White Duck and Two Big Bucks

On Friday afternoon it started snowing like crazy and it continued through the night. By the time I arrived at the park on Saturday morning we had a fresh blanket of at least 6 inches. Though walking was tough, it was a great visit with a surprise around every corner. I'm not sure if it was because of the snowfall but everything in the park seemed to be active. I know for sure that I almost doubled my previous record of most photos per visit, taking 135 pictures today! After taking in all the beautiful scenery, I noticed an odd-duck, literally among all the Mallards in the water near the southwest side. This Duck was pure white with a bright orange bill and it stuck out like a sore thumb. I don't know if it's a different species or maybe an Albino. It seemed to be accepted and get along just fine with the other Mallards. Right before the bridge on the north side I spotted a couple of Deer on the other side of the Shingle Creek, along the high banks. They definitely spotted me too when I hit the un-plowed bridge which echoed loudly under my steps. There was a Doe and a Fawn that seemed cautious at first until I stopped mid-way on the bridge. I watched them for only a minute or so before the Doe jumped was startled forward by something other than myself. I thought this strange and until I realized what was coming up behind her. From behind the hillside of the creek bank, a massive Buck suddenly appeared and held motionless. Though I'd been solid as a statue while watching the Doe and Fawn, he was obviously aware of me and made little to no movement after first appearing. After I decided to move closer he trotted off behind the other two but reappeared as I rounded the corner after the bridge. Here I got a straight on shot him and his enormously wide antlers. Seconds later he trotted back towards the high creek bank where he immediately found interest in something tasty up in the trees above him. He was half on the hillside already, angled upward but eventually leaned back to stand up on only his two hind legs. I've only seen deer do this one other time and it's kind of funny looking -but to see a big Buck do it was a real treat. He must have been near 8 feet tall -especially with his massive antlers. I watched for a long time but only after looking at my photos on the computer did I realize that he must have been after the black berries above him. After he lost interest in those, he actually started heading my way again, stopping here and there to paw at the snow. Eventually he walked as close as he got to me and posed for some better pictures. When I saw him in the park I was sure he was roughly a 12-pointer. After studying the photos more closely the rack has a defined 10 points for sure. After taking my share of photos of this guy, I was plenty satisfied and went on my way. Only about 3 minutes later down the trail I spotted another single Deer. Thinking I'd already seen my only Buck of the day, I didn't even slow down at first until I noticed yet another set of decent antlers. It's such a rare occasion to see 2 Bucks in one visit that at first I thought it had to be the same Deer. But unless he was walking right behind me, it could not be. This one though had a distinctively symmetrical 8-point rack. I watched him for while as he made his way through some thick brush, even closing his eyes to avoid poking his own eye out. Eventually he walked right out into the open and crossed the field near the drainage ditches on the north side. I can only think of one other time that I've seen 2 Bucks in the same visit. Be sure to click on the photos for a larger view!

Minks Me Thinks

My visit to the park today was exciting as I spotted something brand new -and totally unexpected! Near the very end of my walk I was crossing the foot bridge over Shingle Creek on the south side. Way off in the distance I noticed something dark out in the water (or ice) that looked a bit unfamiliar. After the bridge I hung a sharp right onto the trail that follows the creek up stream and walked quietly just in case it wasn't just a Mallard I'd seen. At the end of the trail out near the railroad ties, I noticed something moving out on the ice. As I followed it back behind the thicket behind me, another similar shape came into view across the other side of the creek. It walked right out onto the thin ice, slinked into and under the water, popped out on my side of the creek and scurried into the same thick brush. At the time I really had no idea as to what they were and my first thought is that they were Otters. I really didn't want to scare them off so I was zooming in as far as my camera would go. You can tell from this second and subsequent photos that it was taken just before he dipped into the water to swim across. I wondered what in the world could so easily plunge into -and under- this freezing water. After losing track of the one who'd gone under the water, I spotted some movement in that thick brush behind me and decided to scope it out. I loudly crunched my way into the area, thinking I'd scared off everything and just crouched there for a few minutes. Sure enough, one popped out of a burrow right in front of me and scurried toward the creek. I could see exactly where their path was and how they were crossing the creek to the other side. I admit, I'm not all that familiar with Mammals but my field guide from Stan Tekiela was helpful in verifying them as Minks versus Otters or Weasels. Some of the more distinctive characteristics matching up nearly perfectly with the field guide are; white patch on the chin, short round ears, larger size and darker tail near the tip. Also the description of it's thick, oily, waterproof fur allowing it to swim in near freezing water pretty much convinced me I had the right animal. This last picture is of the burrow I saw them coming in an out of. Too bad, their burrows are described as temporary as Minks are always on the move looking for their next meal. A male Mink is also said to maintain a territory of 40 acres -which is 1/5th of the whole Palmer Lake area. Hopefully I will see them again. Be sure to click on the photos for larger images!

Cold Friday and Curious Deer

After the snow rolled on out it got really cold for Thanksgiving and the day after. When I left the house this Friday morning it was a whopping 5º above zero! I guess the Pheasants must like this weather because I saw five of them. All were in flight however so I didn't get a single picture. I did take close to forty pictures though -all of deer, and even of the same group. There were six of them in all but two were kind of their own, back further and in the same area on the north side where I've gotten really close before. Today was the same as I watched them fight over food from a very close distance. When the Does would find something to eat, the Fawns would push their face right up towards her mouth hoping to share. The Does would have none of it and rear back and pull away. I felt a bit bad for the Fawns but I suppose they need to learn to find their own food eventually and not rely on mom forever. It was a bright, clear, sunny day and at this proximity I was getting one good photo after another. I had a hard time choosing just three for this post but I thought this one of the fawn was kind of funny because I caught him in mid-chew. After a while the group kind of broke up after losing interest in foraging and both a Doe and Fawn started to approach me. I was seriously cold by this point, having not moved for a while so I snapped only one or two more pics before heading on.

Fresh Snow for Thanksgiving

My work was scheduled to close early today for Thanksgiving weekend so I was looking forward to a mid-week instead of my normal weekend only treks. There was also a winter weather advisory for the afternoon that local meteorologist have been hyping up for days now. It was pretty much in full swing by the time I arrived at the park with more sticky snow clinging to everything. In spots it made the woods look more dense and vast than it really is. There were plenty of deer moving around and I spotted another nine or ten today. I noticed this group walking single file just past the baseball fields on the west side. They were was only one opening in the woods where I could get a photo so I focused on that and waited for each one to come though one by one. To my surprise the second or third was a Buck with a small six point rack. Upon seeing me he sped up ahead to the front of the group and I lost him. The snow was really coming down by now making photographs quite challenging. Of course wouldn't you know that I'd see a bunch more deer in close range. I had about 30 more good photo opportunities and they all came out bad with my lens getting wet and my camera trying to focus on the snowflakes in the air. I guess time got away from me with all of the deer watching I was doing and found it getting dark in a hurry. On the south side I stopped briefly for a pic of the creek with three distinct layers of snow, ice and water.