Ketchup Post.

Well I've been busy again and this is a large update/photo album dump. I'm covering two days of wanderings in one post. I went back out to Oxbow on Thursday to get some different lighted references. It was warmer, but overcast, so I didn't get those bright sunlight shadows, and I think I can work off the the references I have now. Some of the animals were more active then as well, so I got some more shots of various critters. The wolves and coyotes were a little more active this trip, as they came over to check me out when I got there. The little bobcat came down to see me again as well, so I have some shots of her climbing down the logs in her enclosure this time. The cougar was still just sitting around looking bored as per usual, I suppose, but still gorgeous. While there, I saw a group of deer out in a nearby cornfield, which was amusing in a nursery-rhyme sort of way. There's a few shots of them in the Environments album.

This weekend I got tied up in a lot of family responsibilities, but we went out to Grandma's for dinner on Saturday, and while there that same family group of whitetails wandered in. This time though, I noticed that there were two young bucks with the group. Of course, they had already shed their antlers by now, but there were noticeable nubs on their foreheads, which was fun to note. I was surprised by how bold they were within the group structure, coming right up to the house and annoying the older (and bigger) does. I have always seen bucks as being more elusive than the does, but maybe being able to hide within a herd (being without antlers) does a lot for their security. There's a lot of shots of them. The group hung around for close to an hour. I also got more shots of the local cardinals, of course, which I think are so charming.

More recent stuff in the next post, again for continuity.