I had the day off of work today and naturally I started off my day by visiting the park. It was nice and sunny out today and warmer than normal -just as it has been for most of the month. I'd taken the wood chip trail from the parking lot and as I neared where it turns north, I heard a familiar loud sound and spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker almost at eye-level. This was an unusual occurrence as I hardly ever see them any closer to the ground than about 30 feet. The sun was shining right on him, making his red crown even more bright looking.
I was lucky enough to catch just 2 pics of him before he flew off higher up into the trees. Something I learned from this photo, but was not easy to pick up from my field guide is that the also have very "red" eyes! For some reason I rarely see females of this species -who's red crown does not extend across the entire head. As I neared the bridge over the creek on the north side, I spotted a group of three Deer who where staying oddly close to each other. They were easily visible out in an open area and a number of people walking on the trail stopped to watch them. I then noticed what looked to be a person standing up along the banks of Shingle Creek. The figure wasn't moving so I had to look through my binoculars to confirm that it was indeed a person. I started to think "what the heck" when I then noticed another person up in a tree stand even closer to me.
It then dawned on me that it was a Tuesday and the special Deer hunt was going on! This might have explained why the Deer were staying close together as I think they aware of all the people around. In a way I think it might be good for the Deer in the park to come to trust people a bit less than they currently do. I am always shocked at how tame they seem. As I kept walking I wondered if one of these 3 ended up claimed by the hunter.
I was lucky enough to catch just 2 pics of him before he flew off higher up into the trees. Something I learned from this photo, but was not easy to pick up from my field guide is that the also have very "red" eyes! For some reason I rarely see females of this species -who's red crown does not extend across the entire head. As I neared the bridge over the creek on the north side, I spotted a group of three Deer who where staying oddly close to each other. They were easily visible out in an open area and a number of people walking on the trail stopped to watch them. I then noticed what looked to be a person standing up along the banks of Shingle Creek. The figure wasn't moving so I had to look through my binoculars to confirm that it was indeed a person. I started to think "what the heck" when I then noticed another person up in a tree stand even closer to me. 
It then dawned on me that it was a Tuesday and the special Deer hunt was going on! This might have explained why the Deer were staying close together as I think they aware of all the people around. In a way I think it might be good for the Deer in the park to come to trust people a bit less than they currently do. I am always shocked at how tame they seem. As I kept walking I wondered if one of these 3 ended up claimed by the hunter.
No comments:
Post a Comment