Fallen Fruit

 

The days grow progressively shorter as summer melds into autumn.  With much of the growing season behind us many of the fruits are ripening and wildlife is enjoying the bounty of the season.  During one of my evening walks I encountered this cottontail eating a pear that had dropped early along the roadside.   

 

At another place along the same back road I spotted a cottontail eating a fallen peach.

 

While peaches and pears are not everyday staples in the cottontail diet, these little critters are not about to pass up the bonanza of fallen fruit.

 

  

Wild Faces

Wild faces come in many shapes and sizes.  Some we recognize as cute and cuddly while others may be seen as being more ominous. 

 

Here is a small collection of Wild Faces I have met recently. 

 

Cottontail:  Met while taking an evening walk.

Gray Squirrel:  Caught while raiding a naturalized bird feeder

Beaver:  The beaver swam close to my hide while I watched a wetland for ducklings

Snapping Turtle:  Spotted while watching for ducks. 

Backyard Wildlife

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
 

Brown Thrasher

 

Cottontail

 

One doesn't have to travel long distances to photograph wildlife.  The photos in this post were taken around my home this week.

 

Cottontail Grooming

Grooming is a part of wildlife's daily activity

All spiffed up and ready to launch a evening raid on my garden!

Summer Shots

Each season presents one with its own unique photo opportunities.  Autumn with its colorful leaves and rutting ungulates followed by the snow, ice and eagles of winter slipping into spring as the waterfowl migrations move northward, vegetation takes on a mantle of green and flowers burst forth into bloom. 

As summer follows spring Butterfly numbers begin to increase and young animals sightings become more numerous.  An evening spent at a nearby meadow although somewhat uncomfortable because of the biting insects was nevertheless enjoyably spent photographing the beauty of early summer.

The thistle, just beginning to bloom, is attracting the colorful fritillary butterflies pictured here.  As there are so many varieties of fritillary I will not attempt to identify which variety is pictured here. 

A young cottontail back lit by the evening sun sits with ears aglow; maintaining an alert surveillance of its surroundings. 

Its curiosity won out when it moved to within a few feet to investigate.  While it was watching I stayed busy capturing its close-up image; an image so close that even the small tick attached to the side of its face is quite visible.

This little rabbit showed no fear as it stared me down.  It closed the final distance quickly leaving me in a position from which it was impossible to get to the viewfinder of my tripod mounted camera.  The Canon 60D's articulating LCD proved up to the task as it allowed me to focus and make the shot.

Seasons come and seasons go.  As I ponder the question of which season is my photographic favorite I conclude that my favorite is what ever season it happens to be at the moment.

Note:  After a long absence from blogging my son, Chad, has resumed weekly posting.  Take a moment to pop over to see his incredible images and inspiring text.

COTTONTAIL

With the warmer weather we experienced this past week my wife & I took a walk by a neighboring farm one evening near sundown. As we were walking along we spied this pretty cottontail sitting under some overhanging evergreens along the roadside with low angle sunlight illuminating it perfectly. I snapped a few shots and then began moving closer, and closer, and closer until I was so close that the rabbit filled the viewfinder.

After getting the shot we walked on. Upon our return our neighbor was standing along the road and commented on the “big” camera I was carrying. Turning on the LCD I showed him what I had been shooting. With a chuckle he invited us in around the building to see where the rabbits had been feeding on tree bark while the ground was covered in deep snow.

This is a shot of what he identified as apple saplings that the rabbits had completely girdled. During periods of snow cover when cottontails cannot feed on grasses and other plants they will commonly feed on the nutritious cambium layer of woody plants while normally avoiding thick rough bark. These trees appear to have been damaged sufficiently that they will only grow from beneath the girdled area.



I hope you all like Country Captures' new look. After finding the new Blogger post editor Friday evening I began looking for a new template that would accommodate the larger picture size afforded by the post editor. After picking one and setting up a test blog to play with I happened to hop over to Abe Lincoln’s Pick a Peck of Pixels and low and behold he was posting about an all new Blogger in draft dashboard with new easily customizable templates. The new features offered there allowed me to easily give Country Capture a whole new make-over.

I Know its not Easter but.......

I simply could not resist sharing this Cottontail

While looking for bucks one rainy morning last week this little critter hopped out onto the dirt road I was traveling and raced my truck for about fifty yards before popping off the side and stopping along a pasture fence line.

The pose looked good but the passenger side window was in the way. I took the shot anyway shooting through the glass.

Cottontail Close-up

Walking out of the wetlands a few evenings ago I encountered this young Cottontail sitting in the path. I’m sure it noticed me first as it sat very still watching me intently. No doubt the little rabbit who was no larger than a softball was hoping I would pass without noticing its motionless form.

Spreading the legs on the tripod I began photographing the little bunny while occasionally approaching a few steps closer until I was close enough to capture frame filling images and all the while the only movement I noticed from the rabbit was the occasional twitch of its nose.

When approaching wildlife I have found it best to close the distance slowly and at an angle. A direct approach with often cause the animal (or bird) to flee much more quickly than an angled approach were they have reason to believe that you may pass safely by.