Big Bucks of Pike Island

All,

I've spent several mornings down on Pike Island photographing the deer rut and thought you might like to see some of the shots I've gotten.

The deer were active for the last few weeks, but I've not been in the park for the last several days so don't know if the rut is ending yet or not. Probably will be soon, if not already. Sometimes there is a brief uptick in activity in December as the last of the does come into estrus, but with the high buck to doe ratio on the island and in the park, I doubt any does are not bred at this point.

See the photos on my website at http://www.gordondietzman.com/photos/pikeislanddeer/index.html

Once I found an area where the deer were active (they tended to cluster in different areas of the island each day), I'd just sit down and watch the activity swirl around me. The behavior was fascinating to watch.

Enjoy....

Giving Thanks

Hello everyone!

I want to thank all of you for making the FSSP Camera Club something I look forward to every month. I always did better in school when the classes were educational and fun. I learn something new at our meetings and there are always a lot of laughs.

There are a lot of ideas and plans for the future and I think by the support this group shares - the future is long for the club.

Thanks again and we will see you December 4th.

Geri

Photosynth - Use your camera to stitch the world.

Photosynth - Use your camera to stitch the world.

Note the heading for "National Parks". Is anyone else interested in putting some photos together for Great River?

Microsoft Education Product Center: Photosynth  This might be something to consider for Bridge to Nature or other other educational initiatives of the club.

Amateur Photographer Captures a Grizzly Bear Chasing a Bison Down a Highway in Yellowstone | Field & Stream

Amateur Photographer Captures a Grizzly Bear Chasing a Bison Down a Highway in Yellowstone | Field & Stream

Upper Fort (Nov. 2010) - FSSP Camera Club - Picasa Web Albums

Upper Fort (Nov. 2010) - FSSP Camera Club - Picasa Web Albums .

All Blog members should have access to this Photo Library. If you have not done so already, please add your Fort photo's from our field trip. This will help us to determine how we may use such libraries going forward.

YouTube - AutumnMpls2010

YouTube - AutumnMpls2010 I took many/most of these "fall color" photos in or near the park. It would fun to put the best of club members' collective shots into a show like this for our web site (?)

Shrike

The only times I have seen these birds in this region have been in the late Autumn. This Northern Shrike was coughing up a "hair ball" at the southern end of the park near the Cedar Bridge. They are also known as the 'Butcher Bird", "for their habit of catching insects and small vertebrates and impaling their bodies on thorns. This helps them to tear the flesh into smaller, more conveniently-sized fragments, and serves as a cache so that the shrike can return to the uneaten portions at a later time.." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrike