Oh, Deer! A Weekend Surprise

So, we've been hanging out at home, today and totally enjoying some unexpected sunshine through our southward-facing living room window.

Jock had been lounging quietly, too, but had suddenly started whining and acting restless. Not unusual - maybe the Dachshunds next door were outside. Or maybe the wind was blowing just so. Who knows. 

All of a sudden, Livie shouts, "Hey, look! Deer! Deer! Look! Daddy! Mommy! Look out the window!"

When I looked out the window, I saw what she was so excited about. Three deer were just on the other side of our backyard fence, right here in suburbia!

The view of two of them, through our very dirty window!

At this point, Jock was barking and whining and getting at the sliding door that leads to our deck. He really wanted to get out there and chase them. It was at this point that they had gotten startled and started heading toward the elementary school's field right across the street. And it was at this point that I realized there were four deer (not three) out there. 

That was unexpected!

There He (She?) Is!!

We've got a number of wild turkeys here in our area. Very rarely, we'll see one (or a couple of 'em) crossing the street a few blocks from where we live. This prompts numerous "Why did the turkey cross the road?" jokes, if Livie's in the car with me on one of these rare occasions.

There's also a large field near a wooded area (kind of near one of our local parks), where we'll see a few wild turkeys roaming about, once in a while.

And on my way to the university, as I'm making my way through a residential area on my way toward I-380, there is a house with a large bird feeder in the back yard, in a spot easily seen from the street. It's not unusual for some bird seed to have "escaped" from this bird feeder (or any feeder, I suppose), sprinkling the ground like goodies from a piñata, the birds' (and squirrels') favorite treats, scattered within easy reach.

Well, at this particular house, I will, on occasion, see a number of turkeys partaking of the scattered bird seed. It's happened often enough that I expect to see them more often than not. Sometimes, there are just a couple, but I've seen as many as six (!!) at one time, all gathered around the bird feeder, enjoying what's fallen to the ground.

But the turkey I've seen most frequently? It's a lone turkey at the intersection of Collins Road and C Avenue NE. Sometimes it's at the northwest corner, and sometimes it's at the southwest corner. And once, at twilight, I saw it crossing right in front of my car! Fortunately, I saw it in time to slow down and safely come to a stop.

Usually I see this particular turkey in the late afternoon or early evening when I'm on my way home from school. Usually I'm by myself, so I can't exactly drive through the intersection and take a photo at the same time. And if Andrew's driving and we see it? It figures that I wouldn't have my camera handy.

But yesterday, on my way home, as I was thinking to myself that I was thankful that the days are growing longer, I found myself at a red light at this particular intersection. I was in the left-turn-only lane with a number of cars in front of me - maybe about 6-8; I was the very last car in line. Anyway, as I looked out my window toward the northeast corner waiting for the light to turn green, there he (or she) was! And wouldn't you know, I had my camera sitting on the passenger seat! I just had to take a picture!

You'll have to excuse the glare from the windshield. I had to take a quick shot because the moment I picked up my camera and turned it on, we'd gotten the green left-turn arrow, and the cars in front of me had started to move.

But because of the length of time the left-turn-only light stays green (or rather, how quickly it turns yellow, then red), not all the cars in front of me got the chance to turn left. So I had an opportunity to move forward a little bit and take a couple more photos of this turkey.

It's always fun to see him (her?) on those occasional afternoons it's out there. I know very little about ornithology or bird watching, so I don't have a clue as to whether it's a male or female. I suppose it's female because I've never seen it "puff up" or display its feathers like a male? (I suppose I'll just call it "it.") But what do I know about birds? (Not much! Haha!)

I'm always worried that it's going to get hit by a car, but it hasn't, yet. And I've seen it there 1-2 days a week for the past few months, so either it's been either very lucky as it crosses a busy street, or it's figured out how to cross the street.