Bedford County River Otters-Another Page

After much thought I have decided that my condition has improved to the extent that I will return to updating The Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer Blog on at least a limited basis. If I continue long term will depend to a certain extent on whether upcoming eye surgeries are successful. The first is scheduled for December 11^th, and the second sometime later.

Since several of you like to photograph the River Otter for today I am featuring “Bedford County River Otters-Another Page”. This is a 21 minute film, which begins with an overview of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's efforts to manage the wildlife of Pennsylvania and to re-establish species that were extirpated such as the elk, eagle, and river otter. of an otter release in the Juniata River near Everett, Pennsylvania on February 19, 2002.

This was back when standard definition 4:3 aspect-ratio mini-dv camcorders were what most small video production companies used. Two of the favorites with wildlife film-makers were the Canon XL-1 and the Canon XL-1s, which had recently replaced it. From 1997 until early 2002 my front line video camera was a Canon L2, which recorded to Hi-8 video tape. This camera was a powerful tool for wildlife as one could mount any Canon EF mount lens on it by means of an adapter. If I recall correctly this camera had a 1/2” sensor which gave a crop factor of about 5.4X. As an example a 500mm lens attached to it gave an equivalent focal length of 2,700mm. The XL-1s had an even smaller sensor which increased the crop factor to 7.2X. Since the XL1-s was a new camera it was used to document the events of the day, but the wildlife footage that is used was mostly taken with the L2 and the old Canon 35-350L zoom lens.. The video was edited on a Casablanca Avio stand-alone video editor, which looked much like a VCR. Its' main selling point was that it was guaranteed to work as it came and one did not have to configure it like one does a computer. I used this from about 2000 until 2005 or a bit later when I began using computers. The video features several speakers beginning about 3 min. 35 sec. Into the video. Some of the speeches are lengthy so if you want to skip them and continue on to footage of the release, drag the slider under the video to about 15 minutes.

I hope you enjoy the film.

Willard Hill

More Winter Wildlife: Conditions Improve

Treacherous Walking Conditions

In the last post, we found the ground covered with a layer of snow, with a very hard crust that made walking extremely difficult for wildlife. Here, an adult whitetail doe gingerly walks across the glassy surface. The tracks in the snow were made when it was soft, but later there was a heavy rainstorm, which created the treacherous conditions when the temperatures plummeted below freezing.

For a time living conditions were difficult for wildlife, but we were fortunate enough to have a few days with temperatures in the 40s F, and the snow and ice melted through to the bare ground in certain spots.

The first areas to melt are usually ones shielded from the wind and facing to the southwest. These are the areas that receive the longest period of sunlight during the day.

Eastern Wild Turkey And Deer Feeding Where The Snow Has Melted

Once the underlying grass or leaves is exposed, life becomes much easier for wildlife and they often spend much of the day feeding and resting in these areas.


The squirrels are still coming to the bird feeding station. This is the best photograph of one that I have been able to get so far this winter.

Close Encounter With A Grey Squirrel

Stay tuned for more winter wildlife photos and a detailed account of the road hunting incident, which was discussed in the post of Dec. 13, 2008.

Camera Critters: Winter

Winter, the thermometer hovers near zero, the ground is covered with a glare of snow and ice, caused by substantial rainfall on top of a previous coat of snow. This is the dreaded "Hunger Moon" and the creatures of the great outdoors are locked in a bitter struggle for survival. Fortunately the snowfall is not deep in our area, but the hard crust makes it difficult for the deer to walk and for smaller species to dig through to underlying food sources.

Canon 40-D: Whitetail Family, Canon 70-200mm at 135mm

The birds are visiting the feeders, giving one a lot of super photographic opportunities.

Canon 40-D: Tufted Titmouse, 300mmf4 Canon 1.4 extender

Grey Squirrels soon find a bird feeding operation, and in this case they are welcome visitors. I have few truly excellent squirrel photographs and wish to utilize this situation to remedy that shortage.

Canon 40-D: Grey Squirrel 100-400mm Canon at 400mm

Hopefully I will have more opportunities to photograph them in the days to come.

For more Camera Critters photographs, click Here!

An Outstanding Evening!

It seems fruitless to read the weather forecasts as they have called for rain every day this week, but we have not gotten any as of yet. The mornings have been bitter cold-until this morning. Today was the first day of the week that really felt like spring and this afternoon was exceptional except for a strong wind, so I spent the afternoon in my favorite photographic blind. While I was driving to the blind I noticed these flowers by the roadside and photographed them by lowering the window and resting the camera with 300mmF4 lens on the door edge. I am not sure of the proper name for these flowers, but we called them "Easter Lilies " when we were young as they are one of the earliest flowers to bloom in our area and that often coincides with the Easter season. Within a week or so they should have numerous large blossoms.

Canon 40D-300mmF4

The main object of my excursion was Eastern Wild Turkey gobblers as I continued my quest of trying to photograph one strutting and gobbling, but I have not observed that activity yet this year. As happens on most evenings, a flock of young gobblers and hens put in an appearance. Two mature gobblers with long beards were with them and I took this shot when one stretched and flopped his wings as they usually do at some point during an encounter. It would have been nice to have had the entire left wing in the picture, but that is what happens when one is using a fixed power lens and there is no time to change to a smaller one.

Canon 40D: 500mmF4

After that I did change to the 300mmF4 in hopes of getting the entire turkey in the shot, if he repeated the performance, but that was not to be.

It still paid off as in time I noticed one of my favorite deer standing quite near the blind and the lens worked well to take a portrait of her. This doe was a fawn in 2002 and I have seen her almost daily since that time. She was aware that I was in the blind and in fact she was there, hoping that I would give her a hand-out. She watched me carry the camera equipment back to the Chevy Blazer. I had to make numerous trips, to store both the video and still equipment and she walked near the Blazer and waited for me, permitting me to walk within a few feet of her. I am able to touch her on occasion, but today was not one of those times.

Canon 40D: 300mmF4

She has often followed me when I take a walk in the area, usually walking a few feet behind me, and somewhat off to the side, stopping when I do and standing there staring at me. It is truly a thrill and pleasure to gain the trust of a wild animal like this!

She has had two fawns in past years, and currently has a doe fawn and button buck. Her first fawn developed into a six-point buck and dispersed in his first autumn with antlers, while the second buck was gored to death by another buck in a sparring match.