The buck stopped here

It has been a weak week for birding, Lots of distractions as Covid-19 has hit the household for the second time. We all had it in January, but now so far only one of the granddaughters has been ill and tested positive. We are isolating in our Casita and wear masks when there is need for interaction with other family members or visitors. Weather has been generally cold and windy, with a snowstorm to start the week, and another expected to hit today. Exciting World Cup matches demanded our attention.

Despite the limitations, I did obtain a few photos of common feeder birds and a buck with white stockings, through the windows. Most colorful was a male Cardinal foraging for seeds scattered under the feeder...

...and, quizzically examining a Mourning Dove:

This is the Mourning Dove, in better focus:

The cardinal's mate was on the platform feeder, eating safflower seeds, in bad light:

Then, the sun shone through the clouds:

A Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco perched on the fence:

A group of six female White-tailed Deer have been browsing on grass in the clear-cut area behind the home. We were startled to look out our main door and find a large buck next to the bird feeders, staring straight at us:

He was a bit battle-scarred:

Suddenly the buck caught sight of one of the does and hurried off to chase her into the woodland (notice the color pattern of his front legs): 

The doe's companions ran alongside her, bounding erratically between the trees and across the grass prairie on a neighbor's property. The old buck gave up the chase and took up watch at the edge of the open area:

I noticed that he has white "stockings" on his front legs, which I think is rather unusual. During a cursory internet search, I could not find any discussion or images of such a color pattern in this species:

The first snowstorm of the season dropped about 3-5 inches (5-12 cm) of the white stuff. This is  a view through the porthole window in the computer room of our Casita:

Our heated bird bath was frozen solid when the temperatures dropped to near 20°F (-6°C) in the morning, after the snow stopped:

The covered swimming pool took on scalloped edges:

The sun came out and we could see Hartford in the distance:

View through the kitchen porthole:

Just before the sun dipped below the horizon, the bare treetops were bathed in gold:

With the lake now crusting over with ice, I have had a hard time finding my weekly reflection. The front door of the main house  provided a nice Christmas card look, along with a reflection of the blue sky:

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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