The Lonely Buck

I have been fairly busy lately with the Christmas rush, so I thought I would make a few posts about interesting sights that I somehow didn't have time to post earlier.  One day in mid November, I looked out the kitchen window and a single buck was passing by close to the house, enjoying the view.  I raced to grab a camera and find an angle through a window that wasn't already too far away.  The camera had a long lens on it, so I couldn't get pictures of the whole deer until he walked away.  I wish he had turned to face me, but maybe he would have run then.  I grabbed a few quick photos of him, before he wandered off.  I rarely see a buck that close, except at dusk when they are hard to see.  

Checking out the View!

A Visit to Point Lookout State Park

I visited Point Lookout State Park to look for birds before the summer crowds.  I didn't see many closeup, so I am sharing park photos.  I went close to the beach area to see a view of the Lighthouse.  Then I stopped at the reconstructed Fort Lincoln.  This time the white buildings were open and contained wood stoves, tables and bunks.  I even saw a few deer.  Last, I stopped at the 2008 Confederate Memorial Park where several tents were erected and orange day lilies were in bloom.

Shenandoah Autumn

At the last minute we decided to visit Shenandoah National Park when we learned that the autumn foliage was later than usual.  

We had all kinds of weather, rain, fog, clouds and sun in 3 days and saw deer, dogs, birds and even a bear cub.  We hiked to Blackrock Summit because it was the only day we expected sun.  In reality, it rained after sunset!

On Halloween, 

     We had a close encounter with a deer, which Sarita didn't notice.

Then after breakfast, we drove south from Big Meadow...

Before returning for a late afternoon Big Meadow walk.

     Can you spot the deer? (there are 3, but only one is really visible)

A woman gave us a tip that a bear cub was foraging just down the road, so we drove past Dark Hollow Falls till we found the stupid people trying to get close.  I used my very longest lens across the street!  My first bear photo outside a zoo.

The next day, we went north and home.

Here are some before and after the trip travel photos.

     Before

     After

Autumn in Virginia and PA

We drove up to the Skyline drive last week to do some leaf peeping.  Skies were mostly blue and warm.  The colors were lovely.  Here are my favorites:

     Shenandoah River

     Deer on the Big Meadow

     Big Meadow sunset

     Red tree

     Skyland Sunset

     River leaf

      PA afternoon 

Deer Dear

Recently, a fawn posed for me in the yard.  Very sweet.  Here are the best ones.  I think they would look nice in a group frame.

Summer in Shenandoah

We took a very brief weekend trip to Shenandoah National Park and took a short hike to Black Rock summit so we could see all the rocks. We also attended a lecture on birds of prey & met a tiny eastern screech owl. When photographing animals I always focus on their eyes and try to blur out distracting backgrounds or simplify them.