Stunning cool sunrise in the oak lowlands, not as much green around except the trees and bushes, and still a fair amount of acorn on the ground here and there. The trail dust makes deer, turkey, squirrel, and other tracks pretty easy to see. The turkeys are in the process of determining the pecking order and of separ...ating into flocks by sex, the bigger, older red-head toms are already in small groups.

You can see deer parades of does with yearlings and fawns followed by interested bucks from spike to heavy racked bucks. One doe was seen nursing a small, late born fawn; the two keeping carefully away from other deer. We walked quietly to within 30 feet of a heavy-weight buck with rut-swollen neck and impressive rack still-reddish at the base from shedding velvet; he eyed us carefully for about a minute before slowly walking off along a well-worn path through six-foot-high dried thistle stalks. Another amazing one hour morning walk at Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve on the AmericanRiver in the Sacramento suburbs.

How are things near you?