When I looked out at the back yard one morning this week, I saw a large tan flank. What could this be? asked my pre-breakfast mind. A camel? A donkey? I am not responsible for where my mind goes before breakfast, and the haunch could have belonged to a camel or a donkey. I’ve seen them posed that way in living nativities. Yes, it would’ve been quite the surprise, but the world is full of surprises.
Shortly after we moved into this house, for instance, there was a racket during the night, and it turned out that the neighbors’ back yard was full of horses. It was also full of sheriff’s deputies trying to round them up, and it was clear that most of the men had no experience interacting with horses. The horses seemed to be having a lot more fun than the men.
In any case, my mind didn’t stop at camel or donkey, but went right on to deer. There was a white-tailed deer bedded down under the spruce. And, oh look, there was another one under the pines. And a third one under the other pines. We had three deer resting in our back yard, lying down with their heads up. One of them seemed to be looking right at me, but not tracking my movements. Pretty sure she was sleeping with her eyes open.
The threesome stuck around for quite a while. One of the deer got up and browsed for a bit, before lying down again in a new spot right next to one of the others. The next time I checked, the pair of them had wandered off somewhere and, at length, the third one did, too. We wonder if they’ll nestle into our evergreens anymore, and of course we check for them every day. No deer so far. Or camels or donkeys, but you never can tell. It could happen.
Other white tails flashed this morning through the woods by Thurston Pond, birds this time. Juncos, those perfect, pert little birds that Daughter Number Three calls Walt Disney birds, have white feathers on the sides of their tails that flash as the birds flitter about. And during this season, there’s a whole lot of flittering going on.
Flickers were busy this morning, too. These woodpecker-like birds have white rump feathers that flash as the birds fly ahead of you. Since early camping adventures, I’ve thought of flickers as welcomers. They’d show up as we were closing in on a campground, guiding us in and saying, “Right this way. Just follow us. We’ll get you there.”
My sisters and I were kids when we saw our first Canada geese. We had to ask our Canadian grandfather what they were. Now the birds are so numerous that they’ve become a pest. A pair of them were the only two on a small pond this week, and they only had eyes for each other. The pair were courting, taking turns stretching their necks and dipping their bills in the water, in intimate avian ritual.
Even more intimate was a glimpse into the life of a rotund woodchuck seen hanging around our back yard. She looked not only well fed but pregnant as well. Sure enough, as we eyed one another through the window glass, I could see the movements of babies inside her, stretching themselves against her sides. Some here, some there. She was leading a busy life just sitting there. She’ll be even busier when the young ones are born. Good luck, Mrs. Chuck.
3 April 2026