A Day in the Life of Pond, Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Back from my big city visit to New York, it is a treat to hear the silence and natural sounds of the outdoors again. These deer stay hidden most of the time. They are skittish of humans but, eating the spring greenery by the pond is apparently irresistible after a winter of scrounging for food.

To see one lounging about like this is also very unusual - not just the lounging but, just staying there hanging out in the open. Usually, whenever they see me moving around inside by the glass they immediately run away.



They rarely walk in the water but, those fresh leaves at the pond edge are too tasty to resist.



Even mom and her fawn were in the water. That is especially unusual for her to come out in the open like this - much less to walk in the water.



The fawn was very tentative as the water was almost deep enough to cover the entire length of it's legs.



This one came over to the house side of the pond to munch on some fresh greenery.

The pond environment creates a rich habitat for many critters not just the deer.



The above Great Blue Heron was fishing for frogs at the pond edge while.......



....a companion observed from a higher tree branch nearby.



This resident Red-shouldered Hawk landed on a dead log beside the pond, shook like crazy leaving this oddly disheveled and fluffy look to his feathers.

Later, he looked much better.  

These two turkeys sought refuge in the treetops as a gray fox trotted through the yard.

I caught a bad reflection from the glass in the upper right corner but, you get the idea.



Watching this little duckling keeping up with mom as the rain peppers the water surface. Mom was going her normal speed so you know that the little one was pedaling furiously to keep up and keep close. Another day of life in the suburban wild.

All these critter images I captured from inside the house through double-paned glass with a point-and-shoot camera (Sony WX-500). It has a 720mm equivalent zoom feature and is handy for distant wildlife though not particularly sharp.



And lastly, the human wildlife. Over at nearby White Horse Beach, it was surprisingly empty. With the new town sticker system in place to allow only Plymouth residents to park near the beach, I stopped by on both a Saturday and Sunday afternoon about 3pm and found empty parking spaces both times. That is a first in my 20+ years here.