Young Bucks

The young bucks are starting to get their first set of antlers.

Wildflower - Fringed Polygala

I was doing some clean-up in a wooded area of our cabin property and found a small patch of Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia). This elusive native wildflower goes by the names Bird-on-the-Wing, Flowering Wintergreen, Fringed Milkwort, Gay Wings and Gaywings. This small, 1 to 1.5 inch, strangely shaped flower might fool someone into thinking this is a member of the orchid family, but is part of the Milkwort family.

This Year's Fawns Are Arriving

It's that time of year when the deer are giving birth to a new crop of fawns. I was at our cabin property and spotted this doe and fawn across the valley behind our barn. After a few minutes of looking, found this little one in the grass. I think this fawn is 5 to 7 days old since it was able to get up and wobble away when I attempted to move a blade of grass out of the photo.

Neighborhood Turkeys

Since I was successful in bagging my turkey on the first day of the spring turkey season, the other neighborhood turkeys are less fearful of me now that I'm out of turkey tags. I was out digging a drainage ditch with my backhoe yesterday and had turkeys walk within 60 yards and watch me dig. I found this big bird dancing for the ladies near our cabin this morning. I was able to drive within 60 yards of this guy as he walked up the road to the cabin and into the woods. Of course the turkeys may also know that 60 yards is pushing the maximum distance for a 3 1/2 inch, 12 gauge turkey load.

Eastern Painted Turtle

I found this Eastern Painted Turtle at our cabin pond looking for some sun to warm up. After 2 inches of cold soaking rain this weekend, we had intermittent squalls of rain, snow, sleet, ice pellets and other forms of frozen precipitation most of today.

Bobcat Still Here

Checked the game cameras at the cabin property today and see the Bobcat is still in the area.

Spring Turkey Hunt

It was an interesting first day of the Spring turkey season. There was a light rain all night which made the start of the season wet and gloomy.

I was in my turkey blind by 5:30AM and by 6:15AM this big guy walked by and my Spring turkey hunt was over ... somewhat over. When I fired the shot I saw the turkey go down and flop into a drainage ditch, now I'll have a wet bird.

When I went to retrieve the turkey from the ditch, it wasn't there. I saw it roll into the ditch, but I never saw it come out. After a few minutes of looking I found the turkey on the outflow end of a culvert pipe. The water in the drainage ditch had flushed turkey through the culvert pipe.

On my drive out from the turkey blind I stopped to watch this hen turkey in a field 300 yards from where I shot my turkey.

As I watched the hen walk closer to my truck I saw this big gobbler come over the crest in the hill to follow the hen.

The hen, the gobble and a deer.

Spring Turkey Season

The Spring turkey season starts tomorrow. I watched this gobbler and two hens for 1/2 hour today at our cabin property. The odds are against seeing him tomorrow.

Deer Looking For Shade

Another record-breaking warm April day. As the temperature passed into the mid-80's, the neighborhood deer were looking for some shade to cool off. The deer are just starting to shed their winter coats and with the trees just starting to bud out new leaves, the deer are seeking out shade wherever they can find it.

As I looked out the back door of our barn I found this deer bedded in the shade of the silo.

At the cabin property I found a small herd of deer relaxing in the shade of some pine trees.

Bobcat

I checked the game camera at our cabin property and see a Bobcat has been there four times since March 1st.

Bald Eagle Looking For Trout

The fishing season for trout is in full swing, along with truck loads of trout to re-stock Wysox Creek. As I drove over Wysox Creek bridge, the first thing I noticed was the large sycamore tree near the bridge had fallen into the creek, and then I noticed the Bald Eagle looking for a meal of trout.

After a few photos of the Bald Eagle it must have decided to look for a new perch to fish from and flew off up the creek.

I returned later in the day to find the eagle back near the bridge but fishing from a different tree.

Endless Mountains Gravel Bikepacking Loop

A section of the new Endless Mountains Gravel Bikepacking Loop (EMGBL) passes by our house and I got to meet the first bikers to use this this section of the bikepacking loop. EMGBL takes gravel cyclists approximately 410-miles through four scenic counties of northern Pennsylvania. Jen Adams and Eric Betterigde of Ottawa, Ontario.

West Hill Bears are Back

The warm weather of Spring has brought the bears at West Hill out of hibernation. I checked the game camera this weekend and wasn't too surprised to see a bear ...

A couple of photos after the first bear (Mommy) there were three more bears.

This looks to be the same family of bears that were here last Fall.

New Toy

Grandson Reed checking out my new toy.

Birds and Windows Don't Mix

I was at the barn today to do some maintenance on one of the tractors when I found this small bird on the floor near a window.

The stunned bird must have attempted to take a shortcut through the window only to encounter an invisible force field known as glass.

After a few photos of the bird, I released it near the barn and within minutes it was able to fly away.