WATCHING EACH OTHER

White-tailed Deer, Mississippi River, dam #9, near Harpers Ferry

A hike on top of dam #9 at the Mississippi River, which is north of Harpers Ferry, didn’t lead to any good bird photography today. Well, that doesn’t really matter, the weather was just gorgeous and being outside under a blue sky in November is priceless. Walking back to the car at the Iowa access to the dam (the lock is at the other end on the Wisconsin side) I saw a deer crossing the dam. I didn’t expect to see it again when I came closer, but here it was, standing in the grass below the dam. The beautiful looking doe lifted its head and became aware of me, but still gave me a little time to put the monopod on the ground, frame the shot, and make a few clicks. The background shows the deer’s habitat quite well but it’s also busy. I tried to minimize the impact of the busy background without loosing the story and cropped the final photo a bit on three sides.

Nikon Z6 III, Nikon NIKKOR Z 600 f/6.3 VR S, Nikon Z TC-1.4x, Benro MSDPL46C SupaDupa Monopod, Monopod Gimbal Head    @ 840mm, 1/320s, f/9, ISO 1600, image cropped

VISIT FOR LUNCH

The deeper snow makes our little herd of White-tailed Deer even braver and since a few days two fawns show up already around noon for a lunch. While one ate the seeds that dropped from the bird feeders, its sibling stood guard and observed the surroundings. They must have found out that the photographer prefers this time over the hour after sunset due to better light…😉 Look at the ears! They change direction every few seconds and tell the story about the mission of this little guy.

However, this evening two does and four fawns returned, obviously knowing that I had thrown a couple extra hands of bird seeds onto the snow. At night we hear some coyotes bark, yip, and howl behind the house or down in the valley. Live is not easy for the deer at the moment…

Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm / f4,   @200 mm, 1/800 s, f/8, ISO200

WILDLIFE AT HOME

White-tailed Deer, Little Maquoketa River Valley, Iowa

With snow on the ground since late October things are a little different this year. It feels like January and I’m almost sure the critters in our woods think the same way. The White-tailed Deer are in the rut and during the last few days I have seen a couple bucks roaming around down at the river and here up on the bluffs of the Little Maquoketa River Valley.

Today a doe with her fawn were hanging around the house in the late afternoon. It is the time of the year when I have the camera always ready to use in combination with the long lens. We see the deer not just during the winter but it is a lot easier than during the summer to make a photo, if the light is just right. I made several clicks with each of them being the subject in the photo, but in a few shots the faun tried to fondle with its mother. Gesture wins over technical perfection in my books, and today’s photo tells the story about their presence this evening the best.