You will not believe what I found in the trees yesterday. Or maybe you will …
A teensy weensy baby calf. And not newborn either. Aunty Anna has been hiding her from me. 
She is dun colored though I only noticed this later in the day. 
She is inquisitive and sweet. 
After I found her I went back to the barn to prepare a space for Mother and Daughter (I think) but when I returned the calf was nowhere to be found. Aunty Anna looked at me quite clearly saying “Calf? What calf? “
Three more times I returned to the field to hunt for the calf who was so short she could literally stand underneath her mother and could have been standing in the long grass and still be hidden but there was no sign of her. 
Even Manu was already used to the baby so I concluded that Aunty Anna had been hiding her for a couple of days already so this was not out of character. 
Much later, at dusk actually, out of the corn emerged the little sprite. Very much like the baseball players in that movie Kevin Costner was in. one moment there was a corn field and then next this tiny elf of a calf standing watching her mother. Aunty Anna saw her immediately and they ran to each other peering across the electric wire. 
It took them a while to find where she could duck under the electric fence and I followed them up to the barn where I locked them both in. It was under the lights in the barn that her colour became really apparent. She is quite a dark dexter brown but not chocolately more velvety- like a bleached ribbon. I will bring these two back to the home fields today. There is not as much feed over this side but I don’t want this calf to get used to sleeping in the corn fields all day with coyotes and deer wandering about in there. Hidden. And I surely do not want her to get used to ignoring an electric fence. This side is set up for calves.
So how about that?! I calf at last.
I don’t regret selling Carlos the Tiny on though. Life is so much easier without a bull.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
WEATHER: Just lovely.
Saturday 09/16 10% / 0 in
Sunshine and some clouds. High 86F/30C. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday Night 09/16 20% / 0 in
Clear to partly cloudy. Low 66F/18C. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Sun
6:34 am 6:59 pm
Moon
Waning Crescent, 12% visible 2:30 am 5:03 pm
The Kitchen's Garden 
74 responses to “HIDDEN SURPRISE”
Wow!!!
I know!
That is quite a surprise!!!!
You can say that again!
Well that explains the udder doesn’t it! So glad that she has been discovered though, so no harm can be had from all this bush hiding and secret animal field nursery.
That was the worry – she is so so tiny –
Exactly what I was thinking. No wonder she showed no sign of pregnancy the day you mentioned her udder in the post; ). What a great Mother. Such an easy pregnancy you didn’t even notice (does that make her “a keeper”?; )
Wonderful! An unexpected gift for you after your summer of hard work and all the extraordinary care for Wai.
She is so beautiful with a devoted mama.
It is a very sweet surprise
Aw, Carlos left a parting gift, and Auntie Anna kept the secret as long as she could. What a sweet surprise. I find it a bit amazing that even as domesticated as livestock can be, there is still the innate pull to follow instinct. This baby calf hiding itself reminds me of how deer do – they look for just the right hiding place to bed down to rest. Congratulations on the new arrival!
Do deer always return to the same hiding place? c
Sometimes they do, especially the first week or two. After that mama doe walks them to the area she wants them to bed down in but the fawns pick their spot.
What a wonderful surprise! They are some very smart animals!
Fun isn’t it
Oh, my, wee Carlotta the calf is stunning!
Lovely wee girl – she looks like a tiny bird sitting in the hay
That name is perfect.
Honestly, this is astonishing. I can’t get over this…keep getting goosebumps up my neck. Will wonders never cease? (can’t remember where this expression came from but it just popped out) Congratulations to you and Auntie Anna. The baby is precious.
A wonder indeed
What a wonderful surprise. How exciting! I love your photos.
Thank you
Is she a keeper? If so, any ideas about her name? Beautiful eyes.
She will be around a while I think – I have a small boy thinking about a name
Oh too bad that she wasn’t born when they were still at the farm! Calves smell so good and their smooth little wet noses looking for a finger to suckle… *such a great memory: )
What a delightful surprise! So elfin. Maybe she should be Elvia, a name I’d not heard until I met R’s fabulous pianist colleague of that name. But I like SJPBF’s notion of Carlotta, too, which in turn reminded me of the vintage Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour silliness ‘My Favorite Brunette’ (a film noir spoof) wherein she plays a baroness named Carlotta.
Never mind all that—your tiny beauty is a gift and the happiest sort of surprise, and isn’t Aunty Anna the cool customer!!!
xoxo
K
She is very cool – and a very good mum
Aunty Anna the Trickster. She had a hidden gem. I’m glad both appear healthy. Who knows what you will find on your next rambles? I figured it would have been a peahen nest. This is lovely.
I’ve thankfully had a pretty beautiful day but that just made it even lovelier. What a sweet dear calf. “A sprite”…perfect way of describing her! Wish I’d seen her with my own eyes. Happy for you.
what a lovely surprise! and such A SWEET Baby! Congrats all round!
That certainly explains the udder. Gorgeous little Sprite.