Thanksgiving Weekend - 11/28/2008

Any weekend that you can walk away from - with a picture - of anything is a good weekend. The day after Thanksgiving we headed up north - temperatures were in the 30's and there was 3" of snow on the ground. I will have two days to just sit in my blind, take in the scenery and get a few photos (approximately 1500). The first time I ever sat in my blind (before it became modified and more permanent) I would set out corn, more bird feeders and suet holders than were probably necessary. There were weekends that I would sit out there and there would be nothing. Saturday morning I walked out to my blind about 8:30 a.m. - set my camera bag down and just took in the view, before I could get my camera out of the bag a young deer passed thru from my left. Not wanting to scare it off I just sat and watched, wishing the whole time I had taken my camera out of the case. Suddenly something spooked it and it was gone.

After the deer disappeared I got my camera all ready and sat with anticipation of what I might see. About twenty minutes after the first deer passed thru - a second one calmly passed thru. Since I didn't get a picture of the first I can't tell you if it was the same one or a different one. It won't be until I show the photo to a co-worker who will point out that this is a Button Buck and not a doe.

After the deer disappeared my feeder (about 25 feet from me) was attacked by the usual visitors: White-breasted Nuthatches (who I am certain alert all the birds that there is food), Red-breasted Nuthatches (who are normally chased away by the white-breasted nuthatches), Black-capped Chickadees (who will share with everyone), an abundance of Downy Woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers. After a couple of hours of the usual the Tufted Titmouse make their appearance. Now while I'm sitting here watching them all fly in and fly out I start thinking about the Brown Creeper which I saw for the first time a couple of visits ago. The creeper is a year around bird and is very hard to see at times, he has the capability of clinging to a tree, spread his wings and blend in so well that you have to really look hard for it. If it wasn't for the white underside of it I would have never spotted it the first time as I did this time. Today though it has a little more movement and I try really hard to capture a decent photo of this little guy.

Sunday was a relatively quiet day - I kept hoping that the Pileated Woodpecker would appear but I didn't get that lucky that day. Before we packed up to go home a pair of Golden Finches appeared. Due to the overcast and the time I did manage to get a few decent shots before we left. So on this note I will say - til my next post.