The longer hours of daylight are providing me the opportunity to see the deer in my yard once again. Through the winter they come under the cover of darkness. The trail cam captures their images but I cannot see any detail in the photographs. Last night was different.

The time stamp on the trail cam earlier this week told me that the deer have been showing up around 7:30pm. Yesterday they showed up around 7:45pm. They were skittish and kept looking toward the bush as if someone/thing had been chasing them.

When they began their fall/winter visits last year, there were 5; 2 does and 3 fawns. Over time, a couple more began tagging along. The trail cam photos confirmed that 7 deer came regularly to 'break bread with the birds'; in other words they raided the bird feeders. They love their sunflower seeds.

I managed to snap a few photos yesterday before it got dark and was viewing them when I noticed that the largest doe had suffered a nasty injury. It was healed but she is missing a patch of hair. The rest of them appeared to have survived winter without any lasting scars.

As soon as the overnight temperatures remain above zero and I plant the garden, the infrared motion sensor sprinkler will come out. It works great at keeping the deer away from my vegies during the summer. 

If the pattern continues, next fall they will be back with new fawns in tow that will need to learn that the shrubs in the yard are not on the menu.