We share our
country
property with many kinds of animals, including whitetail deer, red
foxes, coyotes, cottontail rabbits, grey squirrels, red squirrels, striped
squirrels, woodchucks, muskrats, voles, field mice, toads, raccoons,
possums and skunks. Snapping turtles, box turtles, frogs, peepers and small
non-venomous snakes share our pond and marshes. A wide range of birdlife
also share the land, not only many types of songbirds but also sandhill
cranes, great blue herons, redtail hawks, great snowy owls, barn owls, wild
turkeys, pheasants, canadian geese and various types of ducks. As a result,
we often enjoy wildlife-watching on our property and occasionally photograph
them too. This page includes some of those photos.
The Curious Doe
Sandhill Cranes
Other wildlife photos
See also:
A winter's day walk
The Curious Doe
November 5, 2001
The many deer on our land
are shy and are mostly twilight feeders. We need to track
and stalk them very stealthily in order to get close for
photographs.
Looking from an upstairs window on this nice sunny afternoon,
I spotted two does grazing in our upper field about 150 yards north of
our house. The slight westerly wind was favorable, as was the
moist ground from recent rains, so I decided to see how close
I could get to them and take some photos.
Wearing quiet camouflage clothing and moving from tree to
tree, I silently stalked across the mostly open fields, keeping
various land features between me and the does. I was finally
able to sneak up onto a berm only about 20 yards from them. I
brought my digital camera to my face, concealing my eyes and
prepared to take pictures. As I slowly crept up over the top
of the berm and stood up into the open, I saw one doe about 40
feet away facing away from me. I froze just as she turned, sensing
that something was possibly amiss behind her.
She stared at me for a while, but couldn't figure out whether
I was a tree, or a bush she had somehow misremembered, or possibly
something new. Her curiosity gradually got the better of her,
and she started walking towards me to check this out.
She stopped about 20 feet away, and stared again. As a sign
that she might be slightly worried a bit that I might not be
a bush, she tromped the ground a couple of times with her front
feet. Not detecting any animal-like motion in response, she came
even closer. I stayed frozen.
At this point, I slowly lowered the camera from my eyes,
and looked at her over the top of it. Then I blinked my eyes,
to see if she would notice. She instantly perceived that a deadly
predator was right there in front of her and looking straight
at her! She bolted.
As she took off, the other doe that had been just out of
sight over the top of the berm to the north also bolted. They
both ran off towards the safety of our north woods and wetlands.
Sandhill Cranes
Sandhill cranes
near the east marsh, July 6, 2003
In the upper field, October 7,
2005
Other
wildlife photos
