It was soooo entertaining watching the kid imitate mom chasing the salmon up and down the shallows. Mom (12-13yr old) slowly strolled the shallows picking the best salmon to eat as she went. The three “panic attacks” have yet to master mom’s skills. Which is fine to us as it makes capturing them splashing shots like shooting fish in a barrel (get it?!)! It’s going to be a mighty fine week, always special to be back in the neighborhood!!!!

A little bit faded and worst for the wear, our giant flock of Evening Grosbeaks have returned from their nesting grounds to the north. It’s another sign that fall is just around the corner for us (which I’m just not ready for). Their early return kinda took us by surprise being run out of seed almost instantly causing us to make a run to the feed store. Probably more important to them has been the water feature where they spend a lot of their time with the heat wave going through. As I write this, there is about thirty just in the platform at the office window watching us, they are everywhere. So finding a “nice” place to photograph them that’s not “end of the summer green” has been made easier with there being so many. It’s so nice to hear them, they’re back!

Wart was a yearling when we first moved to The Ranch. He kinda adopted us (could be because of the apples I fed him) and spent much of his time rambling about. His second year he started to show signs of deer warts, better known as cutaneous fibromas. A kinda gross infliction, it normally isn’t fatal, just horribly unsightly and Wart (what we named him) had a mild case. As they grew they got to the point they would pop off (got as big as a softball). Wart had one below his left eye, a small scar remains today which is how we know it is him. We’ve not seen Wart for perhaps 18 months and often wondered what happened to him.

Then a few days ago he showed back up. Looking with bins I saw the scar under the left eye and between that and the fact he walked right up to me and ignores Maggie, we knew Wart was back. And he has grown up a bit sporting a nice rack! In the past, we have seen nice bucks but only as they moved through, never staying around. I’d always hoped Wart would grow up, grow a big rack and make for a great subject. It would appear at least for the moment, that might come true. What’s even cooler is he has a friend he brought with him, an even bigger buck. The last couple of evenings they bed down about thirty-forty feet from the deck in the tall grass and chill until sunset when they move to the green grass in the front. Up until last night we just watched cause the light was hot, nasty as it squeaked through the trees. The new buck was a little camera shy but Wart, yeah, no shyness there. And after the first few clicks, I knew for certain it was Wart, always was a character. We’re looking forward to fall to see how this all plays out because it’s started with great August surprises!