Tahoe Wildlife, Part 1

Just prior to the Lake Tahoe trip a few weeks ago, I finally bit the bullet and replaced my trusty old 35mm SLR camera with a digital SLR. So this week, I'll post a selection of photos with the new camera from the trip. Of course, many of these photos will eventually end up on Home Dipu proper, but in the meantime, here's a preview.

Today's selection covers a sampling of the wildlife we ran into. And while I'm on the subject of wildlife, don't forget to check out Tom's BirdBrains of Austin blog, which he's updating regularly!

First, a really fat chipmunk, one of many living just outside our resort building:

Fat, fat chipmunk
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And part of the reason why he's probably fat (courtesy a donut tossed down by Michelle):

Mmmmmm, donut...
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We stepped out of the garage in our building and literally nearly ran into this tiny lost deer. As I quickly focused to take this photo, I realized that I was looking through a small viewfinder at a creature that was barreling in a panic in my general direction, and that that was probably not the smartest thing I could be doing:

Look out!
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Fortunately, the deer wasn't SO panicked that he ran blindly; he knew enough to flee well in front of us:

Barbara watches as the deer flees down the hill
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Heading for safety
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Here's a lone solitary raven we spotted in the distance near our resort:

Lone raven
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But not solitary for long:

Raven love
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A wounded raccoon accosted the cleaning crew as they left our suite:

Masked bandit
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And of course, Michelle fed it a donut:

Mmmmm, donut...
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I zoomed way in for a shot of this tiny green fly:

Green fly
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A squirrel in silhouette outside our suite:

Tahoe squirrel
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Steller's jays (like blue jays with black hoods) were the most common bird I saw outside our balcony:

Steller's jay
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Steller's jay in flight
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Steller's jay in flight
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Stay tuned for more Tahoe photos later this week!