I didn't bring my camera along this time.
I didn't expect to see so much interesting wildlife along the way.
Beneath the first patch of brambles we stopped at, I heard the grass rustling and there was a large turtle who had the same desire for some ripe juicy berries as we did.
If you have ever read the children's book Box Turtle at Long Pond you know what I mean!
He made his way back to the water soon after we arrived.
A little further down the path a bumpy fat toad jumped out. I almost stepped on it!
In another particularily dense thicket of berries, I was told I must come and see! There was a tiny cup nest at shoulder height, woven into the thorny vines, about quite well-hidden. It was about 4 inches in diameter and had 3 featherless baby birds in it.
Their eyes were still closed, and they opened their tiny beaks as I pushed away the leaves to get a closer look. I wondered if mama bird was feeding them berries.
But the most exciting thing we saw last night, something I have never witnessed in the wild before, was a newborn fawn nestled snugly under the berry brambles and cattails near the waters edge. It had a soft brown coat with white spots on the back and peered at us with gentle dark brown eyes and long lashes. We know it was only a day or two old because it couldn't walk very well yet. We quietly left it alone, as we could tell it was startled. We never did see it's mother, but I hoped she was somewhere nearby.
the earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24