Fungus in Deep Woods.......

Now that the winter wood is cut and split, I have time to look for photo opts. There is something about the deep woods in the morning or evening when the suns rays are highly angled,and uses an opening in the foliage as an aperture. Such is the Fungus photo, high key subject and almost completely dark edges with a few splashes of green.

 Fall -Yellow  Color is a favorite  of mine..... found this Fungus growing on a tree about 12 feet off the ground, at first, thought it was a wild canary hanging on the bark ( remember my eyes have been used hard for 76 yrs.) Don't know much about fungus, except most are brightly colored.  Moss Rose (bottom photo) is what I call a happy flower, just pleasant to look at.

VELVET SHEDDING AT LAST....
About 2 days ago this buck just began to shed velvet , usually that occurs 3 rd. week of August. Time and date on camera incorrect. Bodies are filling out nicely, good acorn crop.

Whitetail antler growth (GOOD) It seems the bucks, at least, in my area will have good racks this year. I would like to think it is from the new mineral block, however the heavy rains in the spring, made for lush foliage ( IE. A super food supply). About the 15 to 25 of August the velvet will be shed. Antlers will be polished for about a month to 6 weeks,they start putting on fat for winter and the rut( acorns & other nuts) Rut usually starts around November 8-12. I think all the photos are of 4 different bucks

Whitetail ( angle- rack) just started to photograph around the clock because have had very few visual sightings recently. I like to find some visual identity to follow each deer up into the rutting season. This one has angular growth pattern of the antlers. I will now start to plot the frequency at the block to the estimated distant of travel. ie, if he is at the block two times a day I will assume the travel is an estimated range of only several miles. If I see him only once a week the range would be considerable more.

Daylily " A Rainbow of Color" Saw this lily fore lit by sun, behind it a lemon color lily, used a fill flash to
give some snap. Asa 100, f4.0,1/160 sec. 400 mm(35mm equiv.)
Leica DC Vario-Elmart lens.

Colorful Happy Flowers......pinks, Dianthus,miniature Carnations, I guess people call them by many names , but when I look at them, they make me happy ( at least happier).

Rose of Sharon-Bumble-Bee Relationship....... Rose of Sharon started to bloom this week, covered with bees looking for pollen. I followed this bee to 8 different blooms,before it found one that it liked (as least one that the camera could focus on). Photo shot against the cloudy sky using a fill flash, -1 stop, making for a high key background

Whitetail talk it over at the block.......I like to observe body language of animals, have seen, stiff leg walks, head lowering,front leg striking and plain aggression , but this small buck seems to be chewing -out the big guy. The big guy turns his head to say," I'm not even going to look at you". Well, maybe I've been a Naturalist to long!!!!!!

Whitetail buck is developing a nice set of antlers. Last year, the antlers were irregular but so far this year the growths seen very even. Have changed to a special mineral block and it may have helped. The bucks visit the block several times a day. Note the hole in the ground, deer have eaten the salt- rich soil over the past 25 years or so.