Home»Gallery»Portola Valley Ranch, Windy Hill, Etc.»Fawns, Fog, and Avian Predators: June Mornings at Portola Valley Ranch

June is a time for new beginnings. A doe leads her new spotted fawns, teaching them that a curious leashed dog is not to be feared. Bluebirds bring insects to their brood in the bluebird house, and watch as the fledglings hunt for the first time. A great blue heron hunts in Mader Valley. (With some success: another day, Helen saw it fly off with something in its beak.) June is a time for late-spring flowers: columbine and rare Indian pink on Sweet Springs Trail, buckeye blossoms and sticky monkey near Mader Valley. Bucks are growing antlers, still covered in velvet. Velvety fog caresses the top of Windy Hill, bringing moisture to the redwoods and their ecosystem. With the inadvertent help of a photographer, noisy crows drive off a formidable red-tailed hawk (?). June 2018 in Portola Valley Ranch, June 5 to June 13.