Feeder frenzy, fawn photobomb and fabulous fungi

It was a cold morning and I'd just flung a bunch of wild bird seed out.

The birds rewarded us with early morning visits.

Two hungry acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus)

neatly photobombed by a mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) fawn.

THREE acorn woodpeckers on one pinecone. Impressive.

Especially the one that's upside down.

I also like that one tiny bit of feed falling 'neath them.

Sticking the tongue out.

First saw these two Steller's jays (Cyanocitta stelleri)
and wondered why the little one was standing its ground in the face of a larger one.

And then I thought: oh... the little one is probably the offspring of the big one.*

And rather than threatening with the big mouth, it's saying, "Feed me!"
It's a theory.*

Since we've gotten a bit of rain these last few weeks,
the hygroscopic earthstars (Astraeus hygrometricus) unfurled again,
much to my delight.

I love this olive green one... so elegant.

Nice beige, crackly one.

This one shows JUST how much they can look like an exploded acorn.

So, that's some of the things kicking around the property in February.

I will be posting more images of birds
and the early-blooming flowers soon.

In the meantime, here's to more rain here in the west! Woo-hoo!

xoxoxo bb


*Yes, it's a theory, but it's probably wrong. Two smarties commented that
this sort of behavior is common in mated pairs. Flirting, basically. =) Thanks, peeps!

Masterful clouds, acorn woodpecker fun & a fawny face

Post winter storm sky, this morning.

Forecast calling for stopped rain, and a return to the weirdly warm temps of highs in the 60s.

And from a wee bit ago, before the rains added more watering hole options for the birds,

we'd been rich in avian visitors...

Two males. The females have black between the cream and red on the head,

so the sexes are very easy to distinguish.

Therefore, lady on the left, gentleman on the right.

Whoop! Waterbowl is slippery (and in need of a refill).

And a cutie (male mule deer fawn) stopped by to lap up breakfast,
namely some of the bird seed we'd flung here and there.

Hope you all are well.

I am feeling VERY grateful for the rain we finally got.

Hooray!

xoxobb

'cause I can't stop obsessing about the Rim Fire: great raw video (+cute spotted fawns on my porch)

at this news site (ktvu).

"Bear" is the passenger in the truck with the flashing lights (at 2:16).

Apparently they'd pulled over to suggest to the gentleman parked there that

HE MAY WANT TO DRIVE AWAY so perchance he'd not roast.

All I want to do all day is look for video and photos and read stats about this rager.

I owe you a post re: quiz winners, & I've been getting a lot of wildlife near our house, etc.,

but any time I'm on this computer I just look for Rim Fire data, so my apologies.

There are some photos on Twitter (biobabbler) of wildlife,

and I'll include a few here, 'cause y'all deserve it.

The smaller of the 2 fawns, I believe.

Slorp!

Sibs.

The wildlife have been doing a good job of cheering and entertaining me.

Gotta love baby deer on your back porch.

xoxobb

(P.S. The fire is not near our house
so these little deer are safe in that regard.
Though they are lethally cute.)

(western) bluebird of happiness + deer buns

Western bluebird, chillin'.

quiz answer: what's up, buck?

In short, this is the answer to the quiz re: what the above creature has on his mind is

Romance.

As many of you guessed, this buck was lookin' for love.

The doe seemed mostly to be interested in this:

"yum."

The buck also spent time standing very still, not looking at the doe.

Among the other things he'd detect are rivals (far right is another buck).

"Hey, wait a minute..."

Reaction:

"Oh, hell, no."

"And stay out!"

(pardon reflectiness--windows & sun...)

Que macho hombre, no?

=) Vanquished.

So, CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who was correct!

And thanks, as ever, to EVERYONE who submitted a guess--

y'all are brave, smart, funny, and creative.  Nice!

And thanks to Sue for the detailed info re: such behavior.

Gotta love a "guess" where the questioner learns from the questioned. =)

Caveat: I must admit, it is possible that

a) someone was (per Hugh) holding chocolate chip cookies offstage

to get the buck to hold his original pose, and 

b) I actually really hope that he was attempting to plank,

as Sue posited. It could be the new sexy.

Come to think of it, maybe this is where PEOPLE got the idea.

Planking = Sexy.

Who knows?

xoxobb

photo quiz: check this buck out

What do you think this posture means, re: this buck's current focus?

He walked around with his head straight out like this (and lower) for a while.

You can learn a lot from body language in many species besides our own,

so it's nice to pick some of these things up whilst ogling wildlife.

Please submit guesses in the usual way (comments),

and you are, as ever, welcome to fling guesses wildly,

without a thought about consequence.

And here's a bonus shot, just for fun. Cutie, eh?

=) Good luck!

Deer snowstorm,

"Dear Snowstorm:

Thank you for bringing these tasty leaves

nearer to our noses. 

(Munch, munch, munch...)

Breakfast was so yummy,

we told our friends.

Love,

Even this little guy can reach the leaves, today.

The Deer.

Transcription provided by: biobabbler.

photogenic, yes. always perfectly beautiful & elegant? uh....

 

lovely...

(thought bubble is "hum, tee dum...")

only slightly odd, startled look... still cute.

("whaaa?")

...annnnnd the money shot.

("urrrrr")

=)

10,000 robins here, today.
Did impromptu garden work,
Rhode Island red stuffed herself silly
on the earthworms she unearthed in the garden w/me.

It started sunny; now we're in a cloud.

And tonight is a crazy windstorm.
Predicted gusts to 75 MPH.
Sweet!

Will post re: photo quiz soon.

xobb

A new meaning to canvasback (canvas buck?) fm. 10 min ago

 

Was walking towards a doe south of our house, slowly,
with camera in hand, padding across living room floor,
then noticed at my left elbow, this handsome creature.

Took 2 pics, then slowly left as I'd clearly surprised him.

Minutes later, looking for evidence
that I'd not scared him off our property, I found him steadily eating.
First manzanita berries, then many, many nice, fatty acorns. =)

Tho' these aren't all nicely focused
(and are crops of march larger images),
I just love the shadows of the oak on the buck's body.

Lovely.

=)

And I'm glad we got our shed painted red.
A good background for this gorgeous creature.

xobb

fall = horny (well, antler-y) bucks & pretty leaves

ooh, pretty!
(doe = off camera)

grapple, grapple
(mild, not intense; one on right is
clearly smaller, not as muscular)

grapple, grapple

 ooh, pretty!

...annnnd they leave, following the doe off stage. =)

speaking of leaves, the sugar maple in our yard
(Acer saccharum)
(per usual, nicer if you click 'n' zoom)

ooh, pretty!

Happy autumn. =)

xobb

lawn art: a cryptic post

 

Before:

After:

It's amazing the degree to which deer can disappear,
just by settling down in the grass.

Wiki's post on camouflage has some cool photos,
if you want to explore the subject a bit more.

=)

bb

Deer baaaack!

 

Apparently lilac leaves (in cage) are tasty.

Yum!
Cute deer visit this a.m., plus a jackrabbit 3 feet from window,
which I didn't photograph (trying to encourage it to hang out).

It's nice to be home. =)

I think the cats are psyched, too, wherever they may be....

Possibly some more flight photos later,
if I deem any of them worthy,
or figure out what they're of, via Google Earth.

Which, incidentally, is totally an exercise I recommend.

1. Take photos from a plane (entertaining).

2. Arrive home safely (required).

3. Open Google Earth, and try and find large features
you've photographed from 30,000 feet, flying 480 mph.

So fun.

I freakin' love the Internet & Google Earth.

It's magic.

In the meantime, I may also undertake some spider ID work,
despite being a total amateur.

I'll keep you posted.

=)

xobb

P.S. Just figured out why I'm such a blob, today.
We traveled from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (18.5 hours) yesterday.
Oh, that....