Our Mt. Shasta Forest pond, Northeast of McCloud, 2014 - Part 2

At 4570' elevation in chaparral with White Firs and Jeffry Pines, our pond is the ONLY water for many miles in all but one direction. There is very little human occupation.
It is a magnet for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, deer and more exotic mammals.

June (click on any image to enlarge)

This was our first year to spend the WHOLE summer at our mountain home. It was DELIGHTFUL!
It's ALWAYS a thrill when our deer first come to visit. Some years we learn to recognize at least 13 indivuduals.
Click on the first picture below to admire our first deer visitor in 2015:

Our birds are always a delight. Such lovely colors and songs! The Golden Crowned Kinglet (2nd image above) bounces around so that it quite a challenge to get a photograph at all that isn't a blur! And, or course, a visit by the Western Tanager male always makes us stop and click a photo....as does the sly Yellow Warbler. And, where the does are, well, that's where the bucks come!

July (click on any image to enlarge)

I just LOVE having this pond. It draws so many many 'critters'to us - and I know I'm helping them by providing water, a scarce commodity recently! Below is a picture-link to the whole pond. We've tried to mimic other ponds in the area by having 'driftwood' pieces sticking out that the birds can use as perches for getting drinks and even for baths. We've also made a bog area, and it is always a favorite place for the critters to use when they visit....so far we have recorded Mammals (10), Birds (64), Reptiles and Amphibians (4), Dragonflies & Damselflies (17), Butterflies and Moths (20), Other Insects (12+)
Click here to go to a list and photos of all our visitors or just continue on below to see who visited us this month.

Do you see the Mt. Chickadee in the bog picture? It's shy and trying to hide. I was glad to catch the MacGillivary's Warbler though.

But OH MY GOODNESS! The big (Biggs?) news this month was all the darners that were emerging!!



What was a bounty for us to find, also was a bit of a bounty for unexpectant others! A few of the darners were not sucessful in their emergence. Don't open photo-link #1 below if you are squimish! It shows a wasp feasting upon a 'wrongly emerged' darner...one that was unable to get out of its exoskeleton. But, let's not dwell on that. Something that has really made me happy is that we've finally gotten milkweed growing! <
Sometimes it's easy to sometimes overlook some of the critters we're providing homes for...such is the case with Water Striders. They certainly wouldn't have a home here without the pond!! But, I have to admit, it's the deer that bring us the most pleasure! We've been able to ID up to 13 different deer that visit. Watching the bucks grow their antlers, and the fawns grow up brings us so much pleasure. To tell the truth, when hunting season comes and they leave, we feel lonely outside! Here's one of our guys all decked out in velvet!