Elk In The Tall Grass

Bull In Short Grass Along Winslow Hill Road: Panasonic GH4-Lumix 100-300 F4.0-5.6@300mm-ISO 400-1/250 Sec. f6.3

It seems that one often finds elk grazing in the short grass by the roadside when traveling Winslow Hill Road.  I will seldom pass up an opportunity to photograph them in this situation, but I much prefer to photograph them in taller, more natural looking grass, or perhaps I should say grass that is not so obviously manipulated by man.

Cows In Natural Setting: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4.0 IS + 1.4 extender-ISO 400-1/400 sec. F 4.5

The grass in the photo above was planted during the reclamation of an old strip mine and looks more wild or natural than short lawn type grass..  It was in this same setting that I photographed one of the largest bull of my June trip.  I was watching the same herd of cows in the evening (the photo above was taken in morning) and as the sun was sinking low in the west a respectable bull appeared, but at first he stayed in the shade at the edge of the meadow.

5x5: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4.0 IS-ISO 400-1/400 sec. F 4.5

 In time, the cows moved across the meadow and he joined them for awhile in the last rays of the evening  sun.

Cow and Bull Interacting: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4.0 IS-ISO 400-1/640 sec. F5.0

After spending some time grazing and interacting with the cows, the bull broke into a run and left the area.

Leaving The Meadow: Canon 5D MK III-Canon 600mm F4.0 IS-ISO 400-1/640 sec. F5.0

I prefer  to photograph elk in a field that has tall grass with a lot of wildflowers such as goldenrod , asters,and butterfly weed, etc., but those flowers are not blooming yet in June and a meadow such as the one in the photos above comes in a close second.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Bulls, Birds, And Calves

The primary focus of my annual mid-June trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country is to photograph the elk calves, but they were extremely skittish as I noted in the last post.  I got the only decent calf photo of the trip on Friday morning.  As is so often the case it was extremely foggy and I was cruising the hill waiting for it to lift a bit when I saw a small group of cows with one calf  about 25 yards from the road.  I parked well off of the roadway.  Since the grass was tall I made no effort to set the tripod up, but instead stood on the door sill of the SUV, rested the 5D MKIII with 300mm f2.8 lens over the top of the vehicle and fired several frames.  It is good that I did not try to get the tripod as the elk stood there less than a minute before running away.

Foggy Morning Calf

When one is looking for calves it is also common to see different species of grassland birds.  I have seen Bobolinks for years, but always took video before and never got an acceptable still photograph of one until Wednesday morning when I photographed one with the Canon 70D and the 600mm F 4.0 lens.

Bobolink

It was a bit more difficult to see bulls, but a young bull was seen most mornings and evenings feeding or resting along the edge of the food plot near the log cabin on the hill at the Porcupine Run/Winslow Hill Viewing Area.  In this case I took video for some time with the Panasonic GH4 and 100-300mm Lumix lens before switching it to still mode and firing a few still frames.

Young Bull With Cows

I actually found quite a few bulls and some were of respectable size for young animals, but none were had the potential to grow truly exceptional racks this year.  The 5x5 shown below was one of the largest seen on this trip. He was traveling with a bachelor group of three bulls and was the largest of that particular group.

5x5 Bull Peers At Camera

Some would call this a large 5x5 while other veteran elk photographers would chuckle and comment that large and 5x5 are not compatible words.  Whatever the case there seems to be quite a few bulls of this size class out there this year and I plan to post some more photos of them in the near future.

Originally published at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.

Late Spring In PA Elk Country

Late spring in Pennsylvania's elk range and outdoor photographers are concentrating on photographing the elk calves. There has been a lot of rainfall this spring and one has to keep close to the vehicle or be prepared to weather a severe thunderstorm.

Distant Thunderhead

Elk usually go in early in the morning to avoid the hot rays of the sun and come out very late in the evening, but an afternoon thunder storm may bring them to the fields earlier.

Herd Feeding In The Rain

An added bonus of this type of weather is the potential for dramatic landscape shots as the skies clear and fog lifts after the storm.

Fog Forms After Shower

While I was taking the photograph above, the sun was behind a bank of heavy clouds, but there was a clear spot that it had to cross before setting.  I anticipated dramatic interaction of the rays of the sun with the fog when it came from behind the clouds and I was not disappointed.

Late Evening Sun Adds Dramatic Cast To Rising Fog

Winslow Hill Sunset

I have seen several calves, but they have been too far away for the best quality still photographs or it has been too foggy.  The photo below was taken at extreme range with the 600mm f4 and 1.4x extender and cropped severely on top of that.

Distant Calves

Each year the PGC captures several calves and fits them with radio collars and/or ear tags for research purposes and a large number of the animals seen on Winslow Hill are wearing the tags.  It is normal for elk to be more skittish at this time of year to help protect the young  from predators, but it does seem likely that capturing the calves contributes to this shyness as does the influx of nature enthusiasts.

Originally published by Willard Hill at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer.

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.