October 4 -- The Coues Whitetail Family Visits Faranuf

After taking the now-obligatory sunrise shot -- and yes, it really was that dark; there were quite a few clouds to the east --  also took an early-morning shot of False Portal Peak -- 

The weather here is definitely a-changin'. There was a strong breeze all day, and it was a cooler one than in the recent past, and the clouds hung in all day, which in the early afternoon led to sprinkles of heavy rain drops that sounded almost like hail, but though to the east it looked like it was raining hard in the San Simon Valley where Rodeo, New Mexico is, and we had an occasional rumble of thunder and an awesome sunset cloud display, it -- for whatever weird meteorological reason -- never made it to us just a few miles to the west. Folks here have weather apps on their cell phones or iPhones -- I have "Radar Now!" on my iPad Mini -- so they can track storm direction and intensity. If you're driving on a dirt road that crosses low washes, then you have to know if there's a chance a flash flood will take your vehicle along with it. But yesterday, though there was always the threat of rain here, it never totally panned out. But since it looked "iffy", I used the Stihl string trimmer to weed-whack the back yard (yes, I last did it about a month ago, but things grow that fast here during the monsoon season -- thank goodness I got here during the tail end of it) and was done by 9. Then I was going to relax and sit out on the back deck when I looked through the closed sliding glass door and saw 2 very young Coues White-tailed deer -- they couldn't have been much past the fawn stage, as they were small but lacked the spots fawns use for camouflage -- at the water feature. Alas, my camera was in the kitchen area, and when I got back to the back door they were gone. So I took my binoculars and both cameras on the back deck, and watched. I have a hummingbird feeder on a dead agave that I wired to the deck, and a young Mr. Rufous was making it exclusively his, chasing off all visitants, and he'd come back to perch on a branch next to the feeder. He was within 15 feet of me, so I turned my 100-400 lens with my new 1.4x teleconverter on him, and got a nice head shot that he can use for his portfolio -- 

And a Mr. Coues visited. He'd come by earlier and used the water feature in between chowing down the seed in the bird trays nearby; I'll probably buy a salt lick for the deer when I next go to Douglas so they'll be more prone to leaving the seed alone (hopefully).

He's been a regular visitor to Faranuf's back yard as I recognize that downward-turned tine on his right (to the viewer's left) antler. Then, around 2pm, I was in the house and looked out the back -- and saw 2 very young deer at the water feature. My camera was on the table near the back door, so I started off taking photos through the closed door as I didn't want to scare them off again. I was worried about the quality of the photos taken through the sliding glass door, but it turned out to be  good -- 

This is the youngest one; he still has his "fawn spots", very faint above his back legs. Then he was joined by a sibling -- 

And another one came into view; these are the 2 older ones, as they've completely lost their spots --  

A little sibling playfulness -- affection? -- 

Then all young 'uns were at the water feature -- 

The youngest one is in the middle; he still looks spindly, and as if he's walking on stilts. Meanwhile, while all this was happening, Mom was watching them -- and me -- off to the left -- 

I recognize her from past visits, as I remember seeing the small notch in her right (our left) ear. But I'd only seen one of her kids maybe once or twice  before, and they -- and she -- were always skittish. It was nice to know that perhaps she, and they, trusted me a bit more now. And perhaps they did, as I'd managed to quietly open the sliding glass door, and these last photos had been taken with it open. I didn't go out on the deck, though. The water was tongue-lickingly good -- 

And they and Mom quietly, without fanfare, drifted off back into the brush. It was an amazing thing to have happen -- and I hope they'll now feel comfortable enough to visit again, and perhaps gain the status of Faranuf Residents like the Patchnose snake, the 3 cottontail rabbits, 3 Black-throated Sparrows...