Nature Walk With Alex

Alex is our great-niece who was visiting from Maryland with her Nana, Laura.  She was in town to take a look at Miami University where she has been accepted. We got away to the farm and Alex went on the camera walk with me. 

She had already made friends with Violet and Daisy.  They were just back from the groomer, and after last week's mud-fest, they weren't allowed to come on the walk.

Alex hasn't learned to drive yet so we got her some practice with the Ranger.  It was sunny but chilly so I had to lend some camo to the girls.

The shooting range daffodils were in full bloom.

Alex had a pretty good eye and spotted a number of artifacts.  This was a carcass of a possum (I think).

We did the whole tour on foot - about 2 miles.

She also spotted this which I believe to be owl pellets.  It definitely had some bones in it.  Here's some info on owl pellets.  Owl Pellets

She also got a look at the view from the pond stand.

She found several good candidates for "poop of the week".  This looks like a fairly fresh coyote poop.  Lots of hair.

And this was an older looking coyote poop where the rain had washed everything away other than the hair.

This poop had also been rain affected.  It revealed undigested seeds.  My guess is that this coyote had been eating either persimmons or paw paws.

And then she found a classic fresh pile of doe pellets.

Meanwhile, we're well into the antler shedding season.  Alex and I looked everywhere but we didn't find any.

There are quite a few males that have dropped.  You can see the pedicles where the antlers had been attached.

This is a "bachelor group" and only the little fork horn still has his antlers.

There are some bigger ones that are still intact.

But the majority have already dropped.

The does are in the normal routine.  It's still several months until fawning time.

Check out the squirrels on the tree trunk.

This shot just caught a bird in a glide (hawk?).

The bobcat shots are often blurry.

Less turkey activity this week.

And, of course, the coyotes.

Anyway, nice to have some company (and extra eyes for spotting stuff) while on the camera tour.

Good luck on the college shopping Alex - and on the driving.