backyard – New England's Narrow Road

Little Deer Visits on Day of Our First Snow

little deer in the garden — Hey, that’s my parsley!

Yesterday we had our first snow in the area and it wasn’t much but it brought a little deer into my yard who had fun finding it’s breakfast among my garden.
The blackberry leaves were the first to be munched, and they she began nosing through the greenery poking through the snow and found my parsley! Hey! She also liked the long leaf from my new Iris (which never bloomed last year) so at least it was good for something.
I’m sharing a few more shots below:

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The Chickadees are Building a Nest

Nest building by chickadees — Birdhouse and chickadee

I just noticed yesterday that a chickadee was peering into the birdhouse I’ve had hanging on the slanted post out back. I was so excited to see that maybe she was considering using it to raise a family, so I watched for a while and sure enough she went in. And another chickadee came along and he / she ? (who knows with chickadees) went inside too.

Then, today I ate my lunch outside on the deck and watched as they brought mouthfulls of grass into the birdhouse.

Chickadees are one of the most beloved birds. They are relatively unafraid of humans, and never squabble amongst themselves. They appear to be the best natured birds fluttering around the yard.

The birdhouse is one I’ve had for many years. When I lost my home, I took it (and others) with me and put them up at the various rentals I’ve had over the past six years, but no bird ever used it to build a nest.

Now that I have a home of my own, the house will be used! I think that is awesome. So I will enjoy watching the parents occupy the birdhouse, which sits just a few feet from my deck out back, and I’ll listen for the chirping of the babies one day!

I am not very good at photographing wildlife, but I’ll try to get some good shots as the babies appear.
You can see in the photo below how close they will be to my deck.

backyard deck and lawn — The proximity of the birdhouse to the deck.

A Visit From Three Deer, Backyard Photos

We had three deer that visited the backyard a few weeks ago. Back before our week long summer weather preview, with temps in the 80’s, we had some snow on the ground and one morning I noticed my cat sitting on the deck and peering intently into the woods. I knew that she saw something interesting and then a little head popped up over the edge of the drop-off and it was a deer! Our backyard is pretty small, with a drop into the woods beyond. The house was built on the side of a hill and fill dirt makes up the yard. The deer was on the banking and peeking up to look at the house.
I ran to get the camera and then headed upstairs where I’d have the best view of the backyard.

All the pictures were taken out my upstairs bathroom window, so they are not as clear as I’d like.

three deer in winter — Three deer just passing through.

I know that seeing deer is not all that unusual, but I always love to see them. They had their thick winter coats and kept looking toward the house as if they wanted to come up and sniff out the birdfeeders. One came very close while the other two stayed down in the woods.

My New Little Deck

It’s not quite finished, but this is my new, little deck off the back sliders of my house. I haven’t been able to go out this door since I moved in back in July because there were no steps.

Now I have a pretty place to sit and enjoy the outdoors and I can get to my small backyard a lot easier. Railings will be added in a week or so when the materials come in, but it’s usable and I love it!