Falling Snow

It started snowing around noon today and some of the neighborhood deer were out early this afternoon looking for a meal.

Feeding Time for Deer

Seasonal winter weather has returned to our neighborhood with a low of 4F this morning. As it warmed up to 25F this afternoon I took a drive to our cabin property to counteract my cabin fever. I found these deer making the best of the afternoon weather.



I found this young deer trying to blend into the background as we watched each other.



These deer were searching for a tasty meal in the snow.



This deer taste tests some grass buried in the snow ...



The grass wasn't as tasty as it looked.



Maybe the grass is greener over there.

Gardening Time

About this time of year, when the gardening catalogs start to appear in the mail and the home improvement stores replace the Christmas displays with racks of garden seeds, I get the urge plant something in dirt. The temperature for the last two nights has been below 0F but the romaine lettuce has spouted in our solarium.



I found a partial packet of romaine lettuce seed that was left over from last year and planted it in our solarium in a large tub. Since romaine lettuce is a cool weather crop I'm looking forward to fresh salads as I thin out this crop.



I'm also keeping an eye on my tangerine tree in the solarium, which is close to ripening.

Preparing For The Storm

We haven't received too much snow this winter and only about an inch of snow overnight. A major snow storm with 12 to 20 inches of snow is forecast for this weekend. I found this herd of a dozen deer out during the day preparing for the upcoming snow storm.

Turkeys

There's not much happening in the neighborhood but I did find these turkeys in a corn field enjoying a rare sunny day.

Making Cookies

Our grandson Reed made some gingerbread cookies for the holidays.



Measure out some cookie dough.



Reed showing his dad how to cut out cookies.



Fresh baked gingerbread cookies.

Deer Hunting

The PA antlered deer season started on Monday and I was seeing deer all day long, but none that were legal. This little guy and a friend spent most of the day circling my deer stand.



By the afternoon I was seeing lots of deer, but no shooters in this bunch.



Day 2 started with my two little friends continuing to do the same thing as on day one. Still waiting for the right buck.

Thanksgiving Turkeys

I found this flock of turkeys in our back yard this morning. They didn't stay very long and continued to head for the township road.



As they walked on the far side of our garage I approached from the other side to see how close I could get to them. I wasn't quick enough, but was able to get within 10 yards before they spotted me.



The turkeys didn't want to hang around for a group photo and flew across the township road and into the neighbor's field.



About a half hour later I found this turkey up the road in another neighbor's lawn. This bird looked dazed and confused, or maybe just tired of all the snow and rain.

Scouting for Bucks

It's another week until the start of deer season in PA and I was scouting for bucks this afternoon when I found this guy chasing a local neighborhood doe.



At first glance this buck looked promising. But he will be safe this year since he doesn't meet the legal requirements of at least 3 points to an antler. Maybe next year.

Snow Storm

The first major snow storm for this season dumped over 10 inches of snow in our neighborhood.



I took a couple of photos of the snow with the drone but soon realized most of the landing areas for the drone were still covered with too much snow to land on.



A drone photo of the back side of the house and the table on the deck where I measured the snow.

I spent the rest of the day plowing snow.

Snow Won't Stop The Rut

The first major winter (late fall) storm moved into the neighborhood this afternoon. I did a drive around our property and spotted a nice buck in the distance following a doe, but I wasn't able to get a photo due to the snow coming down. I found a small group of doe looking for a meal in the snow while one of their friends was on a date with the buck.



The cold snow didn't seem to melt on the deer or bother them.

And The Rut Goes On ...

I was driving around our cabin property this afternoon when I found these two bucks scoping out this young doe.



Time to decide which buck gets to move in on the doe ...



While the bucks were sparring the doe walked off.

What to Buck ???

I was out late in the afternoon checking out the deer rut and looking for any nice bucks in the neighborhood, when I came across this buck trying to make a move on a doe. It wasn't until the buck turned his head to look at me that I noticed his unusual rack and a bloody ear.



This buck has 3 points on his right side and only one long spike on the left. Some bucks are "wall hangers" and this isn't one of them. I would like to think the bloody ear came from a fight with a larger buck (which I'm still looking for).

The "Rut"

The annual breeding season for whitetail deer, known as the rut, has started in our neighborhood. Since the bucks are more active and less cautious than usual during the rut, I did a quick drive around our property looking for deer activity. No bucks early in the afternoon, but I did get this doe to pose for me.



Later in the afternoon, near dark, I did get this photo of a buck.

Drone Photos

I was out testing the new drone today. This was my second attempt to fly a drone and took it up to about 500 feet and took this photo of our cabin property.



A photo of Miner's Pond. I had to stop flying due to high wind warnings from the drone.