On the last day of September 2020, I had a rather good day for photography. It started out as a foggy morning and I took full advantage of that. I enjoy early mornings with mist coming off the beaver ponds and backwaters. If you are following my posts, you have already seen several photographs I took that morning.
My legs were getting in better shape by then, so I decided to take a longer version of my favorite loop of trails. The last leg of my morning hike was a paved path that curves through the woods and then follows along near the river, probably around 50 feet from it most of the time. When I arrived a little after 7:00am, I was the only person out in the woods, which I always prefer. By this time, there were other people in the park. A few folks passed by, including a cordial and attractive young woman.
I had been in the woods for about an hour and a half, starting to get tired, not paying a lot of attention to what I was passing by. I had plenty of photos, some of them pretty good. I thought my photography for that day was over. There were a couple of spots up ahead that I would check out, because they had provided some good photos in the past. But I had no expectations, other than getting back to my car and heading home for some breakfast.
The fog had burned off and the sun was out, high enough in the sky to brighten up the tops of trees and a few sparsely-grown spaces along the way. Over a rise I went, then down toward a low spot where the river sometimes overflows and rushes into the woods, along an old, usually dry, creek bed.
The forest opened up.
Off to the left, in the direction of the river, a big fat tree stood solidly in the clearing, partially hidden behind a wall of rock. Not sure of the wall’s purpose, unless it was intended to hold back river overflow. It did not look sturdy enough for that.
At first, I did not notice. Thankfully, he did not notice me either. A young buck was standing around twenty feet from the river, and maybe thirty feet from me. He was making a meal of some green leaves from a bush on the side of the old creek bank.
The young woman who passed by earlier had apparently turned around and was walking by me, just as I stopped and stepped off the path to look at the deer. I could have pointed out the deer to her; she would have probably enjoyed such a close encounter. But if I did that, the chances of getting a good photo before the deer got spooked was kinda slim. She wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings, or me, and so I let her pass without comment. (feeling a little guilty about that; but I’ll get over it.)
I took a couple of shots. Most of them included parts of the wall; I may post some of those later. The buck heard the shutter click and glanced over in my direction. I wanted a closer shot. I stood perfectly still a moment, until the buck went back to the green leaves. I quietly moved along the path until the big fat tree was between me and the buck. Then, as quietly as I could, I stepped toward the tree until I got as close as I dared.
I slowly revealed myself; camera ready. The buck had forgotten about me, still enjoying his green-leaf breakfast. I peered through the viewfinder. I did not expect to see what I saw.
Only a few feet from the buck was a fawn, cute as it could be, but with most of its camouflage white spots already gone. It had probably been there, or close by, all along. I didn’t notice it. I made a muffled, but involuntary, squeak at the back of my throat.
They heard.
They saw me.
I needed to adjust my camera field of view to include the fawn, but there was no time. They were going to leave. I took the shot you see today, and quickly took a few more. If you look closely at today’s photo, the buck is in focus and the fawn is a little soft. Under the cuteness of the circumstances, that is probably appropriate.
As I expected, they moved off in the direction of the river, and behind nearby trees. They did not seem to perceive me as a threat, just an annoyance. Once again, feeling a bit guilty, this time for disturbing two beautiful deer while they were eating, I got back on the path and left them alone. I think they were hiding, just out of sight, to see if I would move on, which I did.
Over the years I have seen lots of deer: singles, pairs, groups; I once saw a herd of around twelve deer: an old buck with an enormous rack, several does and a few fawns, all moving along the edge of our backyard at another location, a few years ago; no camera handy. But I’ve never been that close to two deer at the same time, with a camera capable of capturing a nice photo. This is one experience I will remember. And hopefully, I’ll recall that it happened after I thought I was done for the day.
The lesson for me is this: it’s important to pay attention as you walk along life’s path; you never know when something memorable might happen right in front of you.