Katie's Sightings
2 min read
Late Winter & Early Spring!
Columbian Black-tailed Deer — Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
A Late Snowstorm!
Two weeks ago on the morning of Saturday, March 2nd, the power was out and a blizzard was happening in our neighborhood! I went out for a walk first thing in a couple of inches of new snow, and luckily ran into this doe on our bridge! What beauty! I stopped walking and turned away from the doe and it kept coming across the bridge. It turned left, away from me, into a grassy forested area right after the bridge, and started browsing right away! What a lucky sighting!
Columbian Black-tailed Deer — Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
It snowed most of that day, with a total snowfall of 6". The next couple of days we got rain instead of snow, but up in the Lakes Basin, they got over 6' of snow! The total precipitation for our area from the 4 day storm was 3.85".
Sandhill Cranes — Antigone canadensis
That same morning I heard and saw several hundred Sandhill Cranes flying west overhead! WOW!!! They were calling and calling, circling and circling, and then eventually flying west! Hopefully they found somewhere to land in the foothills! It was a real blizzard when they flew by!
Sandhill Cranes — Antigone canadensis
Usually at this time of year they would be flying east and north!
Tracks were abundant that morning in the snow. I saw squirrel, deer, fox, and Mountain Quail tracks all over our neighborhood. I was struck by the similarity of the Quail tracks in the snow and the pattern of the distant Sandhill Cranes in the snowy sky!
Western Bluebird — Sialia mexicana
The Western Bluebirds that had recently arrived waited out the blizzard, and puffed themselves up to stay warm!
Your questions and comments are appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!