FIRST FAWN

The other day I saw my first baby calf elk and today saw my first fawn.  I love my morning walks just as the sun is coming up - and this time of year, the sun comes up pretty early.  Anyway, got to see a fawn and a couple of calves this morning.  I am always a little slow on getting my camera up and ready to shoot so missed some of the best shots.  The elk this morning really surprised me as I had just turned around and was walking back when they were right there in front of me.  I had been at that particular point not 10 minutes before and did not see any elk standing out in the sagebrush - but there they were.  I think we were both surprised to see each other.  A couple of pictures from the day.

I knew this doe had a fawn when I first saw her.  She did not move, but just watched me.  The fawn was hidden by the sagebrush and I only got to see a glimpse of it.

These are water skippers on a puddle in the road miles from any running water.  How do they get there?  Do they burrow into the mud and wait for a raining spring to come back out?  They don't have wings it seems.  I will have to check it out.

These are the two cows with calves.  You can just see one calf on the left.

The flower Prairie Smoke is really starting to bloom.

This is a young rock chuck making sure I am still outside of the den.  I came upon this den two days ago while spraying weeds down in the meadow.  There are 2 adults and 6 babies in this den.  I did not have a camera when all 8 were outside, sitting and laying on the rocks watching me.  What a picture it would have been.

This is our first iris to bloom in 2011.