I squeezed in a quick walk after work tonight. I'm still having to dress warm and walk on top of frozen snow which is starting to seriously irritate me at this point. It was especially irritating when I noticed a whole bunch of Hooded Mergansers on the southwest side. There's a wood chip trail that runs along one side, so it was a good opportunity to get try and get closer.
Unfortunately every step I took made a terribly loud crunch and I learned just how little noise it takes to scare these waterfowl off. By the time I was half way to where I wanted to be, almost all of them had flown off. When I got behind some thick brush I could only see just a couple left but the only clear shot I got was from behind. On the north side after the bridge I noticed a few deer out in the open field. They were too far away for a good photo but as I kept walking more and more were appearing. Soon there was a pretty large group of about 7 or 8 and then I saw even more filing out of the wood to join them.
At the end of the line was something that made me do a double take -a Buck with a mature 6 point set of antlers! I was surprised to see Deer with antlers at the end of February so this was quite a shock. He was just lazily walking behind the group, giving me a few different photo opportunities. While hiking along the creek near the end of my route, I thought I saw something moving through the water. I thought it was a Muskrat but then thought that it might be too early for them yet. I sat down on a park bench and just sat there for a while watching it get dark. Then I noticed a furry little creature walking on the snow covering the creek bank. It was a Mink! I thought I'd never see them again but they were back in the very same area as last fall.
I couldn't get a photo through all the brush so I waited and waited for it to come back. Eventually I saw it -or another one- swimming back downstream but by this time it was pretty dark. You might be able to see the wake he is making in the water here.
Unfortunately every step I took made a terribly loud crunch and I learned just how little noise it takes to scare these waterfowl off. By the time I was half way to where I wanted to be, almost all of them had flown off. When I got behind some thick brush I could only see just a couple left but the only clear shot I got was from behind. On the north side after the bridge I noticed a few deer out in the open field. They were too far away for a good photo but as I kept walking more and more were appearing. Soon there was a pretty large group of about 7 or 8 and then I saw even more filing out of the wood to join them. 
At the end of the line was something that made me do a double take -a Buck with a mature 6 point set of antlers! I was surprised to see Deer with antlers at the end of February so this was quite a shock. He was just lazily walking behind the group, giving me a few different photo opportunities. While hiking along the creek near the end of my route, I thought I saw something moving through the water. I thought it was a Muskrat but then thought that it might be too early for them yet. I sat down on a park bench and just sat there for a while watching it get dark. Then I noticed a furry little creature walking on the snow covering the creek bank. It was a Mink! I thought I'd never see them again but they were back in the very same area as last fall. 
I couldn't get a photo through all the brush so I waited and waited for it to come back. Eventually I saw it -or another one- swimming back downstream but by this time it was pretty dark. You might be able to see the wake he is making in the water here.
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