First Fawn

Hidden Fawn: Panasonic GH4-Lumix 100-300mm f 4.0-5.6 @ 150mm-ISO 200-1.40 Sec. f 8.0

Is the fawn above just hours old or is it days old?  In most cases one does not know the answer, but in this case I am reasonably certain that I do.

I watch the local herd quite closely and can identify several individual animals.  One doe in particular stands out above all of the rest and she had a large abdomen--a sure sign of pregnancy.  I usually see her each day, but she did not appear on the morning of June 3rd and when she showed up that evening her flanks were sunken which was a sure indication she had given birth.

Shortly after sunrise on June 7th I found her feeding in a clover field and a fawn was with her. Since I was walking I had only the new Panasonic GH4 with the 100-300mm lens with me.  This is a hybrid camera which takes takes both video and stills. It stands out because it is one of the first pro-sumer cameras to take 4K video, which at this point seems to be the wave of the future (or at least umtil 6K or 8K comes along). I mostly took video, but did take a few stills, the two best of which are posted below.

Doe With Fawn: Panasonic GH4-Lumix 100-300mm f 4.0-5.6 @ 100mm-ISO 200-1/200 Sec. f 8.0

Fawn Nursing: Panasonic GH4-Lumix 100-300mm f 4.0-5.6 @ 214 mm-ISO 200-1/200 Sec. f 8.0

As the sun grew hotter she fed to the edge of the meadow and then entered the woods to spend the day with the fawn accompanying her. In time I walked to the edge of the woods and saw the fawn hidden on the forest floor.  This natural camouflage is their foremost defense against attacks from predators at this time of life.  You will also note that in many photos I post of does and fawns that the doe is licking the fawns rear.  This is to keep waste matter cleaned away so as to minimize scent so actually scent control and camouflage work together to aid in the fawn's survival.

While I continued to see the doe regularly, I didn't see her with a fawn again until the evening of June 9th.  I was on stand watching the same meadow when she appeared with what appears to be the same fawn.

Fawn Nursing: Canon 5d MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 400- 1/500 sec-f 5.0

Alert Fawn: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm f 4.0 IS L-ISO 400- 1/500 sec-f 5.0

Does normally have one to two fawns, but sometimes they have triplets or even more in extremely rare cases.  This doe had triplets in 2012, but only had one fawn in 2013.  How many will she have this year?  I already partially know the answer, but that is for another days post.

Most if not all of the does in the local herd  have now given birth and fawn sightings are increasing, but it will be sometime until the fawns become the doe's constant companions.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

The First Fawns Arrive

Young Fawn Nursing: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8-1.4 extender -ISO 1600 1/100 Sec. f4

I discussed in some detail in the post of May 16 about when one could expect to see the first fawns in my area.  To my surprise I saw the first one that very evening.  It was well over 300 yards away and nursing from its' mother.  Even though it was late and the range was far I decided to try for a video clip, but by the time I got the 500mm F4 mounted on the GH3, it was no longer visible.

Fast-forward to early morning on May 18th and I was pleasantly surprised to see a young fawn come running into the meadow I was watching.  It ran to its' mother and started nursing while I took several photographs with the 5D MK III and the 300mm f2.8 with 1.4X extender.

Doe and Fawn: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8-1.4 extender -ISO 1600 1/60 Sec. f4

The fawn left the meadow shortly after sunrise and found shelter in the woods on the nearby hillside.  I was able to get into position for a few more photographs without disturbing it.

Fawn Resting: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 17-40 f4@40mm-ISO 400 1/125 Sec. f5

Fawn In Woods: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 300mm f2.8 -ISO 400 1/60 Sec. f8

I have seen this fawn with its' mother on more occasions, but none close enough for good stills, although I have gotten video of it and a few other fawns as well.

It is not clear why these fawns are arriving earlier this spring--although of course it is because the does were bred a bit earlier last fall, which again raises the question as to why breeding activity was a bit early last fall.  Whatever the case, the young animals are welcome additions to the local herd and provide wonderful observation, and filming opportunities when they are seen.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

More Whitetail Fawn Photos and Video

I have been photographing very little else than whitetail fawns for the past few weeks and so I will share some of the photos and video with you today. We begin with a short video clip of the newborn fawn featured in the last post. It was resting on the forest floor and I was filming it with the T3i with 24-105 lens attached. It stood up and started moving toward me and at that point I dropped from kneeling position into sitting and removed the camera from the tripod as I did so. It is hard to follow focus with a DSLR in video mode, but I kicked the IS in to get maximum stability. The Zacuto finder was mounted in the traditional position. I simply pressed it to my eye, looking directly through the Zacuto as one ordinarily would the eye level finder. This helped to stabilize the camera and the combination of the Zacuto and the sharp LCD of the T3i, made it possible to hit acceptable focus much of the time, which is not too bad, as a traditional camcorder is bad at hunting for focus under such a situation. This is the instance in which the fawn actually nuzzled my clothing.




The three photographs below were taken on the evening of June 7th, when a doe brought one of her fawns into the food plot for a good photo session. All of the photos were taken with the 5D MKIII and the 500mm F4 at ISO 400mm.

Young Fawn Pauses From Exploring The Meadow

Fawn Nursing 

Fawn Pauses From Nursing

Documenting the young wildlife as it explores the bright new world around it, is one of the most rewarding activities the outdoor photographer can engage in.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

A Tale of a Newborn Fawn and The Canon 5D MK III

This morning after the deer left the meadow, I decided to take a walk through the nearby woods.  The Canon T3i with 100-400mm lens was on the video tripod as it  is one of the most versatile lenses for this type of work. I had gone a short distance when I noticed a doe lying flat on the ground about 75 yards away.

This  happened much quicker than I can write it, but I put the tripod into shooting position while looking at the deer.  She was in a brushy area, which made it hard to be sure exactly what I was seeing, but she tried to get up at least twice before succeeding and I am almost certain that I saw a fawn fall out of her.  Whatever the case--once she left there was no doubt that I could see a  fawn still wet from the birthing fluids and it was so unsteady that it staggered about  as it tried to keep its' footing.  I took quite a bit of Video, utilizing the 3x crop factor ,which is available in video mode and then I slowly worked closer.    I found the fawn resting in the understory.  I did not approach it close enough to frighten it,  but I was close enough to use the 24-105 so I mounted it on the T3i. To my surprise, as I was doing this, the fawn  got up and walked to me with shaky steps. I was not able to get sharp still photos of this, as the shutter speed was too low to stop the motion, but I mostly took video and it turned out well. The fawn walked about mewing and at one point actually nuzzled my pants legs before it walked off a short distance and laid down again.

Newborn Fawn: Canon T3i--24-105mmLat 65mm ISO 320

After taking several stills and a lot of video, I left the T3i in position on the tripod and carefully retreated to the nearby meadow where my vehicle was parked and got my Canon 5D MKIII and 70-200mm F2.8 L lens with Gitzo tripod and Wimberley head, as an encounter like this is so rare that I wanted to try for the best quality possible and this camera is supposed to excel in less than ideal lighting conditions.  (I had originally not carried it as it seemed likely that any opportunity would be at long range and I wanted the added range of the 3x crop, which is available in the Rebel body--why didn't they put this feature in the 5D MKIII?--had they done so it definitely would be my favorite camera.)

At any rate, the fawn was still there, but not in quite the same position and I took a few shots before retreating.

Newborn Fawn: Canon 5DMKIII-Canon 70-20mm F2.8 at 73mm ISO 200

Newborn Fawn: Canon 5DMKIII-Canon 70-20mm F2.8 at 200mm ISO 200

 It is an exciting time as the young animals are born.  Soon it will be time to look for the bachelor groups of mature whitetail bucks as they roam the remote backcountry meadows in early morning and late evening, but for now the arrival of the young is the focus of attention.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

One By One The Whitetail Fawns Appear- Until They Are Eaten!

By now it appears that most if not all of the pregnant does in the local whitetail deer herd have given birth, but there had been no additional sightings since the first on May 18th--until just a few days ago.  One can usually tell if birthing has occurred by looking closely at the doe's abdomen and flank area, but it can be tricky as their abdomen can still appear distended from a side view, especially if they are an older doe that has had many fawns down through the years. If is better if they present a view from either end, which makes it easy to see that they are no longer as round as the proverbial 55 gallon barrel.

Doe One Day After Giving Birth: Note Sunken Flanks

I see the doe in the photo above on an almost daily basis, so it seemed likely that when she didn't appear on June 6th that she was giving birth.  Sure enough, when she came to the meadow on the following morning, her flanks were sunken and the ribs were easily visible.  After feeding for a time she left and was gone about thirty minutes, when suddenly a young fawn came lurching from the tall grass in the unsteady gait of the recently born and the doe came into view close behind.  At the time I was filming birds and squirrels with the Canon XL-H1 so I switched it to them.  After recording some exciting interaction between the doe, the fawn, and another young doe, I switched to the Canon 7D and the 300mm F2.8 for still photographs.

Doe Nuzzles Recently Born Fawn

It is always a thrill to see the young fawns at this stage in life and observe their bright eyed curiosity about the strange world they find themselves in.and to see how protective the does are of them.  This is when they are the cutest and most photogenic, but it is not always easy to see them at this period. Sometimes they are relatively easy to see within a few days of birth, but this is often followed by a period in which sightings are  rare until they start traveling full time with the does, which usually happens sometime in July. 

 Does Are Very Protective Of The Young

It is common for mature does to have twins, but it is not always easy to know if this is the case as they ordinarily hide the fawns in separate places some distance apart  to lessen the chances of both animals being killed by predators, and they are often seen traveling with only one fawn at a time.  This threat is very real as fellow photographer, and blogger, Jim Borden and his wife Joan  found out first hand on a recent trip to Shenandoah Nation Park where they observed a coyote killing two fawns.  In a likely once in a lifetime opportunity, they were able to photograph this.  For the full story and exceptional deer and coyote photographs, visit Jim and Joan at JJ Wildlife Photography.

In a lot of cases one will see a fawn for a day or so and then never see it again, or it may be certain that a doe did give birth because of the sunken flanks and abdomen, but a fawn never appears and one doesn't know if it died during birth, from disease, or predation.  In this case I was able to gain more insight* into how many fawns this doe had.  At first I noticed her nursing a single fawn in the same spot the earlier photos were taken, but then she and the fawn walked into a small mountain stream.  I had to make a decision as to which camera to use, so I decided to focus on video with a  DSLR, which gave me the option to get  both still and video.  I had difficulty positioning the camera because of intervening shrubbery and grass, but surprise of surprises, when I was ready to film and looked through the finder, there were two fawns nursing from the doe.  At one point I paused from filming to take a few still photographs.

Doe With Twins

It will be interesting to see if I continue to see them frequently, or if they will vanish for a time, or forever.  One can only hope they are able to avoid predators and the other hazards that a young fawn faces.

*Note I only said "gain insight".  While it is likely that she had twins, one cannot rule out triplets, or that she was nursing another doe's fawn.  The only statement I can make that can be absolutely judged to be scientifically true  is that I saw and filmed her nursing two fawns.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Camera Critters: Whitetail Bucks And Fawns At Shenandoah National Park

Fishers Gap Overlook: Shenandoah National Park

 1:30 Thursday morning and the alarm was blaring.  After less than four hours of sleep, it was difficult to arise and face the day.  Even though wildlife photography is my favorite activity I could muster little enthusiasm for the 150 mile drive to Shenandoah National Park, where I hoped to arrive at dawn.  This is a favorite whitetail deer photography spot and the main goals for the day were to photograph newborn fawns, bucks in velvet, and the superb mountain scenery.  I hurried to the home of retired PGC maintenance supervisor, Billie Cromwell's to pick him up, and by 2:30 we were on our way down I 70, 522 and then I-81.  My morale improved as the trip progressed and we arrived at the Thornton Gap entrance at dawn as planned.  We saw a few deer along the drive as day was breaking, but Big Meadows is usually the hotspot--at least at this time of year, so we continued on our way.

Several people were in the meadow attempting to photograph fawns when we arrived, but they were meeting with little success as there was probably less deer present than I can ever recall in early June.  At this point only two fawns were visible and both were in a situation where we would have had to interfere with other photographers to get into action.

Deer Walk Past Photographer

We drove past the meadow to Milam Gap, but saw nothing of interest there, so we returned to the meadow, parked in the main parking lot, shouldered our equipment, and walked an edge of the meadow where only one other photographer was working.  This part of the meadow has yielded a lot of whitetail photographs in past years, so we were optimistic.  Suddenly we saw the backs of two deer over a ridge and upon moving closer, found that they were bucks. Neither were exceptional, but the largest has the potential to grow a respectable rack.

Shenandoah Whitetail Buck:

By the time that we were done photographing the bucks, most of the deer had left the meadow and no fawns were visible.  We were somewhat discouraged and  decided to  drive back to Thornton Gap in hopes of seeing something on the way, but then miracle of miracles two fawns stood up and began nursing.  One was too far away, but the other did present an opportunity. By the time we had the equipment ready, the fawn stopped feeding, and the doe began moving through the meadow with the fawn following, but our luck turned for the better when she suddenly stopped and lay down, and  the fawn turned and walked directly toward us. Billie was better prepared to handle the situation than I, as he was using  the Canon 100-400mm  and could zoom out to better compose his photographs if the fawn kept closing the distance, while I had a 7D and  300mm F2.8 with 1.4 extender  attached.  Thankfully the fawn did hesitate to nuzzle the trunk of a pine tree, then moved a bit closer and paused in a clump of grass, which give me a chance to take some photographs.

Fawn Nuzzles Charred Pine Tree Trunk

Whitetail Fawn Prepares To Lie Down

It walked even closer, and I frantically removed the extender, but by the time I was ready for action, it had lain down in a clump of blueberry bushes. The head was visible for awhile, but then it lowered it to the ground and was hidden so well that someone walking by would not have had an inkling that a fawn was there.

Natural Camouflage: The Fawn Was Invisible When It Lowered Its' Head

With this, we declared the morning to be a success and head for Thornton Gap and home. On the way, we saw a bachelor group of 4 or more bucks, at least two of which were larger than the one we photographed in the meadow. We got no photographs of them, but it brought the morning to a successful conclusion.  We were back in Fulton County shortly after noon, and that evening I was afield, looking for fawns near home.

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Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill

Camera Critters: I Photograph The Twins

I mentioned in the post of July 3rd that one of the does brought twins to the meadow, but I was unable to get good photographs of both together.  This changed on Monday morning when both fawns came to the meadow with the doe.  What a thrill to watch the fawns as they nursed and to hear their mewing and bleating sounds.

Whitetail Fawns Nursing

Once they completed feeding, they played in the meadow for sometime before leaving for the cool shade of the woodlands as the heat and humidity returned with the sunrise.

Fawns Pause From Playing

I never tire of watching their  facial expressions and reactions as the explore the bright new world around them.

Fawns Are So Curious!

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Camera Critters: A Living Legend

I spent most of last week in Pennsylvania's Elk Country.  Photography had to take a back seat at times during this trip as I attended a very informative workshop on elk, which was presented by The Pennsylvania Game Commission and also spent a lot of time discussing elk issues with concerned citizens.

I was fortunate enough to encounter Bull #36 on several occasions.  He is more commonly known as "Fred" by most elk enthusiasts.  Many do not feel a trip to elk country is completely successful unless they see this gentle giant.

Fred: Bull 36

 I filmed him for the first time in 1997 when he was a beautiful young bull and have recorded him each year since except for 2002 and 2003 when our path's did not cross.  He was fitted with a radio transmitter collar in 2004 and has been officially known as Bull 36 since that time.

Fred: A Living Legend

No one I talked to is certain exactly how old he is, but agree that he is at least 16 years old, and probably 17 or more.  I was surprised to see that his rack is this large as it did not appear to have the potential to grow this much when I saw him in May.  He also was suffers from arthritis, but now seems to be walking much better.  Still he has to be near the end of his lifespan and it was truly a pleasure to photograph a living legend.

In contrast, the young fawn pictured below is hopefully just beginning life, although there is a fairly high mortality rate from predators and natural causes.  Please note that this is not a young elk, which is known as a calf, but rather a whitetail deer fawn. I did not have any close encounters with calves during this trip, although I did see several, which were too far away for good still photography.

1 Day Old Whitetail Fawn

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Camera Critters: Close Encounter With Whitetail Fawn

As my main photographic subjects are Whitetail Deer and Elk, here are two fawn photos, which were taken early on the morning of July 25th with the 70-200mm lens. I am almost certain that this is the same fawn that was featured in the post of June 27th, "Close And Personal With A Whitetail Fawn.

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They're Here-A Close Encounter With A Whitetail Fawn

My favorite whitetail doe was still pregnant on Saturday morning, but that evening she came to the meadow with sunken flanks, so I knew the important event had happened. I did have an encounter with the fawn later that evening, which I will share at a later date.

After she left the meadow this morning I walked an old roadway nearby and spied her walking up the road with a fawn. I took several photos, but the best was when it walked to the side of the road and posed at the base of the tree. As usual light levels were very low in the wooded area and I had to use ISO 800 with the 70-200mm 2.8.

2 Day Old Whitetail Fawn

Due to a busy schedule I will be unable to post or visit your blogs again until the end of the week.

Camera Critters: Whitetail Fawns and Hummingbird Moth

Today was an exceptional day for photographing whitetail fawns with excellent encounters in both the morning and evening.

I got the Canon 40D back from repair yesterday afternoon. According to the repair report: They replaced the shutter assembly, cover assembly top and window display, adjusted exposure and focus, cleaned C-mos to factory specs. Updated the firmware. Checked all.

At first all seemed well as I put the camera through its' paces, but then I mounted it on the 500mm F4 and tripod. In this case, I prefer to use a cabled remote release to fire the camera.
I attached the release, pressed the button and there was no response. A quick trial on the 30D confirmed the release was working. Just to double check, I borrowed Salty's release and tried it with the 40D with the same results.

Bottom line, about two weeks without the camera and I'm still not home free, so it turned out it was a wise decision to buy the 30D for a backup camera. To be truthful I like the 30D so much that I feel no loss at being without the 40D. I just hate the hassle of prepping it for repair again.

I do miss the larger and brighter LCD display of the 40D and the fact that it displays the ISO setting in the finder at all times, but when it comes to overall ease of operation and picture quality I still think the 30D is a formidable contender.

Whitetail Fawn: Canon 30D-500mm F4 1/100 sec. f4 ISO 400

The fawns are spending less time hiding now and are traveling about grazing more, so they are easier to see than a few weeks ago. They have also gotten much larger.

Whitetail Fawn: Canon 30D-300mm F4 1/100 sec. f4.5 ISO 400

After photographing fawns this morning, I spent some time in the wildlife meadow with the 500mm lens and a short extension tube, to enable it to focus closer. I was mostly looking for butterflies and did have some success, but I was excited to get my first decent capture of a Hummingbird Moth.

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth: Canon 30D-500mm F4 1/6400 sec. f5.6 ISO 200

These moths are easily confused with a hummingbird from a distance as their flight pattern is much the same.

For more camera critters photos, visit Misty Dawn.

Camera Critters: Back In Action

After being without a DSLR since July 2nd, since my Canon 40D broke down, it was a relief when UPS delivered a refurbished Canon 30D early Friday morning and I was back in business again.
The 40D is currently at Canon for factory service.

It soon became obvious that there were a few differences between the cameras with the 30D having a smaller LCD, and the viewfinder image not being as bright or large. The 40D was the first of that series of cameras to have the ISO visible in the finder and I found that I missed having this feature.

That being said, I could easily fall in love with this camera, as it performs well. Even though it is rated at 8.2 Megapixels and the 40D is 10.1, the 30D is capable of delivering superb image quality.

I pressed it into service that evening. It felt good to be back in action once again.

The fawns are now eating some plant growth to supplement their mother's milk. As the summer progresses they will continue to nurse, but they graze and browse on plants more and more. One may find them nursing on occasion throughout the autumn, but it is rare and the doe does not permit them to feed for any length of time.

Canon 30D: 500mmF4 1/ 200 Sec. F4 ISO 400

The rabbits are feeding on the succulent grasses in the wildlife meadow, and I was fortunate to capture this one during his brief visit on Friday evening.

Canon 30D: 500mmF4 1/ 60 Sec. F5 ISO 800

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