Deer and Bovine and a Hawk ..... oh my!

Deer

Around our house, shouting "dear" doesn't usually mean ... "dear" as in "dear - where are you?" or "dear - I need you to do something" .... it usually means DEER are out in the pasture.

Sunday morning looked out to see these fellows cutting through the field along the rim of the bank above the creek .... I love it when the deer come to visit!

Posing nicely, bit of a profile to show off his antlers

Full face view - a chance to admire his wonderful "little" nose and the symmetry of his features

Heading down the road around the ridge - amazing how he blends in so perfectly with the grass

Meets up with his buddy and now there are two .... almost like magic - I never saw the second guy until 'poof' he was there.

And there they go down the creek ridge road and around the corner - if I didn't already know there were two of them, I would surely think I was seeing things or my camera had special feature capabilities and I should have read the manual sooner .... they've pretty much got the entire field and yet they are single file. 

According to pictures and description at http://www.desertusa.com  and near as I can tell, I think this is a Black Tailed deer which is one of two subspecies of the Mule Deer, which is kind of cool.

According to information on the desertusa.com web page, "Mule Deer have large ears that move constantly and independently, from whence they get their name, "Mule" or "Burro Deer." They do not run as other deer, but have a peculiar and distinctive bounding leap (stotting) over distances up to 8 yards, with all 4 feet coming down together. In this fashion, they can reach a speed of 45 m.p.h. for short periods".  No question they are quick - when you see them if you make even the slightest movement they are gone!  45 mph ... yikes!  I've seen them do the stotting thing, I called it sproinging, I didn't know there was a formal name for their forward movement and because it looks like they are bouncing and springing and boinging all at the same time .... like they have pogo sticks or springs in their knees. And able to go as far as 8 yards, better known as 24 feet - that is crazy cool.

Bovines

Bovines in the pasture above the corral have been a hoot lately.  I looked up one night last week and out of the blue they started running across the horizon.  

 

The calves looked like they were having too much fun, kicking up their heels and racing their Moms across the pasture.

Then Sunday night, two of the herd went to the top of the hill and planted their hooves - as if they knew the the contrast of their black coats and the blue sky was absolutely stunning.  Or, maybe there was a bit of a breeze at the top of the hill and with that, fewer bugs -- when it is all said and done, it doesn't really matter why they were there - they do look stunning and I just like the picture.

Seriously, they could have been discussing the weather or trying to figure out where the best grass is ... I thought they made a nice contrast with the sky and are kind of cute in an ordinary and average solid bovine ranch kind of way.

 

Hawk

One of at least four we have living on or near the ranch.  Lately he's been perched on one of the dead trees near the house.  I'm all good with him being here as long as he leaves the kitts alone ...!!! 
 

His coloring is amazing - I don't remember ever seeing a hawk this close and in such detail. 
Usually I see them in flight so all I see is their underside.
 

No question - a beautiful bird.