Yesterday, on our morning walk we saw a group of 4 deer. We’ve seen one or two at times but this is the first time seeing 4 in our new neighborhood. All good size, no fawns.
The last year at our old place we had 4 in our yard a lot. Two adults and two wee ones. When we’d pull into the driveway, and one or more was in the way, they’d just give us “Where do you think you’re going?” look.
From yesterday, spiders’ webs I presume:
This actually reminded me of a photo I took over a month ago, but forgot about. This was on sandy soil at the mouth of the Golfe du Morbihan in Brittany. The odd looking “fruits” that cover this small bush - not even waist high - are actually snails. I guess there were about a hundred of them. Other bushes were similarly full. (Note that I have avoided jokes along the lines of “nice harvest” - I see this as setting a good example.)*
As ever, click to see the full picture, enlarge etc. I wonder if this is some weird parasite driven behavior, but it’s not an easy google. Any ideas?
j
* - 
Like most critters, snails and slugs have certain plant preferences. Clearly, this plant is near the top of the list. I am unable to identify the plant.
And our eaglet has taken flight today. She is more than hopping from one branch to the nest while flapping wings today, she is using several branches, going back and forth and practicing braking with her wings. Per the official watchers, she is right on schedule.
Out on the bike today on a small country road, a large van appeared, heading towards me. The road was narrow, but not too bad - you slow down and get ready to ease past. And when the van was about 30 meters in front of me, a huge deer crashed at full speed out of the left hand hedge, flew across the road, crashed into the right hand hedge and disappeared from view. Happened in a heartbeat. The deer was way closer to the van than it was to me - maybe five meters in front of it - and I don’t think the driver braked. I know I didn’t; couldn’t react fast enough. Jeez, one of those hits you, you’ll know about it. Or maybe not.
A more peaceful observation: on Monday, on my allotment/community garden, I dug the potatoes up for storage. One was remarkably smooth and rounded…'til I realized I was looking at an egg, presumably of the hen variety. Smart money says that weeks or months ago a fox buried it there for safekeeping and forgot about it. (In the past I have found other treats - half a magpie - buried there.)
j
I’ve been seeing some deer lately too…little spotty ones! 
Someone left you your very own balut! I don’t recommend sampling it though.
In wildlife news here, I did some atlasing over the weekend with eBird and made note of several bluebird juveniles being fed by their parents and some pretty amusing interactions between a downy woodpecker juvenile and its parents. He/she wanted Mom and Pop to feed him/her and was harassing them to do so, but they would only go over to the suet feeder I have in the yard and demonstrate eating from it. Junior finally reluctantly lit upon the top of the feeder and then sidled backwards from the top of it down to the gridded part where the suet block is accessible. It also was drinking from the water dish in that same tree and it occurred to me that I’d never seen a woodpecker drinking water before, from any of our bird baths/dishes.
We’ve got fox cubs!
Where we live (on a fox highway, next to an old lady who feeds them) it’s no surprise, but it’s the first we’ve seen of this year’s offspring. They’re already quite large. I heard play-fight screeches, and Mrs T saw the security lights come on. So we were able to watch three well-illuminated cubs playing on the back lawn, no adults in sight. I presume that means they weren’t far from home - there’s an old earth behind our garden shed which might be back in use. I may take a peek over the next day or so, see if I can spot any evidence.
j
That’s cool. Despite their chicken thieving, I do like foxes.
Both the eagle and the falcon youth have fledged. The nest/nesting box are empty for much of the day as they learn to forage for food.
Saw a woodchuck hauling ass across my backyard today - that was amusing.
Here’s something unremarkable, save for the fact that you very rarely pull off the photo.
Grrr!! - cropped by google photos again - you’ll have to click for the full image. In our garden, a male comma butterfly, backlit by the setting sun.
j
Very pretty! I’ve never seen one here (southeastern US), although apparently we have some similar variety.
That’s gorgeous. I have a friend who creates such shots. I do not have her patience.
Thing is, that was just with a phone. Sometimes it all just falls into place.
j
nevermind
Just at dawn, I went into our small backyard to clip a couple of dahlias to put in a vase. As I stood there, I heard a substantial scrabbling on the other side of our wooden fence, a few feet away. I thought it was one of the damned neighborhood cats coming to shit in my flower tubs, and I waited to see him and shoo him away.
But over the top of the fence came the face of a little baby raccoon. He hoisted himself up and balanced himself, then he saw me and froze. More scrabbling sounds, and a second baby came up and did the same thing. Yet more scrabbling, and baby #3 popped up and froze. They sat there in a staring, disbelieving trio. I made chirring sounds at them, which caused them to stir uneasily. After a minute, they walked along the fence to where some branches of our redwood tree draped over the fence, climbed up them, and into the redwood tree. They’re still way up there, an hour later. I can hear them scrabbling around on the trunk.
I haven’t see the mom, and I don’t want to. Grown raccoons are big.
Signs of a racoon visit at our house also, but,
Cherry Curculio. It is a pest in our cherry crop. Finished harvest today and i gorge as i pick. Undoubtedly i ate more of these critters than i saw. It looks like a beetle with the trunk of an elephant.
Had to attempt to post something unique…
The baby 'coons are still up in the redwood tree. My husband had to work on some sprinklers under the trees all morning long. While I was out shopping, he said that the babies tried to come down, but that he stomped at them and they scurried back up. We want them to not get the idea that our yard is a good place to hang out, nor are our trash bins their cafeteria.
Yesterday, we both wondered at why a pair of mockingbirds were scolding and fluttering around all day long at the top of some redwood trees across the street. I said that there was probably a predator in the tree that they were trying to chase away, like a hawk or an owl. Occam’s Razor says it was this 'coon family.
I know you don’t want them using your trash bins as a cafe (understandably!) but that trio of masked faces had to have been weapons-grade cute.
It was! I was astonished and delighted and wished that I had my phone in hand to take a picture. But I knew that if I turned and went indoors to get it, they’d vanish. I stayed there to just enjoy seeing them.