First Fawn of 2011, First Beaver in Catoctin Creek...

I have been looking diligently for the first glimpse of this year’s fawns to photograph, so far without success. Yesterday I saw a doe standing in a small stream and took a photo of it, as much out of habit as anything else, since I already have many photos of female deer. You can imagine my surprise when I was doing some post processing on the computer and noticed extra legs behind the doe. In the next photo a fawn was clearly visible nursing, although some of its features were obscured by foliage. I had taken my first fawn photo of 2011 without even knowing it! Here are the first two photos as they appeared through the viewfinder, and after some cropping with Adobe Photoshop...

Another first, for me, was the opportunity to photograph a beaver in Catoctin Creek. I go past this creek daily and try to be observant of the wildlife in the area. I have seen beaver dens, and cuttings, but the actual critters have eluded me…until this morning. Here is a series of photos taken at first light. Hopefully, there will be more to come...

I went to Culler Lake to photograph the Black-crowned Night Heron chicks only to find them all gone. Once fledged, they leave the rookery and disperse over new areas to mature into adult birds. While at the lake this inquisitive squirrel came by to see if I had any treats for it...

I did not, but it is easy to see why he might have expected something, judging from the bag of offerings that this person was bringing...

A visit to Lilypons Water Garden produced this photo of a Great Blue Heron, and a Goldfinch enjoying a treat of mulberries...

These Common Mergansers, and Mallard drake, were photographed on Catoctin Creek...

While looking for wildlife I saw this discarded worm container left on the banks of a beautiful stream...

The inconsiderate people who leave their trash behind are responsible for the large number of these signs…

and the severe limitations landowners put on access to their property. Who can blame the landowner?