The Fawns Arrive

First Fawn of 2011-May 18th Canon 7D-500mm

 Last year I saw the first fawn of the season on May 18th, but I had not seen one this year as of Monday evening. Most of the does in the herd that I see almost daily give birth in early to mid-June with the majority being born within a few days of June 10th.  I noticed  sometime last week that one of the does that did have a distended abdomen, now had sunken flanks so I was expecting to see a fawn soon.  As it was growing late on Monday evening, I saw a tiny fawn walking with shaky steps from an area of tall grasses across a mowed area to the edge of the woods where it vanished.

In a few minutes a young doe approached and circled around looking at the edge of the woods with interest.  When she moved on, I cautiously approached with the T3i and video tripod.  There was the fawn--hidden in the weeds and grass at the edge of the woods.  After filming it, I took several still photos with that camera and the 100-400mm lens, before going back to my stand and getting the 7D and 500mm lens. 

First Fawn 2012: May 28th: Canon 7D 500mm

I saw a fawn in the meadow again last evening, but it was dark and spitting rain, so I only took video.  I will post a clip or so of this in the future as it was amazing to watch the interaction between the fawn and some of the yearling bucks.

This morning found me at the meadow again at dawn, I soon  saw a fawn nursing from a doe at the edge of the woods, but the grass was tall and I didn't get any photographs.  In about an hour I saw a fawn crossing the food plot, but it was too far for good photographs.

At 8:00 I saw a fawn emerge from the tall grass in another sector of the meadow.  This was close enough for good video and I filmed it for awhile and then began to work a bit closer with the 500mm and the 7D.  Just as I got to an acceptable range, the fawn dropped down at the border between a strip of grass and a food plot of oats, Essex dwarf rape, and clover. It was now to close for the 500mm so I carefully worked into position with the T3i and 100-400mm lens and filmed it from several angles, before getting into a head on position.  After I had enough footage, I switched to shooting stills and alternated between the 7D and T3i bodies. 

Young Fawn: Canon T3i 100-400mm at 135mm ISO 160

Many claim the 60D, 7D, and T3i have the same sensor, but this is not the case.  They all have the same mega-pixel rating, but there are differences and this has been confirmed by Chris Hurd who runs the premiere video discussion community on the internet today-- DV Info Net.  I have found the T3i to actually be a better video camera than the 7D, but the 7D beats  the T3i hands down for still photography.  This is mostly because it handles digital noise better, but even it is not that great at ISOs above 640. I recently installed a firmware hack called  Magic Lantern on the T3i in an attempt to improve its' video capabilities, and in my opinion it has improved the video functions of the camera immensley, but it also seems to have the added benefit of giving a smoother, more pleasing still picture as well.

What is "Magic Lantern", many will ask.  That is definitely a subject for another time, but suffice it to say it is not for the casual user nor the faint of heart.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Photographing Whitetail Fawn's-Jim Moore's Contest

One of my favorite activities is spending a summer evening relaxing, and photographing whitetail fawns.

Salty went along one evening last week and my favorite doe favored us by feeding quite near to us in the food plot.

Canon 30D: 17-40mm F4-1/40 sec. f8 at 40mm ISO 200

She has a pair of what I call, " classically beautiful" fawns. Some fawns have ears that are too long to be in correct proportion for the most perfect look, or have blemishes from insect bites or skin problems such as mange, but these are perfect. They soon arrived to spend most of the evening feeding and interacting quite near to us.

Canon 30D: 17-40mm F4-1/60 sec. f8 at 40mm ISO 200

Soon the spots will fade and by late September most fawns will have a brown or gray coat, but for now they still have that bright eyed, innocent look, and a beautiful coat that helps them escape detection by predators as the spots help camouflage them when they are in a woodland setting.

Canon 30D: 300mm F4-1/250sec. f8 ISO 200

Also I'm a little late on posting this, but if you haven't heard already Jim Moore is having a "Name the Newt" contest on his web site for a chance to win a September Print of the Month. You can read about it here.

Jim says, "The contest is from August 1-15 only and I'd like to see a blogger win, but I'm not a judge for the name either."

Jim is a world-class photographer and instructor, specializing in stunning scenic photographs. Be sure and visit his website if you can.

I'm sorry I haven't been commenting too much lately or posting, but I am pursing a heavy program of video editing as I try to bring the film on Pennsylvania Elk to a conclusion.

The First Fawn Of The Year

The First Fawn Arrives

Surprisingly the doe I featured in the last post has not yet given birth, but some of the other does in the herd that visits the meadow apparently have. It can be difficult to tell for sure because some of the older does that have had fawns several times before may still appear pregnant if one looks only at the distended abdomen. It is best to look in front of the hips. If that area is sunken and the ribs and other bony structures stand out, it is certain that birth has occurred. The doe in the photo below illustrates this well, but few deer show it to this extent. This deer is eight years old and in good health. She has had one or two fawns each year since 2003 and always looks thin and bony in the summer.

Canon 40D: 100--400mmL at 310mm 1/90 f5.6 ISO 500

She missed coming to the meadow on Thursday evening, but I saw her at a distance and her flanks appeared to be sunken. On Friday evening she brought a fawn to the meadow. I videotaped the fawn nursing at very close range and then went to get the still camera. The deer had moved off some distance when I returned, but I was still able to get a good photograph with the 100-400mm lens.

Canon 40D: 100--400mmL at 400mm 1/250 f5.6 ISO 400

On Saturday morning she came to the meadow without the fawn and stayed a short time. When she left I followed at a discreet distance with the video camera on the tripod and the 40D on my chest with the 300mm lens attached and the 75-200 in my camera bag. The doe went through some thickets and woods along a roadside so I was able to walk in the roadway. Eventually I saw her stop in some thick brush and then I saw a little head bobbing about. I spent the next fifteen minutes or so taking video footage of the fawn feeding.

Eventually they went in to a more open area and I carefully followed behind. At one point I recorded them interacting at close range. Soon I had a satisfactory amount of video so I changed to the DSLR and took several shots with both lenses. Only a few were keepers, as the light was less than ideal in many instances and the animals were continually moving in and out of areas where plant growth interfered with getting a good composition.

Canon 40D: 70-200mmL at 200mm 1/180 f3.5 ISO 500

Canon 40D: 300mm F4 L at 1/180 f4 ISO 500

We were almost back to the meadow by the time the last photos were taken. This is classic whitetail behavior in that the deer did not return to the fawn directly but took a long, looping route to go to it, while it was hidden only a short distance from the meadow if she had walked straight to it.

At this point it is not clear if she has just this fawn or if there are twins. The does hide twins in separate places for the first few weeks after birth to increase their chances of survival. (A coyote or bear would have to find each one in separate encounters, rather than being able to kill both in one instance)

Sky Watch Friday-Wildlife In The Meadow

The weather has been very unsettled lately providing many opportunities for photographing unique cloud formations. I spend most early mornings and late evenings at this time of year at a favorite meadow, which I described in the previous post. I captured these beautiful cumulus clouds as I was leaving the area on last Friday Morning.

Canon 40D: 17-40mmF4L at 17mm 1/750 sec. f8 ISO 100

Late May and early June brings exciting action to the outdoors. The young of many species are born in this time frame. A family of woodchucks made the day on the morning of June 1. I had loaned "Salty" of Country Captures my 100-400mm lens since I seldom used it. He liked it so well that he purchased one recently, so I pressed mine back into service and I am finding that it works much better on the Canon 40D than it did on the 10D. I had found that this lens would not stand up to severe cropping on the 10D while the superb 500mmF4 and the 70-200mm 2.8 would. Salty used the lens on a Canon 30D and it was obvious that this lens performed much better on that camera. I am pleased with the results so far on the 40D. This lens is not as sharp as the 500mmf4, but one misses a lot of opportunities with that lens because of the difficulty of getting it in action unless one is on stand with it mounted on a tripod, waiting for wildlife to appear. The 100-400mm allows one to take the quick shot of a situation that is not going to last.

Canon 40D-100-400mmLF3.5-5.6 1/180sec. f5.6 ISO 400

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first newborn fawns. This is perhaps my favorite doe. She is totally acclimated to me and spends a lot of time feeding near my stand. She is six years old. She had a single fawns for two years, but had a set of twins last year-one a buck and the other a doe. Judging from the size of her distended abdomen I predict that she will have twins again this year, but I may or may not see them. It is common for deer to lose one or all of their fawns due to problems in the birthing process or predation. In this area the most common predators are coyotes and black bears. Does are more likely to lose the fawns at birth following a severe winter as the strain of survival can negatively impact the fawns development. Since it was a mild winter the chances for survival are excellent.

Canon 40D-100-400mmLF3.5-5.6 1/180sec. f5.6 ISO 400

In all likelihood she will give birth in the next few days. This morning I noticed that she did not follow her fawns from last year when they went to the mountain to lie up for the day, but slipped into the brush near a stream. This is a good indication that birthing time is quite near.


I hope to be able to post photographs of the newborn soon, but they do not always co-operate. I have seen fawns within a day of when they were born, but sometimes it is a week or more until they appear. (One can tell birth has occurred by observing the doe closely. If she looks like the doe above one day and appears the next with sunken flanks and a smaller abdomen, one knows the fawns have been born.)

For more Sky Watch photographs visit Tom at Wigger's World