Winter Wildlife Sightings Increase

Mature Gobbler: Canon 7D MK II- Canon 500mm  F 4.0 IS L -ISO 800-1/320 Sec. F 5.0

So far there has not been a major snow storm in out area, but the ground is partially snow covered. The temperatures have been unpleasantly cold except for the occasional day that it rebounds to the 40s and makes one long for the days of early spring.  Wildlife sightings have been good lately as the birds and animals move about more searching for food and have calmed down somewhat from the effects of the fall hunting seasons.

Whitetail bucks in this area usually shed their antlers in a time slot of from late December until late February although I have heard of one rack buck sighting as late as early April. Many of the bucks have already shed as the photo below illustrates.

Already Shed:  Canon 70D -Canon 70-200mmf2.8 L II @88mm-ISO 400-1/1000Sec. F 4.0

Others still have their racks or have lost one antler as is the case with the buck shown below.

Partially Shed: Canon 70D -Canon 70-200mmf2.8 L II @80mm-ISO 200-1/1600Sec. F 5.0

Partially Shed: Canon 7D MK II- Canon 500mm  F 4.0 IS L-ISO 200-1/2000 Sec. F 5.0

Most associate the strutting and gobbling of wild turkeys with the spring mating season and that certainly is when it is most common, but it is possible to see it at other times of year as well and I have seen it quite often in the winter.

Mature Gobblers Strut: Canon 5D MK II-Canon 24-105 F 4.0 IS L-ISO 400-1/60 Sec. F 8.0

While it is the dead of winter now and spring seems far away, there will be a noticeable change in a few short weeks as large flocks of Tundra Swans and Snow Geese pass through Pennsylvania on their way to nesting grounds in the arctic tundra.

You will notice that today's post features photos from the 5D MK III, the new 7D MK II and the 70D.  I usually have all of these cameras along with the 500mm on the 7D MK II, and the 70-200mm on the 70D. I have been using the 5D MK III mostly with the 24-105 lens, but that will likely change once my testing mode is over and I will go back to using it a lot on one of the big telephotos.  I have been giving the 600mm a rest, mostly to get some use out of the 500mm and to avoid the hassle of handling the bigger lens. Believe me, there is a big difference in the mobility of these two lenses, but that being said the 600mm f 4.0 is still my favorite prime lens for serious long range work.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Winter Wildlife With The 7D Mark II

Today's post features some photos taken with the new Canon 7D MK II, which I have been informally testing for the last few weeks.  Even with the big glass it is often hard to get close enough for frame filling photos of wildlife without using a blind, so all of today's images are cropped substantially. The 7D MK III has a 20 MP un-cropped image.  The photo below is cropped to 6.3 mega pixel, which is the same size as my first digital camera, a Canon 10D, would produce utilizing the full image.

Tufted Titmouse: Canon 7D MK II-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 200-1/1600 sec- f 5.0

The photo of the spike buck is a 6.7 MP vertical crop pulled from a horizontal frame.

Spike Buck: Canon 7D MK II-Canon 300mm f 2.8 L  IS -ISO 200-1/320 sec- f 5.0

For last I will post two photos of mature Eastern Wild Turkey gobblers huddled on a distant hillside during a snow-squall.  This would have been a good situation for the 600mm lens, but I didn't have it along that day so I used the biggest available, which was the 500mm. Both are 6.3 megapixel crops.

Gobblers: Canon 7D MK II-Canon 500mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 400-1/800 sec- f 5.0

Gobblers: Canon 7D MK II-Canon 500mm f 4.0 IS L -ISO 400-1/800 sec- f 5.0

Below is an un-cropped version of the the last shot.

Gobblers: Canon 7D MK II-Canon 500mm f 4.0 IS L -ISO 400-1/800 sec- f 5.0

So what do I think of the 7D MK II so far?  It is too early too tell, but after getting most of my lenses micro-adjusted with it I find I am using it quite a bit.  I am not at all sure at this point that there is any significant gain in image quality over the 70D, but I do prefer it for shooting still photographs as the auto-focus seems to be very accurate and I prefer the layout of the focusing points in the finder as well.  I have not tried the camera for shooting video as of yet, but the lack of a touch-screen or rotating LCD is a big minus for shooting video. 

 I do not pretend to be a DSLR expert and do not intend to do intense testing with the camera in a short period of time, but rather my approach is to do some shooting as needed to micro-adjust the camera and to give it a fair trial in actual field use.  Over time it will be interesting to see which camera I gravitate to for most of my use.

State Game Lands Permit Proposal Removed From Agenda

The Pennsylvania Game Commission in Harrisburg, today announced that they have removed the controversial State Game Lands Permit Proposal from the agenda for the upcoming PGC Board meeting that begins Sunday.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 22, 2015
Release #003-15

 State Game Lands Permit Proposal Removed From Agenda

The News Release quotes President of The Board of Commissioners, Robert W. Schlemmer as saying, " the board received hundreds of public comments about the proposal and wants to allow more time to properly consult with hunters, conservation partners and elected officials about it".  To read the release in its' entirety click the above link.

Note that there is no guarantee that another attempt will not be made to bring these regulations or some other form of them to vote in the future. 

SNP CWD Plan Comment Period Extended-Meeting In Front Royal Tonight

Due to a glitch in communications I was not aware that the period for commenting on Shenandoah National Park's CWD Management Plan had been extended until this morning.  A public meeting will be held this evening  at the Warren County Community Center, 538 Villa Avenue in Front Royal, Va. Read about it in the Shenandoah National Park News release below:

This also extends the time for public comment until January 30, 2015.  The additional public meeting was scheduled and the comment period extended to address concerns by several landowners who own land adjacent to the park about the proposed CWD plan.

Shenandoah National Park Holds Additional Public Meeting and Reopens Comment Period for ChronicWasting Disease Management Plan 

 Date: January 7, 2015 In response to a request from several park neighbors, Shenandoah National Park will hold an additional public meeting on the park's proposed Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) response plan.The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 22, 2015, at the Warren County Community Center, 538 Villa Avenue.Dr. Jenny Powers, National Park Service Wildlife Veterinarian and CWD expert, will make a presentation on the history and biology of the disease.Jim Schaberl, Shenandoah National Park Chief of Natural and Cultural Resources, will present the park's proposed plan.Park Superintendent Jim Northup will be available to answer questions. Experts from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will also be available to answer questions on CWD actions outside the park. Following the meeting, the park will reopen the comment period for eight days.

Shenandoah National Park management is proposing to amend the approved 2013Chronic Wasting Disease Detection/Assessment Plan, Shenandoah National Park to include response actions necessary to address chronic wasting disease (CWD) within five miles of or within the park. Although CWD has not been detected in the park, it has been documented approximately 12 miles from the park's northern boundary. The spread of the disease into the park appears imminent, and park staff has determined that a plan for managing the disease is needed. CWD is a serious, non-native disease which threatens deer populations, related natural resources, and visitor experiences at Shenandoah National Park. The proposed plan amendment calls for the lethal removal of deer within specific developed areas of Shenandoah National Park to reduce the likelihood of CWD establishment and decrease the disease's progression within the park.

The draft amendment/EA for this project has been prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). A series of public meetings on this topic were held in November, and the public was given an opportunity to comment during a 30-day comment period which ended on December 10, 2014.With the addition of another meeting the public will now be able to comment again on the draft plan from January 22 until January 30, 2015.The draft plan is available for review and comment online at http:parkplanning.nps.gov/shencwd.Comments may also be sent to: Superintendent, Shenandoah National Park, Attn: CWD Response Amendment/EA, 3655 US Highway, 211 East, Luray, VA 22835.

For more information about Chronic Wasting Disease, please visit  http:wwww.nps.gov/shen/naturescience/cwd.htm.