The two and four legged friends came from every direction.  It appeared that the forest creatures knew that I had my granddaughters for the weekend and they all wanted to say hello.

On Saturday morning nine deer came into the yard at the same time.  The girls watched them file in.  There were two adult males in the group.  The larger of the two was a bully.  He ate first and would not allow the others to come near until he was done.  

The smaller male was an outcast; a mule deer traveling with the herd of white tails.  They provided action in the yard for twenty minutes before a noisy vehicle scared them off.  The girls watched them from the bedroom window.  "Gramma, that is so cool."

The birds put on a show as well.  While we sat at the kitchen table, seven species of birds came and went from the deck feeder within thirty minutes.  Wren named almost all of them. 

Male and female downy woodpeckers, male and female hairy woodpeckers, bluejays, chickadees, nuthatches, male/female pine grosbeaks and redpolls provided the entertainment.  Later in the afternoon pine and evening grosbeaks feasted at the same time in a tray feeder. 

The girls are becoming 'experts' on naming the backyard birds.  They watch for the red 'caps' on the woodpeckers that distinguish the males/females.  What fun we had watching Mother Nature's reality show.