The newspaper asked "Where are the deer?"

There was a story the other day asking where are all the deer.  It was talking about the reduced numbers in Iowa due to hunting.  Well, we think they are in woods behind us.  About a week ago, I was at our back fence with Russ looking into the woods and counted at least eight deer.

Last night I saw two a few yards away and along came a third.  Pretty soon we had five deer parading along our back fence.  One of them pawed at another with its front hoof.

Here are the photos following their trek:

 

 

 

Here they come...

 

 

If you look close, you can see a caravan of three...

 

 

And finally, here are four of the five...

Busy time at the feeding station over the weekend

A nice sunny day on Sunday.  I'm posting two "lucky" unintended pictures.  I just happened to snap at the right time.

Here is one of those pictures.  There were four Fox Squirrels chasing each other at one point.  Look closely at these two with various feet in the air...

 

 

Staying with the squirrel theme, another one perched on the fence...

 

 

 

I'm not trying to feed the squirrels, so on with the birds.  First up is a picture of a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.  This one taken from the house so not as clear.  Still a favorite bird of mine to see...

 

 

 

Here is a good picture of a Downy Woodpecker...good for showing the red on its head...

 

 

 

And finally, here is a lucky shot of a Black-Capped Chickadee landing on the feeder...

 









Random feeding pictures from the last few weeks

Here are some pictures of feeding activity over the last few weeks.

First up is an American Goldfinch on the feeder...

My type of feeder doesn't usually attract Northern Cardinals but here is one...

 

And finally a Fox Squirrel perched like a bird...

 

 

 

 

Squirrel!!!

Russ missed this squirrel.  It was doing a good job of not moving.  After I went inside, it was immediately down on the ground scooping up fallen seeds and nuts.  Look at the last picture.  If you look close, you can see the squirrel in the tree.  Russ doesn't have a clue.

Went for a walk yesterday

My goal was to find the railroad tracks sticking out of the side of the hill my neighbor told me about and to see a Bald Eagle or two.  Trails were a little slick. 

I did not find the tracks (part of an old coal mine).  I will need to get a better idea where to look.  I saw a Bald Eagle from a distance but it flew off.  So I settled for these Canada Geese on the Des Moines River....

 

I like this Cottonwood near the river...

 

Someone is building a shelter in the woods...

 

There are Indian burial mounds in the woods.  It's hard to see the mounds here, but these may be some of them...

 

Feeding time (not just birds)

Here are some pictures at the feeder.  We get more than birds coming around for something to eat (see bottom photo).

Black-Capped Chickadee

 

The next three photos are a Black-Capped Chickadee and White-Breasted Nuthatch

Below is a Black-Capped Chickadee and Downy Woodpecker

Below is the White-Breasted Nuthatch and Downy Woodpecker (next six photos)

 

Good shot of the White-Breasted Nuthatch

 

And here is the deer

Christmas with the Andrews

With the Snell family in Tampa, we hosted Christmas with my family this year.  We will remember it as a day with Russ...he wouldn't let us ignore him.