Paige Meets A Family of Deer

Yesterday, I went out for a walk with my camera in Summerville (north of Rochester, on the east side of the Genesee River), to take some pictures of old houses, scenery, and some railroad archaeology.

Summerville (which is part of the town of Irondequoit) has two abandoned railroad bridges over St. Paul Boulevard. The northernmost carried the former New York Central Railroad “Hojack” line west towards the Genesee River. It crossed the river on the now abandoned Charlotte swing bridge. The southernmost bridge carried the Hojack south towards Rochester.

St. Paul Boulevard in Summerville (Irondequoit), NY — the northernmost bridge is closest, the southernmost bridge is in the distance

The right-of-way heading south towards Rochester can be seen in this aerial photo (highlighted by the orange line).

In Summerville, you get a great view of Lake Ontario, and also of the piers at Summerville and Charlotte. A very scenic location!

As I walked north towards the Lake on Washington Avenue, I came to the place where the “Hojack” right of way could be clearly seen. I faced west and took this photo of the railroad right-of-way as it crossed the southernmost of the two abandoned bridges over St. Paul Boulevard. It looks like a trail now.

As I turned to take a photo of the right-of-way in the opposite direction, I came face to face with a family of deer, who were watching me intently.

There were six deer. Two adult females, one adult male, and three young ones. I decided to stand still and see what they did. They approached Washington Avenue, and looked around, following the lead female.

The lead female saw two humans approaching on the sidewalk, and the entire family retreated back along the old railroad right-of-way as the humans passed. I stood as still as possible during this time.

After the humans passed, the deer approached the road, looked around, and then crossed, their hooves making a clattering sound on the pavement, and then headed on down the right-of-way. as many New York Central railroad locomotives had done at this exact spot

Since I am not familiar with the habits of deer, I was surprised at how the adult female led the herd, and that the one adult male stayed in the back. I was also surprised at how single minded the deer were at crossing the street right here — I assume that they do this every morning here. Safe travels, deer!