My Back Yard ... and then Some!
I'm a Philly boy through-and-through (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that is) ... almost sixty-eight years' worth! We've got the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and 76ers ... and we've got lots of bad asses ... a murder-a-day here tragically.
We also have a huge park system Fairmount Park, Pennypack Park ... two rivers, two major steams (trout, bass, sunfish), and great wooded areas which include the biggest wild, White-tailed Deer population of an urban area in the world! Out of my back door is part of those woods ... I mean that literally; I walk out my back door, and fifty or sixty feet down the slope ... the woods!
On any given day I am visited by deer, quite a few species of birds, raccoons, opossums, skunks (at night), red foxes, box turtles, gray squirrels and other critters.
From my house, the woods extend north and east and west ... and in the county that borders Philly (Montgomery County), is yet more "back yard," namely ...
The Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust , a nonprofit conservancy ... dedicated to the stewardship of the lands ... and protected by the Trust in its 809-acre Pennypack Preserve natural area. Check out its web site ...
http://www.pennypacktrust.org/
To give a better sense of my back yard ... and then some ... pictures, of course.
Enjoy them.
1) The Pennypack Ecological Trust ... Indian Grass, Sycamore Trees, a tiny stream and a deep blue sky! I loathe organized religion ... but I visit God's House regularly ... this is one of its rooms.
2) One of the trails within the Pennypack Ecological Trust.
3) Wild Turkey population too; when I'm not photographing them, I enjoy sipping their bourbon. Multi-tasker am I.
4) If you're ever gonna be in the neighborhood, give me a heads up and maybe we'll go for a walk ... here f'rinstance ... then I'll take you out for somethin' to eat. Good deal, no?
5) There's a corner in my back yard that forms a kind of "tunnel" ... Chinese Privet trees on the east, Japanese Honeysuckle on the west, and Multiflora Rose ... the canopy. This fawn was born there in 2011. One doe or another gives birth in that "tunnel" every year!
6) One of the "moms" who give birth in my back yard.
7) Stud-buck-dad-deer.
8) Blue Jay ... I put up bird feeders and surround them with fallen branches and limbs from the woods. I've learned to anticipate when birds will perch and wait for an opening at the feeders ... that way, I can get pictures that look like this. All natural.
All Rights Reserved/A. Mac
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I walk out my back door, and fifty or sixty feet down the slope ... the woods!
And please, click on the images for a better look.
I like #6 the momma deer, the brown coat with the white in the ears and under the chin.
Mac,
It must be wonderful to be able to walk out your back door and see such wonderful sights. Wild turkeys in Philly. Who would have thunk it? Of course you did a wonderful job capturing nature, but what I can't get over is that it's Philly!
I think Philly and Dave Schultz comes to mind, LOL! (BTW He kissed me for good luck once. Bad idea... they were playing the Rangers, and I am a Ranger fan... finally they won!)
Beautiful collection A.M. and thank you. Still much winter here and this sure brightened-up my day!
:~)
I do have to say though that it's been a mild winter thus far. I even saw Common Flickers here a day or so ago...that's about a month sooner thanusual.
:~)
Dave "The Hammer" - a Philly icon for all time!
Thank you, Larry.
That be da one!
Ahh, the wild turkey, and no, I don't drink the stuff. Years ago, we were herding cattle in a small pasture, 3 or 4 sections, and I thought a hillside was moving. It was a huge herd of wild turkeys. They came down the hill and ran through the cattle and across the other hill. God it was hell keeping the cattle together. They are really magnificent creatures. My wife and I both love your photos.
Steve,
Many thanks for the turkey "tale" and the kind words.