Roadkill

This is the final slug of trail camera photos taken over the road killed whitetail that I dragged to this location.

Here's a juvenile and adult bald eagle...

And a couple of adult bald eagles.  It is thought that these birds mate for life; although they may switch it up with an alternate if unsuccessful at breeding.  A couple of weeks ago Jill took a photo of a couple of adults (these?) along with a juvenile perched in a cottonwood tree on the bank of Silver Creek...

Another photo of a juvenile and adult.  We've been witness to regular bald eagle sightings in the last few years.  A big improvement over no sightings around here twenty years ago.  My conclusion is there may be a nest located in the Brussels-Kolberg area or perhaps along the coast near-by...

Here's a juvenile coming-in for a landing.  In the trail camera world an action photo such as this is can be called a Money Shot...

Adult...

Two juveniles sparring over the scraps...

Another Money Shot - a classic image of an adult eagle...

Wile E. Coyote and the resident raccoons most always come sneaking-around after dark...

Last photo to be shared.  You can see that the resident scavengers picked the whitetail clean.  Nothing but skin and bones remain.  This is a great lesson demonstrating the circle of life.  

I'm going to editorialize a wee bit.  If you have a road killed deer in a ditch close to where you live please slow down give the critters a break.  Just last week there was a local news item about an adult eagle that was struck and killed by a motorist as it was scavenging a road killed deer.  The person who killed the bird never reported it.  That sucks.

 

 

Roadkill

 There nothing left of the road-killed whitetail now but skin and bones.  Nevertheless, there are plenty of trail camera photos yet to share so be sure to stop-by from time to time and check them out.

This is a juvenile bald eagle.  The large, distinctive hook beak is one of the characteristics to aid in identification of this bird in the field.  Juveniles gain the characteristic bald eagle white head and tail at 4-5 years of age.

This is a rough-legged hawk.  The raptor takes its name from the feathers that extend down the legs to the base of the toes - an adaptation to the cold environment this bird prefers.  This hawk is only seen here on the peninsula during the winter months with the southern-most extent of its winter range being the Texas panhandle.  Summer breeding range is the northernmost extent of Canada's coniferous forest zone and escarpment bordering the arctic tundra. 

Wile E. Coyote.  This canine has been tugging and dragging the deer carcass from here to there.

Adult bald eagle stretching her wings.  At up to a 7-foot wingspan this is a Big Bird.

And there is this.  A raven selfie.  And I am really digging the hair do..... 

Roadkill

The road killed whitetail has been reduced to skin and bones.  And not getting much attention by the local critters.

Here's another handful of photos captured by the trail camera on the 15th and 16th of March.

 

This is a juvenile bald eagle.  Not to be confused  with a rough-legged hawk this bird is not only larger than its arctic cousin - a field mark to aid in ID is the large, curved, yellow bill

 

 

Crow taking flight

 

 

 

Adult bald eagle.  Juvenile eagles do not develop the distinctive white head until 4 to 5 years of age

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                Adult and juvenile facing-it-off and getting into a fracas

Classic bald eagle pose

Stay tuned for more photos to follow...

Roadkill

Here's another handful of trail camera photos chronicling who eats roadkill around here.

These were taken after dark (using no flash infrared B&W mode) and daylight.

Photos begin with March 9 and end March 12...

A couple of nocturnal raccoon visitors

The resident crows get into a food fight

 

A bald eagle approaches, lands and checks things out.  Judging from the size I suspect it is an adult female

 

And Wile E. Coyote pays a call looking looking for a midnight snack.  The carcass to frozen to the ground and cannot be shifted

So he scent marks it

Stay-tuned for more photos.....

Roadkill

I have lost trail cameras to theft, flood and old age.  This week I suffered the loss of a camera as a consequence of bird attack. It was pecked-to-death. 

 

 

Likely a raven committed the assault. 

 

In any event the camera was replaced and a couple of new ones ordered.

 

This motion-activated trail cam had been set to monitor a road-killed whitetail on Sunday March 6. This was to be a Citizen Science Project of my own making.  I wanted to monitor who eats roadkill.

 

It's been an interesting journey over the past couple of weeks.  As of Tuesday all that was left of the deceased was skin and bones. 

 

This first batch of photos is from March 8th.

 

 

Coming in for a landing

 

 Crow with a mouthful

 

Thus quoth the raven

 

The large yellow beak is a field mark that differentiates this bird from a rough-legged hawk.  It is a juvenile bald eagle and size matters too as you'll see in a future post.

 

Stand-off

 

 Juvenile bald eagle and crow

 

Stay-tuned for more photos to come.....

Full-Circle Life Cycle

WisDOT manages the state Car-Killed Deer (CKD) Program, a system to remove dead whitetail deer from the roadside of state highways in Wisconsin. 

'Roadside disposal' is the only option available in rural areas.  So when I found this little guy on our road yesterday morning I picked it up and moved it to the ditch.  Nature will dispose of it.  

I was struck – however – by the diminutive size of this fawn.  It was the smallest fawn I have ever laid eyes on this late in the year.  My Labs are larger.  Momma must’ve been a late bred doe for sure. 

In any event, a couple of America’s majestic national birds showed-up today to claim it.  

Twins

OK.  One more dose of cuteness.  Mama and the twins...

In whitetail deer culture it is not unusual for siblings to continue to hang-out together.  As the does have begun dropping this year's new generation of fawns they've kicked last year's cohort out of the household.  Coincidentally, this would explain the uptick in road-killed deer in case you haven't noticed. 

Here's a couple of yearling twins continuing to travel together.... 

click on images to enlarge

 

Pea Soup

 click on image to enlarge

Drove more than 100 miles today in this stuff.

At times visibility was down to 100 yards.

Exceedingly hazardous navigating a left turn off the four-lane or crossing the four-lane to get to the other side.

Listen-up!

Closing distance at 65 miles an hour is 32 yards per second.  When visibility is measured in a hundred or so yards please turn your lights on so you don't kill someone.

Road Kill

I spend a considerable amount of time on the road and in the last week or so I've noticed a larger number of whitetails splattered on the highway or crumpled on the shoulder.  Dead.  

That's because it's fawning season and mama is literally kicking last year's fawns out of the house as the new batch is born into this world.

That means there are more yearling deer - like this doe - out searching for their own territory.

click on image to enlarge

Which makes them vulnerable as they cross roadways.  This process of spring break-up and the fall rut contribute to the 20,000 or so Wisconsin whitetails that end up as road kill every year.

Drive safely and keep a sharp eye out.

Road Kill

In January of this year I posted a picture of a deer hoof sticking out of the deep snow alongside the road.   

I figured a deer was struck by either a car or the county plow and ended-up dead in the ditch and buried by the snow.  I was even tempted to walk over there and give that foot a tug to see if I could pull it free of its wintery embrace.  Upon further reflection I figured all would be revealed when the spring thaw arrived.

Like so many other things that are out of sight and then out of mind it was the same for this dead deer.  I forgot about it.  Until I noticed some skeletal remains that a critter had dragged out of the ditch.

While out the other day installing new nest boxes I gave the carcass a closer look.

From the size of it - probably a fawn born a year ago.  It's been picked-clean.  Nature can be pretty efficient about cleaning things-up.