Fawn by the Lawn

A couple of days ago (this past Saturday), I had a few minutes to kill while I waited for dinner to finish in the oven, so I went outside in search of something new to take a picture of.  First, a dragonfly landed on my shoe, so I got a shot of that (above).  Then, I saw a butterfly on a shrub next to the house, and it stayed there long enough for me to get a picture of it:

I decided to take some pictures of the wildflowers, because they might not be around too much longer:

But then I looked more closely and saw an unexpected visitor:

The fawn was just laying peacefully, hidden among the wildflowers.  When I approached to take a couple of pictures, it didn't flinch; it didn't move.  It just lay there keeping and eye on me.

I have never been so close to such innocence in nature, and there it was, right in my own yard!

The fawn wasn't the only thing looking particularly beautiful on this day.  The whole world looked particularly brilliant, despite the cloudy skies.  The creek had risen due to heavy rains on Friday:

And the leaves of the trees are slightly different shades of green (note the fake buck next to the fire pit):

The fawn was still there, while mom was off foraging:

From farther away, you wouldn't even know it was there:

I re-arranged my living room furniture so I could keep an eye out.  I had seen a fox in the yard just last week, and I was determined to protect the infant deer.  According to Wikipedia, fawns lay hidden all day for about the first month of their lives.  I'm guessing that this fawn was maybe two weeks old...or less.  It probably wouldn't know what to do if a sly fox came along.

At one point, the deer got up for a stretch, and I saw a brown smudge amid the wildflowers:

And later, Bill the groundhog stopped by to see who was trespassing on his grounds.  That must have been an interesting encounter:

As dusk settled in, I wandered outside, looked around for mom, and after not seeing her, I took a peek to see if the fawn was still there:

In the photo below, you can just make out the spots of the fawn toward the right of the photo.  I didn't use the flash for fear of startling it.  Coming so close to take a few pictures is risky enough, not knowing where mom is.

By the next day (Sunday), the fawn was gone:

But its bed was still very much in evidence.  I saw the fox later that afternoon...maybe he'd caught the scent of my visitor...but he had no luck on this day.  The doe was one step ahead.

And in the early evening, she made her way across my yard on her way back to wherever she'd left her child.

And finally, one last shot for you: