TODAY’S SURPRISE

White-tailed Deer, Little Maquoketa Valley, Eastern Iowa

Joan and I, we both have seen this young buck recently. We probably know this particular White-tailed Deer since it was a little fawn and watched it visiting our front yard together with its mother and another sibling before, especially during winter.

I went over to a neighbor property today, trying to identify a bird we heard screaming many times before. We had our guesses, but were never totally sure what it was. Today I saw it, and I’m able to confirm that it is a Red-tailed Hawk. The parents and its offspring scream across the valley. I call discoveries like that good news!

While walking back to the house I suddenly became aware of a movement along the edge of the woods. There he stood! The light overall was kinda harsh, but with a dense area of forest in the background, this didn’t play much of a role.

I have photographed does and and fawns of White-tailed here on top of the bluffs at the Little Maquoketa Valley, but having a buck like this in front of the lens is not an every day occurrence. Soon this buck will shed the velvet on its antlers and participate in the rut. I hope to see him again!

NATURE CLICKS #309 - MULE DEER BUCK

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Back to the Black Hills and Custer State Park again. Sometimes a photo doesn’t tell the whole story about what was going on at the moment the click was made. And this is OK as long as your picture has a subject and tells the story that is important. Here it is the encounter of a young Mule Deer buck in the early morning sun on a slope of tall grass prairie. This is why I really wanted to go to Custer State Park so badly! It is the place to make pictures like this one. What you don’t see is the presence of a second buck right in front of this one. Within a second I had to make a decision about how to frame the picture. The deer stopped briefly but they were not waiting for a photographer to make up his mind slowly. Shooting them separately led to a better composition and allowed to use the full focal length of 500 mm to get close to the subject. Nobody will miss the second deer in the photo… 😊