Time For Feeder Birds

With the cold winds of January blowing the outdoor photo opportunities are somewhat limited.  However there is no time like the present to capture some close up shots of the hungry birds flocking to our feeders.   

Tufted Titmouse

 Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal Female

Oops, not a bird but in the feeder nontheless!

I Did Not See A Thing All Day!

While processing a few images from the last couple of days of attempting to photograph the ongoing whitetail rut I was reminded of my days as a deputy conservation officer.  One would meet successful hunters, happy with the outcome of their day afield and others who were far less than satisfied with their hunt and ofttimes the entire Pennsylvania Game Commissions deer management program.  It was very common for these unhappy individuals to question "Where are all the deer?" The question frequently peppered with a variety of expletives.  Another commonly heard comment, likewise spiced with expletives was " I didn't see a thing all day!  

As I scrolled through some of my latest images I thought about how sad it is that some people can spend a day afield without seeing anything.  While its quite possible to not encounter the particular species that one is seeking, only a person without an appreciation for nature can spend a day in the outdoors without seeing anything.

The images below are from a recent day afield, a day when I was unsuccessful in my quest for rutting whitetails.    

Look Ma, No Hands!

Wildlife babies can be quite entertaining as they explore their fresh new world.  An otherwise uneventful morning change for the better when a young fox squirrel followed its mother to the feeder.  The little squirrel busied itself climbing trees and hopping around while the mother stuffed herself at the feeder. 

 

 

 

Captures of Winter

After experiencing mostly mild winters for the past two decades, this winter has seen sustained cold and snow.  I captured the photos posted here before a brief warming spell melted much of the snow pack a week ago.  Now with snow and 0 deg. temps in the forecast for tomorrow there is no doubt that we must wait a while yet until winter loosens its grasp.


Canon EOS 6D, EF 24-105mm f/4L USM @28mm    f/5.6,1/800/ISO-160




Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/100 ISO-320



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/400 ISO-800



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/2500 ISO-320



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/125 ISO-320



Canon EOS 6D, EF 600mm f/4 IS USM   F/5.6, 1/160 ISO-320

The Last and First 2013-2014

Canon 6D, 600mm lens at approximately 300 yards.

 

With a strong cold wind whipping about I decided to spend my New Year's eve afternoon indoors.  Before sunset a flock of turkeys appeared on the ridge behind my home feeding in an area of sorghum stubble where the farmer had recently spread cow manure.  This image was shot handheld by resting the heavy lens across the deck rail.  This was to be my last wildlife photo op of the year.  

 

This morning I began another year of wildlife photography when this well acclimated fox squirrel arrived at the feeders.  Using the same outfit described above mounted on the tripod, this shot was made at a distance of about 18 feet.  Whether it is small subjects up close or larger ones at long range the Canon EF 600mm f/4 IS USM Super Telephoto has become my first choice in wildlife lenses whenever portability is not an issue.

 

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Rut is On!

 

For the whitetail enthusiast there is no time of the year that can compare to the mating season.  For most of the year whitetails are shy and retiring animals but with the onset of the rut they suddenly become much more visible as the bucks roam widely in search of receptive does in estrus.

   

 

 

While not nearly as vocal as their cousins, the elk, whitetails vocalize during the rut.  The buck, pictured here pursuing a doe, was grunting as the photograph was taken.

 

 

 

My biggest surprise of the weekend came when I photographed this male wild turkey gobbling!  Most gobbling is done during the late winter and spring months in conjunction with the wild turkey's mating season.  Perhaps this tom was a little jealous of the whitetails having all of the fun!

 

 

Of course when one is spending a great deal of time out of doors there is more to photograph than deer.  This white-throated sparrow posed nicely in the weather branches of a poke weed.

 

 

And a fox squirrel, busy fattening up for winter, pauses just long enough for a portrait.

 

 

 

Wildlife Activity Increases as November Begins

With a good portion of the leaves now down and a chilly nip in the air, wildlife activity is picking up here in South Central Pennsylvania.  Bucks are beginning to become more active as the rut nears.  This young buck paused momentarily from sparring with a round hay bale when I clicked this shot. 

 

Although nearly half the size of their mothers, fawns continue to nurse.  Nursing sessions now last only a few seconds.  If a fawn begins to nurse you had better shoot fast if you wish to capture a phtograph for it will be over in 10-15 seconds.

 

The does will soon wean the fawns.  While nursing at the beginning of November is common I have never observed fawns nursing from Thanksgiving week on.

 

Squirrels are very active now feeding and hoarding nuts for winter.

 

We have two varieties of squirrel living in my home area, the fox squirrel pictured here and the gray squirrel pictured below.  In years past it was not uncommon to spot the occasional red squirrel however for whatever reason the red squirrels have disappeared from the area. 

Gray squirrels are our most common squirrel and account for probably 75% of my squirrel sightings.

 

While not as noisy now as during the nesting season, the red-bellied woodpeckers are easily spotted as visibility improves in the woodland with the summer's leaves drifting to the ground.  Year-around residents, the red-bellied woodpeckers can be counted on to provide a bright spot of color in the outdoors no matter the season. 

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. 

Stripping Bark

With winter getting colder dead branches with shredded bark are becoming much more commonly seen.  Here I caught the culprit in the act as she stripped the dead cambium layer.

Squirrels will strip bark from living branches for food and/or water but when they are stripping dead limbs as they are doing now it is to line their nest.  The bark provides padding and insulation.  It will be a few weeks before the first young of the year will be born but this squirrel will have her nest ready to receive them.

A little chewing softens it up just right before she scampered away to her cavity nest.

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Golden Surprise

Friday morning found me pursuing our local squirrels and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather.  Seeing half a dozen squirrels running through the woods is very common now as their mating season is is full swing.  A female followed by her lusty admirers creates quite a ruckus as the males chase her up and down trees each trying to best the others in his quest to mate.

It was during one of these squirrel melees that I heard crows calling loudly as they flew overhead.  Looking up through the tree tops I could see that they were pursuing a much larger bird.

Quickly loosing interest in the squirrels I grabbed the camera gear and went to the edge of the nearby meadow to get a better view.  Sightings of bald eagles has become somewhat commonplace in our area and at first I thought that the bird was a immature bald eagle.

Imagine my surprise when I was able to identify the bird as a Golden Eagle!  As if that were not enough there was not one, but two of the majestic birds wheeling through the air as they swooped over the rolling foothills in search of prey!

These images are not of the quality I normally post because of the long distance, hand holding the 600mm lens, and extremely heavy cropping.

Fox Squirrels

 Two distinctly different squirrels inhabit my home area, eastern gray and fox squirrels.  When I was a kid growing up squirrel hunting was very popular and like so many other rural kids my I began honing my hunting skills targeting the local gray squirrels.  At that time in the mid 1960's gray squirrels were the most numerous with a smattering of red squirrels.  I well remember the first time I encountered a fox squirrel.  I was hunting up a hollow on the back side of our family farm when in the distance I spotted a huge reddish squirrel.  I could scarcely believe my eyes for I had never seen a squirrel anywhere near the size of this animal.  It was too far away for my shotgun and before I could close the distance it disappeared.

It would not be until the early 1980's before I would again encounter a fox squirrel.  Again it happened while I was squirrel hunting and this time I took it with the scoped .22.  Since this was only my second sighting of a fox squirrel I took the animal to a local taxidermist and the mount hangs in my den to this day.

 Little did I know that a major change to our local squirrel population was underway.  Soon I began spotting more and more fox squirrels and by the mid 90's they were often making up from a third to half of the squirrels I bagged.  At the same time as the fox squirrels were moving in the red squirrels disappeared.

Fox squirrels habits differ somewhat from that of grays.  Fox squirrels prefer more open forest and are often seen rummaging about in open fields whereas the grays show a propensity for denser forest and seldom venture far into the open.  Compared to gray's the fox squirrels are huge; frequently weighing two pounds or more, nearly twice that of a gray.  The grays and foxes seem to co-exist quite well as both are populations are flourishing.  I noted on an earlier post that the local gray squirrels are busy feeding on black walnuts and as you can see in this photo the foxies are doing so as well. 

What are they eating?

The components that make up ideal wildlife habitat are not much different than our own; food, water, and shelter.  Knowing what food source the wildlife you are seeking is utilizing at any given time is an important clue to locating it.  Squirrels in my area will be found around hickory trees in mid to late August where they are cutting the green hickory nuts.  As the acorns ripen squirrels will show a marked preference for the oak ridges where they will feed and collect fallen nuts many of which they will bury for later retrieval.  In year's when the acorn crop fails, squirrels can be found targeting other food sources such as red-bud pods, dogwood berries, wild grape, poplar seed, etc.

Recently I have noticed that most of our local gray squirrels are targeting black walnuts.  They seem to have forsaken nearly all other food sources, even our feeders offering sunflower seed and corn, preferring the hard thick shelled black walnuts instead.  The walnut meats are quite tasty but at the same time difficult to access.  It is not uncommon to watch a squirrel gnaw for fifteen minutes or more on a single nut as it chews holes through the shell to extract the contents.  It's a lot of work for a small meal but the squirrels don't seem to mind.

Prime Time Bushytails

Don't get me wrong, I love my Canon 100-400mm L.  In Canon's lens line-up you cannot get more bang for your buck in a lens to cover a wide range of wildlife photography.  Sure the f5.6 is a little slow for low-light photography and the dof isn't as shallow as one might like, but with 300mm of zoom topping at 400mm it does a fantastic job without sending one for a home equity loan. 

However there is a reason that wildlife photographers lust after the big primes.  There is a reason that folks like me look at their prices and feel an empty pit in our stomachs; knowing that someday we won't be satisfied without one.  And after saving for a couple of years I find myself sitting in front of the computer, the order filled out; feeling the upwelling of the dry heaves as the cursor hovers over the "place order" button. 

A few days later the big box arrives.  Almost hesitantly I open it and am soon fitting the beast into the Kirk gimbal head.  It feels much heavier than the advertised 11+ pounds but swings effortlessly in the gimbal. 

A couple of days later and it's show time at the feeders. 

This little fellow mustered up a bushel of "Cute Factor" for my first 600mm prime-time shoot.