FAWN UPDATE

At last, I saw my first fawn this morning. I was on my way down to change the position of my solar panels and there they were in the meadow, a little bitty baby nursing it's mother.

A fellow I know said he thought maybe the rut was late last fall which would explain the lateness of seeing babies. Whatever, I'm glad their here. They are a beautiful part of the spring/summer experience here in Montana.



©Kinsey Barnard

WHERE ARE THE FAWNS?

I have been waiting and waiting to see this year's crop of fawns. Normally they are born in May and out and about by June. I have had at least a dozen does, both whitetail and mule deer,  hanging about but have yet to see a fawn. That there are whitetail and mule deer here together is also unusual. The mule deer usually move to the high country as the whitetail come up from the valley.

Last night I think I heard a fawn squeal. I hope the coyotes or the wolves aren't killing them. That certainly could be the case.

Seems to me things are a changing in nearly all respects. There is an old Chinese saying "May you live in interesting times". I think we are.



The above photograph of a fawn frolicking was taken June 19th last year.

©Kinsey Barnard

Waterton Wildflower Festival

Surprise! Surprise! We are on the road again! We just decided to pack our bags and head over to Waterton, Alberta. Didn't arrive until late afternoon and it wasn't until we got here that we found out it was the annual wildflower festival. When we got here there were very few people and very few wildflowers.


Wednesday we took the hike up to Bertha Lake. It's not far, just a little under 5 klicks, but it's mostly straight up. No problem for moi but I noticed you know who doing some huffing and puffing. We were in the snow by the time we got to the lake so there wasn't much you could do once you got there. Mom thought the most scenic thing about this hike was this view of Waterton Lake. In the afternoon we went over to check out the buffalo at the Bison Paddock. Bison Photos


Thursday we took a drive up to Pincher Creek just to see the countryside. It's quite rural and pretty. Being on the east side of the rockies, the plains stretch out before you as far as the eye can see. Lots of cattle ranching and some of the most beautiful bulls we've seen.



One things for sure there is a lot of water running around in Waterton Park. The late spring has put the wildflowers back a couple of weeks but there is water runing out of these mountains everywhere. Mom spent the afternoon taking photos of the new fawns around town and I took a siesta. Fawn Photos



From a wildflower point of view we haven't seen a lot. Yesterday it was looking like they were finally starting to bloom. Then last night a big storm blew in so who knows what we'll find today.

That pretty much sums up our week. It was a stellar one for sure. Hope yours was too!