nature photography

Out Our Window, Today

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I finished off our first bag of deer feed this morning.  I’m glad I picked up a second one, already.

We got a visit from a lone deer this morning.  A different one; it did not have the larger darker patch of fur on its chest.

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I should go back over our older photos and see if I can tell if this is that first doe that started visiting us.

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I just love those eyes, and the long, long eyelashes.

Did you know that white tail deer have horizontal, slot shaped pupils?  Their eyes are so dark, I’ve never really noticed it before.

Of course, we had bird visitors.  I’ve been leaving some piles of feed closer to the house, and that has allowed me to get some better photos.

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For a while, this nuthatch was watching me take photos of it.  How much it could see of me through the reflections, I don’t know, but clearly, it could at least see me moving around.

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It’s a real challenge to get decent photos of the birds.  They just don’t stay still very long!  I’ve got the camera on a tripod with a head that is easily moved around, but it still takes a moment or two to adjust, and by the time I’ve done that, they’re usually gone.  Still, I’ve managed a few good ones. :-)

More deer showed up in the early evening.

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This is the one with the darker patch on its chest that comes with another deer that it drives away from the feed.  The other deer did show up with it, and was chased off by this one here.  Striking with hooves and all. Eventually, the other did make it to the feed, but barely got any at all before it ran off, then this one came back.

Interestingly, as it was coming to the feed and looking around, it kept looking up over the roof.  I wonder if one of the cats was up there?

The Re-Farmer

Getting things done, and more deer

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This morning, we got a phone call from my husband’s doctor, following up on the fax sent from the pharmacy about that prescription refill.  We then headed into town to pick up the prescription (he ended up giving a bunch), since getting the pharmacy to do it might take a couple of days.  At the same time, the prescription dosage error on the other versions of this medication was fixed.  So my husband is all stocked up on painkillers again, which is making life much more bearable for him!

We also got a pair of deer visiting again today.  This time, they seemed less nervous about us in the window.  The deer came together, but kept their distance from each other, trading off eating.  They left, but came back soon after.  Interestingly, one actually started to drive the other off of the feed, with some aggressive posturing and jumping.  Then they went into the spruce trees and hung out there for an hour or more before one came back.  The other stayed in the spruces for a while, then drove the first one away from the food and started eating, while the first on stuck around and seemed to keep watch.

It was interesting behavior to watch.

I was able to get some good photos of them, too.

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In between taking photos, I finally started on clearing that linen closet, wrapping up a stack of mirrors to box up, then removing the plastic shelf liners.  The seeds that we think are mouse poison were only on the top shelf.  I swept most away, but didn’t get to vacuuming the ones stuck in crevices, because I didn’t want the noise to scare the deer.  Meanwhile, my older daughter was a sweetheart and started cleaning the set of decorative plates I inherited from my mother-in-law.  They had hung on her wall for many years, and my in-laws were both heavy smokers at the time, so they had to be washed twice.  Not all the nicotine quite came off, though, so a third washing will be needed to get the last of it off, but they look fabulous now.

Cleaning the hangers is going to be a challenge.  That and the one plate that is a relief of a Rockwell painting.  That one will need a toothbrush to clean it.

That will all wait until later, as my younger daughter decided to make up a double batch of sourdough dinner rolls.  I am looking forward to those!

All in all, a pretty good day.

An Excuse for a Post

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Ever since an OS upgrade some months ago, I have had all sorts of issues with my phone’s autocorrect.  It would change things that didn’t need to be changed, not change things that should have, insert the strangest alternative words to replace words that were fine…after I hit “post”, and capitalize words all over the place, instead of just at the start of the sentence.

I have just downloaded and installed the Grammarly Keyboard, and this is my first use of it.

So far, so good.  It is checking my typos and seems quite intuitive.

So, to give a reason for this test post (oh! It just did a great job dealing with an accidental word mash up!), I will share this photo.

I have put a new metal ring on my phone for the lens magnet, and this one is holding. I experimented with macro shots first, then tested the telephoto.  Everything held fine.

I’m not sure I like the telephoto lens much. It really doesn’t seem to be any better than my camera zoom.  Even modestly low light seems to throw it.

I will have to test the 2 fisheye lenses next.

The Re-Farmer

Four!!

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I knew it was a matter of time before the rest showed up!

Our Lady came back with company today.

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This deer was at the far end of the garden, and never came any closer.  It is most likely a buck.

We could see the fourth one (pictured above) digging in the snow for forage, beyond the wood pile in the garden, before it moved along the line of shrubs to nibble on some branches.  It kept close watch in all directions in the process.

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She’s keeping a close eye on me through the window! (You can see part of the window frame on the left, where you can also see a tiny bit of the fourth deer in the top corner.)

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These are most likely her twins from last spring.

Mama kept a close eye on us in the window, but she seems to be starting to get used to us being there.  As long as we don’t move too quickly, she stays.  Of course, deer are skittish and it doesn’t take much to send them running, but she was quicker to come back, and her dash away is not quite as abrupt as it was when she first started to visit.

And to think that was just a few days ago!

Camera set up

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This is our new set up to take photos of our feeding area.

Unfortunately, when the deer came this morning, she could see me through the window, taking the lens cap off, etc, and took off.

Also, in case you are wondering, yes those are marker flags in the plant pot.  They, and the yarn, are there to protect the avocado plant from the cats. They decided that this pot was a perfect bed and broke one of the branches off before I could rescue it.

The Re-Farmer

This Morning’s Critter Visitors

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We are going to have to rethink how our living room is laid out again.  A bit of adjusting to better suit my husband’s needs, and a bit more shifting around.  Our big picture window is currently blocked off completely, and I’d like to open it up again.

Then promptly block it again.  With a tripod. :-D

We had many chickadees, as usual, and a third squirrel has joined the two we usually see.  Then we got this crowd.

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I have been able to find our copy of A Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and was able to identify them as chipping sparrows. [correction: these are redpolls, which were not in my book at all.  We get chipping sparrows in the summer.]

Then our beautiful lady came to visit again.  We first saw her going through the spruce grove some distance away, but she came back for a quick feed.

What a beauty!

We have a pair of blue jays that regularly visit – likely a mated pair.  One of them hung out in the spruces for a while.

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I just love their colouring.  They’ve always been one of my favourite birds.

 

 

 

We Got Deer!

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It took a while – and perhaps it was found when we weren’t there to see – but today, a white tail deer finally showed up at the deer feed we’ve been leaving out.

What a beauty, too!

This is so exciting!!

(photo taken by P., using a Nikon D80 and a 70-300mm Nikkor lens)

 

New Bird Visits

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I don’t know the names of these ones.  Time to break out the bird books!

If they’re unpacked…

Unlike the jays, the chickadees are quite comfortable grabbing some seeds while these birds are around.

Update: The one with the most red on it is a male pine grosbeak.   I thought the one with just a red cap might be the female, but from what I can find online, it is the yellow one that is a female grosbeak.

Morning critter visitors

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Still no deer, but plenty of action at the feed this morning.

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This was taken using a 70-300mm lens, zoomed in as far as it could go, so we’re not all that close.  I know that there’s also lots of reflections of trees on the window – enough to confuse the birds into trying to fly into them (when I was a kid, we once had a prairie chicken fly right through the glass; we installed chicken wire outside the window after that).  Yet, it seems as if this Blue Jay is watching me taking pictures of him.

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Still keeping an eye out!

The jays are not as skittish as the chickadees, staying at the feed longer, but they still dash in and out, quickly retreating into the branches.  It makes getting good shots more challenging.  Especially with the zoom lens.

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There are always a LOT of chickadees!  They quickly dash in, grab a seed, and dash out again.  Skittish little guys.  They like to hang out in the shrubs outside our dining and living room windows.

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The red squirrels, on the other hand, are much bolder and assertive.  This guy stayed at the seeds for quite some time, with a Blue Jay in the branches above, watching and waiting for him to leave.  He took his time about it!

In the summer, they would come to the house and take dog food to store for the winter (we’d find a stash in the wood pile, every now and then).  My late father quite enjoyed them.  One fine sunny day, my dad went out on the front steps and sat down in the warm sun.  Eventually, he lay back and fell asleep.

He woke up to find a squirrel on his chest, checking him out!

Bold, indeed!

The Re-farmer

Wildlife Visitors

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The deer have yet to discover the feed we’ve started leaving out for them.

Other critters, on the other hand, are appreciating it.

So far, we’ve seen some Blue Jays, my daughter spotted a Grey Jay, and of course there have been plenty of chickadees and squirrels.

Here are some photos my husband got through the living room window this morning, with our old Nikon D80.

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Blue Jays are one of the few birds we see more often in the winter.

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Red Squirrels are pretty much the only type of squirrel we get here.  About an hour’s drive away, my sister gets both these little squirrels and the huge grey squirrels in her yard.

Wildlife visits are one of the positive trade offs with this move!

The Re-farmer