This morning I was at a local park, trying to record bird song beside a river, when I noticed a buck in the water about 20 yards from me. His antlers were already growing back, in velvet as he looked my way. I watched him for a while, as he tried to figure out if something was amiss. I then noticed movement even closer to me and was able to just make out deer heads poking through the shrubs and grass at the edge of the river. They were in the water, browsing on the vegetation on the bank. I pulled out my phone and captured the moment when they realized that I was beside them. It was a pleasant scene that I thought I’d share:
Watching them cross the river, I found it interesting how they knew to angle upstream as they made their way across. I know from wading across that river in almost exactly that spot that if I were hurrying to cross while going downstream the flow would be more likely to trip me up. The deer seemed to know that, too, even in a startling moment just after they realized they were being watched by a species that can be very dangerous to them. I’ll remember their wisdom when I return to this spot (in waders) later this summer, at which point I’ll see what the fish can teach me about what flies they are interested in.
After the deer had crossed the river, and entered the shrubs/forbs on the other side, I had a closer look at what they had been eating. I confirmed that they were browsing on willow branches, as indicated by the broken off tips of the willows. Here is a picture of one of the willows they’d been munching on:
Deer can have a big impact on ecosystems for a variety of reasons, including what they eat. This morning, though, I didn’t think much about that. It was just nice to see the way that they stayed cool while eating willow, before crossing a river full of wisdom.
Thoughts of a Naturalist 