Mid November Rutting Action

I have been going out every day hoping to photograph whitetail deer activity. Some days the action is frequent and feverish. Other days I am lucky to see any deer at all. Dedicated whitetail followers will know what I mean...

I was watching a trail when a doe came into view. She was skittish and constantly checking her backtrail. This is often an indication that a buck is following...

When a buck locates a doe that will be ready to mate soon, he will often follow her for however long it takes. Ater mating he will be off seeking another doe... 

During the rut deer will often come in sight several times as the doe leads the buck on a game of hide and seek...

In this case the doe led the buck out of sight, leaving me wondering if I would ever see them again.

 A short while later she reappeared heading straight for me...

The buck was not far behind. He followed her as she went into some thick cover and out of sight again...

This time they did not reappear before it was too dark for decent photos. A young buck did come by to see what all the commotion was about... 

Elsewhere, other bucks were busy visiting scrapes and licking branches...

Smaller bucks spar while mature bucks look on. The smaller bucks will not likely get a chance to mate for another year or two. The older, larger bucks claim the does for themselves

This young buck is testing the air, hoping to catch the scent of a doe that is not being tended by a bigger buck...

While other bucks visit every doe in sight...

These does have reason to look worried because the rut will continue until everyone of them is bred. Only then will things get back to normal...

Thanks for visiting, be well and come back soon...

NOVEMBER RUT

 Sometimes it feels like the whole year is spent waiting and anticipating the month of November. In these parts November means one thing...the whitetail deer rut has started...

The rut is the one time of year when secretive bucks throw caution to the wind. One might be seen at any time of the day and almost anywhere...

The buck shown above is making a scrape. He creates a bare spot of earth by pawing the ground. When the size is acceptable, he will stand in the center and urinate on his legs allowing the flow to pass over his tarsal glands and imparting his unique odor. In this way he announces his availability to mate.

A different buck emerges from the woods. He has been thrashing bushes and small trees with his antlers.

He still has the evidence hanging from his antlers...

He will get back to the rut after he finishes his apple...

He's not looking for another apple in that tree...

His mind is back on the rut now...

He is about to add a licking branch to his scrape...

By stretching to his full height and both licking and rubbing his pre-orbital glands on the branches he demonstrates his size to other deer.

Grizzly and black bears do something similar when they rub their backs on trees and telephone poles.

Thanks for visiting, be well and come back soon.

Buck, Birds, Squirrels and Barred Owl

This buck was acting nervous when he emerged from the shadows. He only stuck around for a minute before he went back to the woods...

As is often the case, I had to settle for birds such as this carolina wren...

It wasn't too much of a disappointment to find it in nice light...

Later I spotted a barred owl in an area that they regularly visit...

I was able to inch forward to a position where I could shoot through my sunroof...

I am fortunate that these beautiful birds are so tolerant...

The area is often visited by walkers, joggers, birders and photographers. I think the owls have come to accept humans as just another part of the environment...

This turkey vulture is waiting for the sun to warm things up...

This robin was feasting on berries from an invasive honeysuckle bush...

I don't claim to be a botanist, but I have seen reports that these plants out-compete native vegetation and often pass through wildlife undigested and in doing so do not provide needed nutrients...

On this day I encountered a number of purple finches...

A solitary male cardinal...

Did I mention squirrels?

At this time of year most of the squirrels that I see are busy stashing nuts away for the coming winter...

Thanks for visiting, be well and come back soon.