nature

i've mentioned how it seems we live in sort of a wildlife sanctuary at times, and now  i've got some pics to back it up a little. for a while now we've seen this pair of red-tail hawks circling on the property looking for tasty snacks. finally the other day they appeared while i was already outside with my camera:

after a short while, one of them left, leaving the other to fly solo:

then there's this cardinal who hangs around the feeder by the back of the house:

and the infamous "wild-turkey" gang- we see these guys throughout the spring and fall:

and as always, there are the deer. i don't know of it's just the sensation of being out in the open with nothing between us or what, but the deer are cool and creepy. and they're used to people (though not too used to people) so that you can get pretty close to them sometimes. 

this was a morning we had the deer and turkeys together, not sure i've ever seen that before...

what's really creepy and weird is that they move really slowly as they graze, taking these exaggerated steps on their stick legs. and they blend in so well with their natural camouflage that there have been times where spotting one deer means spotting three or four. you pick up one, and then something moves across the lawn and there are two more! wonder how many there were that i didn't see?

during the storm i mention in the post below, i opened the garage door just in time to see two of them sprinting across the lawn in full-panic mode, looking for shelter from the wind and rain. so awesome.

sometimes you don't even realize they're there, until they spot you and turn to run. they have these super fluffy, white tails that go straight up when they take off- i wonder how many of them get shot in the ass as opposed to somewhere else on their bodies?