the other deer leave. Technically, it's close to a yearling now. Off and on we have had a fawn or yearling stay in the yard, clear up to hunting season. Last year, the buck that had been staying here wondered off and never returned. He should have stayed! I won't harvest a deer that has been in my yard all year and has no fear of me. It doesn't seem right. So the fawn here now is safe as long as it stays in my yard!
The robins are back in full force. Friday there were about a dozen in my small, fenced yard. They are FAT robins! I don't know where they wintered, but there was an adequate food supply! The birds now like my pond, too, and will hop down the branch I have sticking out of the pond and get a drink of water. The last couple of mornings the water has been frozen so they have to wait until later in the day. I'm not going to put a heater in the pond--at least not until I decide there is no other option.
I have been putting out frozen corn from my freezer--it got too old to use for our food. The birds are big fans! So far, the deer have not found it or they don't want it. I have a feeder with bread in it, but the birds tend to ignore that one. I even tried adding popped pop corn, but no takers. The sparrows in town will eat bread but those in my yard ignore it unless there is nothing else. I am working on a better feeder--the birds have to be able to get the food while deer can't and the food has to be kept from blowing away. Will update with photo when I get the project complete.
March 26, 2010
I posted a number of pictures of mule deer on my home page this time.
Early March 2010
The photos below are my furry friends--sort of! We kind of have a love/hate relationship. They are a lot of fun to photograph, I like watching them in my yard, yet they also damage my trees, required a 9 foot fence around the garden and I have to rake our foot paths in the spring to get all the deer crap out. One winter, a large buck, who had been looking sickly (he crapped on my trailer skirting--I was not happy) did not manage to clear the fence when jumping it and died, leg stuck in the fence. We cut the fence and dragged the carcass back to the deer carcass enclosure. Yes, I have a spot for the dead deer. We have had three die in the yard over the last four or five years, plus one that was shot by a poucher.
The deer are fairly used to me. If they eat on my trees much, I holler out my window and tell them to leave the trees alone. Usually, they wonder off from the trees, but they don't leave the yard. My little dog scares them just a bit, but only enough for them to move away from the house.
March 14, 2010
This is a picture of an elk that has shed one antler. I have seen and photographed deer and antelope with only one antler/horn. The elk is at a wildlife study area. There's also a photo of several more bull elk at the study area.
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This is at the bottom because blogger will not allow me to move it and I am tired of fighting it. I have no idea how to get this to work--the program ignores html changes...... |
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