First fawn of the year

I knew it was fawn time, and driving up my road one day last week I saw a doe standing in the meadow. Since the bears are around, I don’t leave food in the pans but take corn and apples down whenever I see deer waiting. 🙂 I grabbed the pail and started down the hill, just as she was headed up with the fawn! The fawn quickly ~~ran~~ tottered into the brush, and the mama followed me down to eat. I looked for the fawn as I walked back up and saw it huddled next to a patch of tall Southern Crownbeard. I snapped a few photos then went to the house to watch from the deck.

The doe called for the fawn and finally found it. (Fawns have little if any scent.) She cleaned it, and they moved up the hill and into the woods. (short video here) I’ve seen the mama (and another new mama) at least once a day since but have not seen the fawn again.

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I have seen a few other deer, although not nearly as many as earlier this year. I think this little buck was the mama deer’s fawn from last year. I often saw him with her (at least I think it was her) earlier, but now he seems to be on his own. He stays close to the house and sometimes naps in the meadow.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I have seen bears again, but fortunately I heard then first and then spotted them (I think there were two) in the woods between my driveway and the neighbor’s. I used the air horn again, and they kept going and disappeared into the woods.

In an earlier post I wrote that butterflies seemed to keep me company on my walks, but lately it seems to be dragonflies and damselflies. They are so small and quick that it’s hard to get photos, but I did manage to get a few. I see some interesting moths and butterflies, too.

Common Whitetail Dragonfly Plathemis lydia

Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly Calopteryx maculata

Banded Pennant Dragonfly Celithemis fasciata

Eight-spotted Forester Moth Alypia octomaculata

Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta

Large Lace-Border Moth Scopula limboundata

Reversed Haploa Moth Haploa reversa

Often when I take food down for the deer, I am accompanied by a couple of tom turkeys. Yesterday I saw a hen with about 15 poults, but they disappeared before I could get a photo. The same thing happened on my walk today, but I should be able to get photos and videos before too long. Remember these from last year? Meadow Driveway

They are making visible progress on the new house. Since I last posted about it, they have drilled a well (an extremely loud process!) and put in some basement walls. I am trying to take one photo each week; as you can see, sometimes it seems that little is happening.

And that’s a round-up of what’s been happening in the Hollow—or at least all I can think of right now. 🙂 I’ll keep my eyes and ears open and let you know what I observe in the next post.