{"id":38666,"date":"2026-04-24T04:51:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/?p=38666"},"modified":"2026-04-24T04:51:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:51:57","slug":"deer-molting-and-flowers-blooming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goatbells.blog\/?p=38666","title":{"rendered":"Deer molting and flowers blooming"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To bank carbon karma, I stayed local hiking Mt. Pisgah<\/a>. Starting from North TH before sunrise, 9 different birds were singing in the parking lot. My car was the only one …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before rounding the hill from the TH on Tr#3, 3 deer sprinted up the hill from the valley floor. Later on the other side of Tr#1, 4 deer were above the trail busily eating. In both groups, several deer looked almost white – they are molting. That first group was very skittish, but this second one couldn’t stop eating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Birds via Merlin song ID: Hammond’s Flycatcher<\/a>, Evening Grosbeak<\/a>, Violet-green swallow<\/a> – the swallows put on an extraordinary arial show! … A red-tail hawk nest location surfaced as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildflowers, however, just keep blooming! The meadows still painted blue, pink and yellow … the camas are mostly fading, and new wildflowers showing off<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With photos of scat and footprints multiple AI engines could not agree from footprints what they were – dog, coyote, cougar, bobcat … quite funny. Fresh poo 1x seemed coyote. Turkeys had moved into that east area where the coyote was last week (don’t think there now).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A last minute decision to forgo driving to hike Mt Pisgah turned out just right … But what struck me over every one of the 20 miles was – GREEN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Route<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Started at North Th and went around on Tr 3 using a rule that I couldn’t re-trace the same trail the same direction, I covered most of the hill and touched the summit 3x. The arboretum area was avoided. Left around 6:15 and returned around 2:00 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n