Trailcams a/o 4/9/11

Had some interesting shots over the last two weeks.  Spring is just starting.  The bucks have dropped their antlers.  The does are very pregnant and should have fawns soon.  The turkeys are starting to warm up for mating season.  Everything is sort of waking up from a hard winter.



Does the doe on the right look very pregnant to you?  They seem to carry them pretty far forward.

 Here I am putting out some minerals a couple of weeks ago.  These are sort of the vitamins for deer.  It helps the pregnant does and it's important for the bucks as they start to grow antlers again.  I just pour it on the ground and they eat it and the dirt.

For some reason, even the turkeys checked it out.  This guy is in full strut - putting on a show for mating.  Notice the flock of turkeys in the field.

 Another curious gobbler - see his beard?

I like this shot because of all the deer in the background.  Notice that they've shed their grey winter coat.  Some of them still have a few tufts of it left.

 A young buck where you can clearly see the pedicles that will soon sprout antlers.

I am pretty sure that this is the backward buck after dropping his antlers.  Look at the size of the neck and body - even after one of the toughest winters in years.

 You can clearly see his pedicles where he has dropped last year's antlers and hasn't started on this year's yet.

This buck already has velvet buttons which is the start of the new antler growth.

Velvet nubs are obvious on this buck.

I'm surprised that the gobblers kept coming back to this mineral lick for the deer.

A good look at the summer coat.  Do you think that a squirrel startled him?

 Maybe this was the squirrel.  Lots of critters seemed interested in the minerals.

I guess this is a groundhog.  He must be young as he doesn't seem as big and fat as I'm used to seeing.  In the next picture, he looks like a prairie dog.

Fox or coyote?  Made a stop at both mineral licks.

 Neighborhood dogs.

Coons - making more of them.

See the bunny in the foreground?

Checking the camera before the thunderstorms.

The end.

Walkabout on 4/9/11

Joan had her third hip replacement surgery on March 23 and I have been the nurse/cook/houskeeper since then.  Amy arrived for a week's stay so I slipped out to the farm on Saturday to check on things.  It was supposed to be a nice day - sunny and high in the 70's - but it didn't turn out that way.  I got one spin around the property on an atv and then the thunderstorms started.  That pretty much negated my list of chores for the day.  Spring green-up is just starting.  The redbuds and dogwoods have not started to bloom yet.

There are a few daffodils blooming around the target stand.

This is the clover below the pond.  It's looking really good.  When I was out a couple of weeks ago, I sprayed for grass control.  I was hoping to spray for broadleaf weed control today but the thunderstorms interupted that plan.


The pond was already muddy and completely full before the latest storms.

The clover at the barn stand is pretty good but a little bit spotty.

The deer have about completed the process of molting their winter (grey) coats.  Now they have that orangish-brown look.  I found clumps of the grey hair on the ground all over the place.

After the storms, I went for a walk in the woods.  There is alot of erosion on the trails and plently of downed trees and branches.  It happens every Spring.  Cleanup will take some time and I'm not sure when I'll get around to it.  Lots of evidence of high winds over the last couple weeks.  The clocks in the barn were about 10 hours behind so there must have been a few power outages.  

I thought that this rotten log was interesting.  I'm not sure who has been digging in the soft wood looking for bugs - could it be the turkeys?

This is one of the cherry trees - it's showing a few blooms.  One of the trees looks to be on its last legs.  The other one is better but not great.  Grandpa will be disappointed if we don't have some pie cherries this year.

The pear tree was in full bloom and looks healthy.

That's the sick-looking cherry in the foreground and the apples in the background.  I don't think that the apples have bloomed yet but they are all looking healthy.

There were lots of branches down off of these pines in front of the barn.  This picture doesn't quite do it justice.

 Flowering crabapple tree getting close to blooming.

Checking mineral licks and cameras before the storm.

 Setting up a mineral lick during the last visit (before the surgery).

This is an ornamental pear tree (Bradford I think) outside the dining room window. 

Spring turkey season opens a week from Monday (4/18).  Normally the redbuds and dogwoods are in bloom then.

There was some interesting stuff on the trailcams and I'll start a separate post for them.