Good morning everyone. I’ve been up since 6 am in hopes of spotting some of those deer I’ve been hearing about down at Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge located in Middletown , RI.
The first time I tried I overslept so missed the dawn, the best time for those shy little critters. Today I was up but it took me longer to get out of the house than I expected so I saw the sun pop over the horizon as I left Fall River. Darn!
Well I figured I might as well check out the trails. On my last visit I didn’t stay long, just made sure I could find it.
I was surprised to see quite a lot of cars in the parking lot considering it was only about 30 minutes past sunrise, still pretty early. As I pulled out the camera I saw a bird watcher with his big spotting scope but most of the rest were fishermen. I didn’t spot any other photographers so I guess I really did miss my chance. I decided to check out one of the trails anyway.
The Flint Point trail is a 1.4 mile loop with a couple of observation platforms. Everybody seemed to be going that way so I did too. I didn’t intend to walk the whole trail since this was one of my first jaunts since my back started improving but it was a beautiful morning so as long as it wasn’t hurting I just kept going.
There are a couple of benches along the way so it was a cool but pleasant trek. I didn’t expect to see any deer. That window of opportunity had closed, or so I thought but as I approached a corner I heard something larger than a bird off to my left in the brush.
I didn’t see what it was but it made me slow down my pace and I turned the corner cautiously. And there in the path to my right was the tail end of a deer.
Turns out it was a doe and a a smaller deer. No spots so I don’t think it can still be called a fawn but clearly smaller than the adult. The little one watched me all the time while Mama only paid attention when I moved.
Thanks to the sun’s angle and the brush playing havoc with the auto focus, the pictures aren’t going to make it into my portfolio but at least I was rewarded for my trip.
I don’t know how long those deer and I would have stood eyeballing each other if a jogger hadn’t rounded the bend at that point. The deer just drifted quietly into the bushes.
I figured I was about half way around the loop so I finished the walk. No other deer but that was two more than I expected to see. I guess I’ll have to try again only leaving at 5:30 am next time!