Arista Ramblers: Rondeau, Sept. 20-22 2013

I always enjoy it when we travel to Rondeau Park. It is a relaxing drive with lots of scenery to enjoy and there is always something to explore at the park. We arrived to very hot and humid weather which was quite different from the cooler temperatures at home. The bay area almost always has a Blue Heron to enjoy and there was one for me to watch and photograph on this trip. We did some exploring and met up with a buck and a younger deer on our travels. I had said to Duncan earlier that we had not seen deer here. We had a late dinner as we were going to get thunderstorms later in the evening so we wanted to enjoy time out before that happened. Just as we sat down to enjoy our dinner the light show and rumble of thunder began. It was going to be an indoor evening as the skies opened up and we had a torrential rain. It rain all night long but cleared off early in the morning.
Saturday I spent some time with the chipmunks of which one was very friendly. She would come and get a treat and then head behind the motor home and go down her hole to store them. I was able to get a few good shots of her coming back out to get more but she would always go back to where I had been giving them to her to get more. There were a few tense moments as there were about 5 chipmunks and only two were brave enough to take them from my hand. The others were getting a little upset that they were not getting as many. It was quite funny at times as they chased each other around. But in the end the one chipmunk scored the most because she was the friendliest. We hiked the South Point Trail which brought us down to the tip for some time by the water. Unfortunately a big dark cloud came along and chased us back to the car. It was just a light passing shower. We were hoping to see some migrating Monarchs but there are very few of them this year. There were a few trees that had come down during the storm so park staff were clearing the roads of debris. We then went for a hike along the Spice Bush Trail. We enjoyed a yummy crock pot dinner and a great evening by the fire. People at another campsite entertained us with their guitar, bongos and singing, off and on through the evening.
Sunday my friendly chipmunk was back and I didn't have to encourage her to get in my hand. She would come over and just jump up into my hand and collect some nuts, run down her hole and return for more. I think she ended up with her winter supply as I finished all the shelled peanuts I had in the bird feeder. Duncan made a yummy brunch for us and we packed up and headed to the visitors center to hike the Tulip Trail. Unfortunately all of a sudden the winds picked up and we got rain so we decided to head to the dumping station and head home. Shortly after arriving Duncan told me to get outside. I was not sure why but when I looked around I understood. There were four deer in the field across the road. I was out the door and getting pictures pretty quick. They didn't stay long as a couple on bikes went past and scared them into the woods. That made our trip to Rondeau even better. We were able to see 6 deer that week-end.
This week-end we are off to Point Farms and the delicious Culbert's Bakery.

Lets Explore Rondueu Park