The Fauna in the Dell

In the Cameron Hills area of Fremont, across the bay from San Francisco, there's a grassy ravine (a dell, actually) that can sometimes be very interesting. In addition to birds (hummers and bluejays, which I've seen but haven't been able to take decent photos of), there are ...

Turkeys

Wild turkeys abound. I've seen as many as a half-dozen at a time, roaming around in the dell and sometimes in the residential neighborhood. There's usually a big tom with a number of hens hanging around with him.

Here's a pic I was able to take with my telephoto lens of three turkeys on the other side of the dell. Not a bad pic for such a small Sony Cybershot camera. That tom is a big one, spreading out in full display.

Now ... this is a picture of the turkey just outside the neighbor's fence. Yep, that's the one that caused me to fall (a few posts ago). It had a limp, favoring its left leg, just as I did when I photographed it after my fall.

At my grandson's birthday party, one of the guest's fathers was excited about seeing turkeys along the side of the road as he drove up to the house. I guess not many people get to experience that when we live in the city.

Goats

One day, as I was looking for turkeys, I happened to look left along the dell, and saw a large number of white dots on the big slope. I took a telephoto pic, but even when I blew it up, I couldn't identify what they were. So I surmised they were ducks ... then I changed that to sheep. Then, my son told me they were goats.

They are fenced into a certain section of the dell and serve as goat lawn mowers. When that area is cropped, they're moved to the next one. Then the next one, ad infinitum. Mighty clever indeed!

One day, I missed the turn to my son's house and had to travel a little farther down the road before I could make a turn-around. That's when I realized I was on the other side of the dell.

There they were, a friendly barking sheep dog and his charges, about 200 goats bleating and munching, and resting and playing. I parked for a time and watched them. Who wouldn't?

Deer

Now, this is a home where the deer also roam. I didn't see as many as the last time I was here, but I was able to take a picture of one as I stood on the back deck surveying the dell.

I don't know for sure what kind of deer this is, but I think it's a female California Mule Deer.

Fighting Fish

This ... is Toey, my grandson's Siamese Fighting Fish (Betta splendins).

I know, he's not an outside in-the-dell fauna, but my grandson will get a kick knowing his fish has become famous.