Twice today I had the opportunity to take a few pics of wild animals in the back yard, and twice today there wasn’t enough light for me to get anything other than blurry messes. Mostly, at least. This morning it was a bunch of turkeys. This evening it was six deer. They came into the yard as opposed to the woods behind the yard, where we usually see them. They seemed to be checking out the bird feeder. Yet another group of mammals who don’t know that bird food is for birds.
I took my camera with me this morning when I dropped off the kids. I wanted to go to a spot on the Merrimack River and take a few long exposures. More on that later.
When I got home I had a little bag of trash in the car. I took it over to the side of the garage where the trash barrels currently live. I saw the scariest thing in the universe. It pretty much guarantees that no one in my family is ever going to go outside again.
It is HUGE!
It’s just hanging there, seemingly in mid-air. I don’t know how I’m going to kill it. Maybe I should cave in on all of my personal convictions and go buy a gun. I think that might do the trick… maybe.
I’m not afraid of spiders, but I sure did a double take when I saw this monster.
I walked out the back door and saw this guy munching on our grass.
I can’t stop. I just want to sit out there and wait for the uncooperative birds to come and visit. There’s only two or three who actually come to the feeder, but that doesn’t stop me.
This chipmunk was almost close enough to pet a couple of times. He’d sneak up next to me, see me looking at him, and then run away like his ass was on fire.
I did get a few birds. Just the regular cast of characters.
As I sat there watching the chipmunks hanging around the ground beneath the feeder, and watching the squirrels stalk around the edge of the yard, and watching the birds stay in the trees where they are no good to me, I decided to increase the options available to our wild kingdom friends. I went to the edge of the trees and got the original squirrel bird feeder. I can hang it on one of the flower poles, but only if I keep it less than about half full. So far so good.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and the squirrels will only climb on one feeder and leave the others alone. I’m dreaming, I know.
After the big feeder was up a couple of birds went to the small feeder. No one acknowledged the big one.
Not long before I was ready to call it an afternoon, I had moved the chair away from the house and faced back up the hill. I caught this guy flying up the street. I think it’s a hawk. It sorta looks like it has a red tail, doesn’t it?
But all in all, the winner for this early afternoon is this guy.
Inside the Red Head's Head 