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 Far Encounter And A Close Encounter

For today's post we feature two photos, one taken at extreme distance and the other at quite close range. I spent most mornings last week looking for bachelor groups of large bucks.  This involves being in a likely area at daybreak and remaining until shortly after sunrise when most whitetail activity ceases.  This particular morning was already hot with a promise of scorching heat and humidity to come.  I did see three bucks shortly after dawn, and two were very large for this area, but it was early in the morning and they were extremely far away, so I used the Canon XL-H1 video camera to record this action.  When I was leaving the area I came to a creek cliff overlooking a distant creek bottom.  I was pleasantly surprised to see three hen turkeys with several young feeding at the edge of a barley field as the first rays of the morning sun bathed the countryside in a warm glow.

Distant Flock Of Hen Turkeys With Young

At first I videotaped the turkeys with the 500mm attached to the XL-H1 which gives an effective focal length of over 3,600mm in 35mm camera terms.  With that completed I mounted the Canon 7D and 2x extender on the 500mm which gives an effective focal length of 1,600mm in 35mm terms. What is impressive about this photo is that the birds are about 300 yards or 900 ft. away.  The photo is slightly cropped to give a more balanced composition than the original.

While it is satisfying to take a passable shot at extreme long range, it cannot compare to being extremely close to the subject as the next photo of a Rufous Sided Towhee demonstrates.  I have seen these birds all of my life, but have not been able to get acceptable photos of them until lately when they began using the natural backwoods bird feeder

Male Rufous Sided Towhee

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Camera Critters: Summer Mornings

The Pennsylvania backcountry is a wonderful place to spend a beautiful summer morning, with activity beginning as day breaks and often continuing until well after sunrise.

A Young Whitetail Buck Pauses From Feeding

A Crow Surveys The Countryside For Danger

 It is always a special thrill to see the fawns and Friday morning was especially rewarding when one of the does brought twins to the meadow.  I had seen her several times with only one fawn with her, but I strongly suspected that she had twins.  Does keep the young fawns hidden as much as possible for the first few weeks of their lives and they attempt to keep them hidden in separate spots to lessen the chances of a predator killing both in one encounter.  Most fawn mortality seems to be from natural causes, or predation by black bears, coyotes, and bobcats.

One Of The Twins

While both of the fawns were present, I only got a decent photograph of one as they were so frisky that they were darting in and out of the sunlight.  It was frustrating as one would see a beautiful composition, but the fawn would move before the camera could be positioned.  Hopefully I will be able to photograph them both together in the future.

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Pennsylvania Elk Management: "Wild About Elk" Part 2

John Di Berti, PGC Elk Biologist made several more points at the "Wild About Elk " workshop.  I will cover some of them below.  They are not verbatim quotes, but rather a synopsis of what was presented, with some of my input such as in comparing the relative reproduction capabilities of elk and deer.

PGC Elk Biologist Jon Di Berti Gives PowerPoint Presentation-Photo by W.Hill

• Cow elk usually do not give birth until they are three years of age and they usually only have one calf, in contrast to whitetail deer that may give birth at one year of age, usually give birth at two years, and frequently have twins and sometimes triplets.  In practical terms this means that elk do not have nearly the reproductive potential that deer do, and therefore it is much easier to control their numbers so that they do not damage their habitat. 

• Dealing with elk human conflicts is an important concern in elk management. This segment was covered by Wildlife Conservation Officer Doty McDowell and will be covered in depth in a future post.

• Maintaining a healthy herd with a good age structure is extremely important.  It seems that we are basically doing well with the elk here in Pennsylvania, with the exception that there are not enough bulls making it past the 51/2 year point.  According to Mr. Diberti, a bull will reach his maximum potential between the age of 6-9 years, but the ability to grow large racks may continue past the ninth year. 

Young Bull Browsing: Bulls Must Be At Least 6-9 Years Old To Reach Full Potential-Photo by W.Hill

Mature Bull Taken on Same Day-Note Extreme Difference In Antler Size-Photo by W.Hill

• The number of tags issued does not seem to greatly influence the number of applications received. Over 50,000 applications were received for the first hunt in 2001, but numbers then declined to a low of 17,245 in 2007. They then increased slightly in 2008 and 2009 and have basically stabilized at just below 20,000 applicants.

• The hunt has not significantly lowered elk mortality from other causes such as killing for crop damage, roadkill, or natural causes, but rather is additional mortality above and beyond these factors.

• Habitat management practices directed toward elk is beneficial to a wide variety of other species as well.  We will cover this in further detail in a future post with photos from a field tour with Land Management Officer John Dzemyan.

Original content posted at  http://pawildlifephotographer.blogspot.com/