The Season of Red Deer

At about the time of the season I refer to as high green, with us here we have also the season of red deer. As their new summer coat comes in, the hair is noticeably redder than the winter grays and browns. This is also the season of fawns, who are even redder than the adults.

This set of photographs are all deficient as pleasing images, but out of focus from hand-held shaking or too far away for easy viewing, they are records of events and behaviors. The Wood Peewee is a little more difficult to observe than his big cousin the Phoebe because he lives a bit higher up in the mid-level canopy. But his distinctive "pee-o-weee" song gives his location away. We have a larger population of Blue-winged Warblers this year than any of the previous three springs here. One of the photos above shows one with his beak mandibles spread surprisingly wide to sing his windy, raspy song. Another shows him scratching between arias. The Yellow Warbler's song is as common this year as that of the Blue-wings.

I regret how poorly focused the images of the fawn are, but I will offer this explanation: just as I glimpsed the creature off the trail a few feet and drew my camera into action, I heard the characteristic and familiar sounds of Puppy Wuppy running up from behind. This dog has a history of trouble with fawns and their mothers, so I hurriedly made the two photos and then moved on down the trail hoping to avoid a conflict--which is just my way of getting through life.