Wildlife

Each evening when Stephen gets into the car as we pick him up at the train station, Mr. Blue-Eyes asks for what we've been calling "The Wildlife Report." Typically, this report includes sightings of deer (with the correct number of each type...bucks, does, fawns) and foxes and birds. A month or so ago, we were all impressed to hear how Dad actually witnessed a bald eagle swooping down onto the water and coming back up with a fish! We even made a special trip to that lake to see if we could catch a glimpse of any bald eagles, but it seems like they have migrated south now. Ospreys were commonly named in The Wildlife Report for a while, too, but it seems that they have also migrated south for the winter.

Our wildlife sightings have been sparse unless you include the groundhog who makes his home under the shed at the golf course behind our house. We often saw him scrounging in the grass as we drove past.

But one night last week, as I was making dinner, I glanced out the window and saw what I thought was a large dog in our backyard. With a second look, I quickly realized that there were two deer in our yard! The boys were so excited to have deer in our yard. They wanted to go out onto the deck, but I knew if we opened the door, those deer would be gone in a flash. I did manage to get one semi-clear picture through the glass and a short video to share. Both deer appeared to be does, although they looked like they were pretty small...perhaps this year's fawns that had lost their spots already, but hadn't grown any antlers yet. So we weren't sure. Uncle Dan would probably know, but we just aren't as "deer savvy" as he is.

At any rate, it was pretty fun to have our own Wildlife Report to share with Dad that night!