Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
Portrait oriented image so click / tap for full view. This handsome fellow may not have had the biggest of racks but he was, nevertheless, quite impressive. Clearly, he is bulked up and rut-ready as you can tell by that thick neck and body. This past weekend he was on the move, alone, and that early morning light made him look quite regal.
Not a real big boy but certainly a respectable one. This time of year, the deer take front and center as they ready for their rut and the bucks start strutting their stuff and battling for the affection of the ladies. This past weekend, the boys were still hanging out together and getting along but soon that will change.
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Colorado provides an extraordinary opportunity to view a wide array of wildlife. For National Wildlife Refuge Week it is fitting to recognize what a special place it is and to highlight some of the cool critters you can see there.
These handsome fellows were on the move and not too willing to pose for pictures so I took what I could get. Not a great shot but their racks are pretty danged cool looking. While they seemed to be getting along fine during my time with them, that won’t last much longer as the deer rut will be heating up in the coming days and weeks.
There are a lot of cool bucks this year at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, this handsome fellow being one of them. While his rack isn’t the biggest of the bunch, it is certainly respectable and has some neat shape to it. It won’t be long and the bucks will start scraping off that velvet and then the rut and the battles that entails will begin.
A fun capture from yesterday morning that illustrates the size difference between a massive moose bull and a much smaller mule deer doe.
The doe was down in a little depression so the depiction is not entirely accurate but you can certainly get a feel for the size difference between the two species. This particular bull is a very, very large one, one that will definitely be a contender in another month or so when the rut starts up.
Watching the interaction between them was interesting. The doe was one of three that wanted to pass by the moose and did so but very hesitantly and with a constant eye on the big guy. The moose was not threatened by the deer of course but maintained a focused look on them as they went by.
Have a fantastic #MooseMonday!
Not exactly the regal portrait of this big boy he probably wishes had been taken. Ha! The bucks are bulging up and their antlers are getting bigger by the day as fall quickly approaches. This handsome fellow is likely to be a strong contender for the ladies’ affection come October.
Somewhat graphic content so be forewarned but also kind of cool.
As we made our way up toward Mount Evans this past weekend, we came across this scene. A deer doe had met her demise, likely due to being hit by a car. This fox was wanting to take advantage of the easy meal.
We spent a while watching it as it tried to penetrate the hide but with no luck – although it did manage to pull the tail off, soon realizing it contained little in the way of an edible meal. This was a fun photo op and only the second time I have photographed a relatively rare silver fox so that made me happy.
In case you didn’t know, a silver fox is really just a typical red fox, but one that has a form of melanism resulting in its dark coat. Their rarity made their pelts very valuable and were sought after by nobles in Russia, Western Europe and China.
Quite the poser this one was! This big boy seemed pretty happy to have his antlers growing back giving me a fun pose as he grazed on the leaves of a tree. Judging from the thickness of those antlers, it does appear he will be a worthy contender come the fall when the rut begins again.
Clearly a young one as judged by those spikes, he was handsome and standing proud as he grazed at the edge of a forest in central Italy. These guys are very similar to the elk we have here in North America with our elk being bigger. The critters were few and far between on our visit to Italy but, between this guy and the previously shared chamois, I at least got to photograph two new (to me) species so that made me happy.
Photographer’s note: After sharing this picture on social media, a friend said that he thought this was a roe deer, not a red deer. Having since done a bit of research, I tend to agree. My fault for not properly researching before sharing the image.
Going back to November for this image of this big boy. The rut was going on and the bucks were busy looking for love. This particular guy was following a small harem, occasionally getting close enough to give a whiff to see if any of them were ready and willing. He paused briefly from his stalking and gave me this nice capture in the golden light soon after sunrise.
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