The Fawns Arrive As The Antlers Grow

Late May Morning Along The Stream

Late May and early June is a rewarding time for the outdoor photographer in Southcentral Pennsylvania. There is no shortage of subjects to photograph as the whitetail fawns are being born, the bucks are growing their antlers, and the meadows are loaded with many species of wildflowers.

Yellow Goat's Beard

Most does give birth to the fawns in this area between mid-May and mid-June with the vast majority arriving the last few days  of May and the first few days in June.  This doe was still pregnant on May 30th as indicated by the large swollen abdomen.

Pregnant Doe

Another doe that I usually see each day had a large distended abdomen on May 30th and then I didn't see her until June 1st and her flanks were shrunken indicating that she had given birth. On June 2nd I got a few brief video clips of her nursing a fawn in a thicket, but a thunderstorm was approaching so there was little chance to exploit the opportunity.  I saw her again on the following evening and this time I got several video clips although again the brush was thick and it was hard to get a clear angle.  This time I managed to take a few still photographs with the 5D MK III.

Doe Nursing Fawn

While the fawns are being born, the buck's antlers keep getting larger. This buck is the second one pictured in the last post..  That photo was taken on May 22nd.  Today's photo was taken just one week later and he is now developing a point on his left antler.

Young Buck-One Week Later

Growth is very rapid and by early-mid July the older bucks will have 3/4 or more of their antler growth. This buck has already grown significantly longer beams in the few days since this photo was taken.  If he does not disperse it will be interesting to document his rack as it develops.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Widlfie Sightings Abound As June Arrives

Whitetail Buck In Velvet

Here in southcentral Pennsylvania late May and early June is an interesting time to be afield as the fawns are  born and the bucks grow velvet covered antlers.

Velvet Covered Antlers Grow Rapidly

 With that being said, it is not the easiest to see either at this time.  Most of the larger bucks are traveling in bachelor groups and are seldom seen, but it makes for great photography when they do appear.

Fawns are often seen soon after birth, but then they are seldom seen for a few weeks as the doe hides them in the woods or tall grass and leaves them while she  feeds elsewhere.  Sometimes fawns will come into the meadows after them, but this is not commonplace until they are a few weeks old and it is sometime in July or August before the fawns are almost always with the does.  I have seen fawns as early as mid-May, but it was the 24th this year before I saw the first one.  I was driving a back road and saw a doe and fawn cross the road.  I got off a few quick frames with the still camera and then set the video camera up and got much better material with it.

First Fawn

I got the first good still photos of a doe nursing a fawn this year on the evening of May 29th when a fawn stood up from the edge of a meadow where it was hiding in the grass and began feeding.

Doe and Fawn Nursing

The mating season of the Eastern Wild Turkey is really winding down by the end of May and one seldom sees them strutting by mid-June.  Now it is more common to see them feeding or moving through the countryside.

Mature Eastern Wild Turkey Gobbler

 I seldom see rattlesnakes in this area, but I have probably seen more in late May and early June than at any other time. This year I photographed one that was hanging out at an old back country barn over a period of two days.  In the first instance he was lying on a pile of posts outside the barn while in the second he was lying on the barn floor and peering out of a hole in the siding of the barn. The 5D MK III with 100-400mm IS II was used for the first two photos, while the 7D MK II and 600mm F4 was used for the last one.

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake: Coiled For Action

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake Peers From Barn

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake

While opportunities such as the rattlesnake encounter are always welcome, most of my spring and summer photography is of whitetail deer, wild turkeys and Pennsylvania elk.and I look forward to filming and photographing them as summer nears.

Pregnant Whitetail Doe

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Camera Critters: Spots and Velvet: Summer Whitetails

Morning At The Meadow

There is nothing quite like an early summer morning at a backcountry meadow, with the song of birds filling the air. This provides a perfect backdrop against which to observe and photograph the whitetail deer.

The fawns are moving about more now and are seen more frequently, but are still not traveling with the does full time.

July 8th

The buck's antlers are growing rapidly and will reach their full potential soon. Later the tips will be more pointed, the antlers will harden, and the velvet will crack and fall off.

The following photos are of the same buck and show how much larger he grew in a period of slightly over a week.

June 27th

Notice the seventh point beginning to show at the tip of the right antler (It is just a small bump at the top of the wide part of the antler).

July 6th

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No Two Fawns Look Alike!

In my experience, if one is able to observe an extended family group of whitetail deer on a regular basis, it is possible to learn to identify individual deer. It is as though the veil is lifted from ones eyes and they are able to see the differences in features that distinguish individual animals, rather than the similarities that many cause one at first glance to say that all fawns look alike, or that all does look alike, when in fact they do not!

This photograph was taken on the evening of June 29th. Compare it to the photo in the previous post, and note the difference in the facial features of the two deer. It is quite striking when one looks closely!

Canon 40-D: 100-400mm at 400mm 1/125 f6.7 ISO 400

This evening four fawns came to the meadow. Of course I am without a DSLR at present, but I had the superb Canon XL-H1 Camcorder and concentrated on filming the little animals as they flitted about the meadow. It was overcast and likely would not have made good still photographs anyway. In addition the fawns were so active with their running about and playing that it was hard to get good video segments of them and good still photography would have been even more difficult.


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More Whitetail Fawn Encounters

Slowly but surely, encounters with the newborn fawns are increasing. Shown immediately below is the doe, which was featured in the post of June 5th, when she was obviously very pregnant. She vanished on June 10th and I didn't see her again until the 14th when she came to the meadow with sunken flanks. As of yet I have not seen her fawn or fawns.

Canon 40-D: 17-40mm at 17mm-1/90 sec. f8 400 ISO

I finally saw another fawn on Sunday morning. No fawns followed the does to the meadow so eventually I left and took a short walk. When I returned a doe was walking from the meadow to the nearby woods. She was passing through an area with areas of tall grass interspersed with mowed strips. A small fawn was with her. I have suspected for the last week or so that this doe had a fawn nearby as her flanks were shrunken and she spent a lot of time in the brush near the meadow, emerging to feed for a few moments and then slipping back into the woods. Luckily she went on into the woods but the fawn walked into the tall grass and lay down, giving me a decent photo opportunity.

Canon 40-D: 17-40mm at 40 mm-1/60 sec. f8 400 ISO

I had no sooner than arrived at the meadow when the doe and fawn featured in the post of June 9th (the first one I saw this year) came running into the meadow, stopped quite near me and began nursing. I wish you could have heard the soft, rapid, mewing noise that the fawn made as it fed. (This was definitely the same doe, but if she had twins I can't say if this was the same fawn-only time will tell!

Canon 40-D: 70-200 mm at 200 mm-1/125 sec. f5.6 400 ISO

Due to a busy schedule, this will be the last post until Friday or Saturday when I hope to be able to return with further updates!