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

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake: A Rare Encounter

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake: Canon 40D 100mm 2.8 macro -ISO 100 1/200 sec. f 2.8

I used to see Eastern Timber Rattle Snakes on occasion during my years of working for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, but I had not seen one since retiring in 2007...until Sunday evening.

I was waiting by the side of a meadow in hopes that whitetail deer or wild turkeys would appear, when I happened to glance behind me and saw a large rattler crawling across the access road to the field, only a few feet away.

I moved into the area he was crawling toward in the nearby woods and got in position with the Rebel T3i on the video tripod and the Canon 7D and 500mm F4 on the still tripod.  I also scooped up the 40D with 100mm 2.8 macro, and it was hanging from my neck.  The snake spotted me, stopped and coiled-up and I began filming and photographing him.  I do not like to shoot hand-held under any circumstances, but I tried one frame with the 40D handheld and did get spot-on sharpness--see first photo.  That photo is also cropped substantially as I was not moving that close to a rattler.

I also pressed the 500mm F4 into service and took several shots.  I did not have extension tubes along, so I had to back-up a bit to use this lens and then crop severely to get a satisfactory composition.

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake: Canon 7D 500mm F4 ISO 400-1/500 sec F4

Eastern Timber Rattle Snake: Canon 7D 500mm F4 ISO 400-1/2500 sec F4

Lighting conditions were constantly changing as the sun went behind clouds or as shadows fell across the snake as the sun shifted position in relation to trees in the area.  It was very contrasty light, but thanks to the local adjustments feature in Adobe Camera Raw 7, I was able to equalize this to a certain extent and get acceptable results from this rare encounter.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Hunt Zone Specific Elk License Allocations 2012

Bull Killed In 2011 Season: New State Record

Carol Mulvihill's column in the May 19th issue of Endeavor News, 65 elk licenses to be issued; herd at 800 strong,  lists the breakdown of the 2012 elk license allocations as to Elk Hunt Zone.  At this point it seems that hunting pressure will not be increased on the Winslow Hill  herd this autumn, although it remains to be seen if the No Hunt Zone will remain as it has been for the past several years, or if it will be further decreased as rumors have suggested.

As we pointed out in a previous post, the overall allocation is 1 bull and 8 cow tags  higher than last year.

The allocation is designed to focus attention on the herd in the Weedville area, with 4 bull tags and 4 cow tags issued for Zone 10, which includes the Spring Run/Weedville areas.  This contrasts to a 2011 allotment of  2 bull tags and 2 cow tags for this zone for an increase of four.  Hunt Zone 9 also directly impacts the Weedville area and license allocations for 2012 stand at 4 bull tags and 10 cow tags,  in contrast to 2 bull and 9 cow licenses in 2011 for an increase of 3 tags.

Largest Bull Seen On Winslow Hill  Rut 2011--killed in Jay Township

 On a positive note, the bull allocation in Zone 2 has been reduced from four to three tags, and cow allocations remain the same at 12 animals, but while one bull tag has been dropped, the two bull increase in Zone 10 will likely mean things remain much the same as it seems a lot of the mature bulls seen on Winslow Hill during the rut, spend the rest of the year in the Grey Hill, Spring Run, or Weedville areas--a case in point being that two of the largest bulls seen on the hill during the rut last year were killed during elk season in the Spring Run/Weedville area.

Breakdown by Zone: Source: C. Mulvihill-Endeavor News 05-19-2012

Hunt Zone     Antlered       Antlerless    Total Licenses

1                    Open                Open          
2                        3                      12                   15
3                        1                        2                     3
4                        1                        1                     2
5                     Closed              Closed                 0
6                     Closed              Closed                 0
7                        4                       10                   14
8                        2                         7                     9
9                        4                       10                   14
10                      4                         4                     8
Total                 19                       46                   65


Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Spring Wildlife

From early March until mid-May, I spend most of my time afield filming and photographing the Eastern Wild Turkey mating season--mostly working at catching the gobblers strutting and performing the courtship display.

Mature Gobbler Performs Courtship Display: Canon 500mm F4

I see large numbers of deer while doing this, but they are not the most appealing subjects at this time of year as their coats are ragged and bleached looking while they shed the brown winter coat and transition to the sleek red coat of summer.  As a result, most of my photographs are of turkeys. This intense focus on one species makes blogging difficult as it gets somewhat redundant featuring post after post of the same subject.

Fortunately other species do venture near enough for good photo opportunities at times, and today we feature some of the better shots taken of birds while waiting for the gobblers to appear.

Mourning doves are frequently seen, but often at too great of a distance for the best portraits.  At times the countryside resounds with their mournful song. 

Mourning Dove: Canon 7D-300mmF2.8 with 2x Extender

Crows are always present, but they are either usually too far, or the light is not right to capture detail, but on occasion things come together and it is possible to get a usable photograph.

Common Crow: Canon 7D-300mm F2.8 with 1.4 Extender

It is always a special treat to encounter an Eastern Towhee.  These small birds flit about the forest floor and are not too difficult to see in my area, but it is hard to catch them sitting still long enough to get the camera in position and click the release. On occasion; however, one is rewarded with success.

Female Eastern Towhee: Canon 7D-300mm F2.8 with 1.4 Extender

Stay tuned for some more thoughts on CS6, new Canon DSLRs that are on the way, and some detailed information on utilizing the video potential of the  Canon T3i or 600D  as it is known in other parts of the world. (Why didn't they use that name in the US also--it sounds so much better to me.)  I will try to deal with some or all of these subjects soon, but it has been difficult to find time to post as I am working on "Pennsylvania Elk Country" a new film on Pennsylvania Elk and the other wildlife that live in the northwoods, between this, photographing most mornings and evenings, and dealing with the necessary details of daily life, it seems there are not enough hours in the day.

Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.