Camera Critters: Antler Growth Continues

I hope to follow the growth of two whitetail bucks during this spring and summer, but it seemed for a time that the project may have come to a screeching halt as I last saw the bucks on Monday evening.  Up until that time they were seen almost every morning and evening.  While few deer are killed by poachers at this time of year, it is possible for the animals to move several miles from their home range and not return.  Since one of the bucks is a three year old, the likelihood that he will leave is declining as most disperse in their first autumn as a rack buck or the following spring.

Over the years I have seen two 2year olds, vanish suddenly from mid-May to early June, so I was not ruling out the possibility that this had happened, and I was starting to feel a sense of loss, but then last evening they returned to the food plot and I was able to photograph the same buck that was featured last week.

2 year old-exactly one week later

Notice how the points are now clearly defined. For those who are technically minded, I used the 70-200mmf2.8L IS and the Canon 7D for today's deer photos.

One Week Later- The Points Are Plainly Visible

I had to post a photograph of another species to prove that I do photograph something besides deer, turkeys, and elk, so here is a chipmunk from this morning's photo shoot.

Chipmunk

In this case I used the Canon 7D with the 500mmF4 IS.  As light conditions were very low, this was taken at ISO 800-1/100 sec. f4.5.

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Camera Critters: A Young Buck Grows Antlers

Here in Pennsylvania, whitetail buck's antler growth accelerates rapidly in early May .  This is the same animal that was posted for Camera Critters last week.

Antler Growth Accelerates In May

Look carefully at the close-up shot of the left antler in the following photograph and note how the antler is starting to fork(the slight dip in the center indicates that the antler will grow in each direction from that divide-one will be the main beam the other the brow point).  It will be interesting to see how soon this becomes a well defined point.  This buck should make at least a six-point and will likely grow eight or more points.

A Point Develops

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Gobbling Season Winds Down

While we had a severe winter this year, it did break early and spring seemed to arrive earlier than usual.  As a result the turkey mating season began early, at least in my area, and is now winding down.  It was common to hear several gobblers each morning just a short time ago, but now gobbling is very sporadic and one can easily spend a morning outdoors without hearing any gobbling at all. 

Alert Mature Gobbler Pauses As He Moves Through Woodlands

It was common to see the birds strutting and courting only a week or so ago, but now it is rare.  They are more likely to be seen feeding or moving about.  If they do strut or gobble, it seems that the action does not last long, before they lose interest and return to feeding.

Camera Critters: A Variety

I have been somewhat hesitant to post any material recently as it seems that deer and turkeys are all that I an able to photograph at present, but that is mostly because I am concentrating on photographing the spring turkey gobbling season.

I did finally get a chance to photograph some other species this morning.  Most of the deer left the meadow before sunrise this morning, but I lingered until well after sun-up and the first visitor was a fox squirrel.

Fox Squirrel

Lat

Next I noticed a Red-bellied Woodpecker feeding from a nearby natural bird feeder.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Later a young whitetail buck came by on his way from feeding in the meadows, to a shady spot in the nearby mountain where he will spend the mid-part of the day.

Young Whitetail Buck

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