Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Gnatcatcher and a Deer: May 2020

For the first 90 minutes or so of my walk in a woods west of Toronto, there was very little wildlife. So I concentrated on botany:

Images from the woods:

As I rounded a bend, I discovered this lovely creature:

followed by one of the tiniest of birds:

Other birds:

Deer are getting bolder every year. One was in my backyard recently for 45 minutes.

I was thrilled today to have this beauty come to within about 10 metres of me.

White-tailed deer are herbivores. Their stomachs allow them to digest a varied diet, including leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and even lichens and other fungi.

I heard from a Québec reader that this deer is “gravide” or “about to give birth”.

NATURE POETRY

May is a green as no other,
May is much sun through small leaves,
May is soft earth,
And apple-blossoms,
And windows open to a South wind.      – Amy Lowell (1874–1925)

Miles Hearn