Needs help Hiding

Needing help hiding

White tail deer behind the tree

Yes, I can see you!

Food on the Island

Oh, photographer!

Taking a break from grazing

Food on the island

Ring-billed gull and hooded merganser

A Ring-billed Gull and Hooded Merganser were enjoying the early morning hours together in the pond at Bassett Creek Park yesterday.  Nearby a buck toured the park.

Doe and fawns

I spotted a white tail deer and her two fawns on an evening walk around the pond at Bassett Creek Park yesterday.

Madeline Island, Wisconsin

Lake Superior ice on the northern coast of the island

Sign along ice road between Bayfield and Madline Island

White-tailed deer and young

I enjoyed a trip "up north" to Bayfield, Wisconsin this past weekend. While there I went out to the "sea caves" and made an excursion to Madeline Island.  Pictured above are shots from Madeline Island.

Back yard visitors

Buck and does

A White-tailed buck and three does visited our back yard yesterday.  They seemed to be looking for someplace safe to hang out and perhaps grab a bite to eat.  

White-tailed buck visiting Bassett Creek Park

I enjoyed taking a few shots of a buck (male) deer that was visiting Bassett Creek Park.  He didn't seem overly concerned by my presence.  Maybe he was looking for something many a cash strapped person is in search of... a little doe!

White-tail deer (buck)

White-tail deer

White-tailed deer

Morning in the park

Yesterday was a beautiful morning in the park. I brought out the camera and captured a curved branch that with reflection appeared like a C in the water. It turned out to be a nice addition to my "pond art" series.

A juvenile American Bald Eagle captured a sun fish and enjoyed finishing it off while perched on the limb of a large cottonwood tree.

Perhaps the best photographic opportunity came at midmorning when I went for a run, and didn't have my camera along.  As I was heading down a wood chip trail a doe appeared and firmly stood its ground in the middle of the path, about 10 yards in front of me.  I paused and waited for it to move.  A couple of minutes passed, and about the only thing that it moved was its large ears and white tail.  Soon I discovered the reason why.  Up from below the trail, on the shores of a pond, came two spotted fawns.  Their mother then lead the way into the forested area.  I was happy simply to take in this moment with my eyes.

Deer in the park

One morning this week I was thrilled to discover a doe and her fawn wading into the pond at Bassett Creek Park.  Later I wandered around hoping to catch some additional photos of the two of them together, but the fawn was nowhere in site.  Hopefully it has a good hiding place.

Trumpeter Swans liking climate change?

Trumpeter Swans

I was thrilled to see a pair of Trumpeter Swans and three cygnets on a drive yesterday.  They were 20 miles west of the Twin Cities, nesting in a wetlands just off of Highway 12.

In researching trumpeter swans I discovered a World Climate Report Blog that indicated that these swans are actually increasing in numbers over the past 40 years. So despite the floods, droughts, strong winds and melting ice caps, the Trumpeter Swans are doing better than they were earlier in the 20th century. Nice to know something is fairing better, isn't it?

Further down the road I discovered a White-tailed Deer and a couple of spotted fawns grazing near a field of corn.

White-tailed doe and fawns

Suburban wildlife

Cooper's Hawk

Sunday afternoon I took a drive back to my childhood home with an older brother who was in town for a visit.  It was great to see our old home still in good repair.  Even nicer still was to observe the nearby swamp.  That wild area in Plymouth, where we used to watch tadpoles transform into frogs, appeared to be an even more vibrant wildlife refuge than when we left it, about 45 years ago.

My brother and I spotted a pair of Wood Ducks, a Cooper's Hawk and even a White-tailed Deer grazing in this small two acre track of undeveloped land.  How good it is to see areas of land like this that don't get developed into tracts of houses. 

Pair of Wood Ducks

White-tailed deer

Surprise visitors

Polyphemus Moth

We had an interesting visitor to our home over the weekend. An uninvited moth (left) appeared on one of our house plants.  No idea how it got there.  It had unusual dwarfed wings.  Seems it must be deformed.  Looks somewhat like a bumblebee's body style doesn't it?

Earlier this morning I captured a picture of a few deer roaming at the park in front of our house.  It appears the two parents were on either side of the doe.  Nice to see them still providing guidance!

Family of white-tailed deer at Bassett Creek Park

Camouflage

White-tailed deer

On my walk around the park yesterday it was interesting to notice camouflage in the animal kingdom.

A white-tailed deer blended in nicely with its brown surroundings.

The female mallard pictured below was much more camouflaged than it's male counterparts to its right, or the larger Canada Goose.

The butterfly, lower left, was very well camouflaged, looking much like a leaf with its wings shut. However with wings open, not so much.

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

Mallards and Canada Goose