Spring has come the Summer Camp Ranch

I made a quick trip to the Summer Camp this weekend. While I was there I was able to take a few hikes and snap a few pictures. Below are some highlights, the new baby calf elk was the most memorable!

This is a view of the Lone Cone taken from near the top of North Mountain.

A Bumble Bee searching for some pollen.

I a lot of deer, hand fulls of smaller bucks, and a few good bucks that look like they will be respectable bucks once they have finished growing their antlers this year.

This Buck was hiding behind the oak brush - waiting for some cars to drive by out on the main road north of the corrals. I probably could have gotten closer but when the cars came by he decided to run off.

I was able to find this brand new little calf elk one after sitting in the middle of an elk herd for almost an hour. There were cows all around me and although they could smell that something odd was close by - they didn't know that it was me and couldn't see me. They wouldn't leave and once I found this brand new calf I knew why they did not want to leave the area. This new elk calf was probably less than 24hrs old - he was still VERY wobbly when he tried to walk.

I got within 5 ft of this new little calf and could have easily picked it up like a little baby - it was that new!

I found a pretty good sized Black Bear in the area as well. I'm sure the smell from all the elk calving attracted him to the area.

It looks like this cow elk had twins -either that or she was baby sitting for someone. The one little calf was on the wrong side of the fence and was searching for a way to get on the same side as it's mother. I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually - the mom surely wasn't going anywhere without it.

I found a new hatching of Killdeer birds. They were also very new and could not fly. They were cute little buggers, small too! - you could fit two of these in the palm of your hand.

The mother was not about to fly off without her new babies - she stuck around for the photo shoot as well.

I found this on the front porch of the cabin Sunday morning. It was BIG (approx 5" from wing to wing). I was curious what kind of moth it was so I googled it. Turns out it is a "Polyphemus moth" (Antheraea polyphemus ). Here is a link to a site with more info if your interested. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species?l=3290