King Buck

Building on the last post... Two nights ago there were six buck in the back woods-- all at once. That's three more than recent weeks and an all time high. I have been perplexed on the guys hanging out, specifically their friendliness together, my unexpected sighting of the licking and wondering about the domestication of these animals. It's unclear to me whether traveling as a group comes from their natural way of life or if it is an effect of living in a habitat constricted area of northern New Jersey. The guys continue to come every night before sunset and stay for about an hour, eating the newest leaves and resting in the leaf beds.

Among the six there are four who are smaller size. One of the four displays a limp and very limited use of his left rear leg- probably a casualty of a run in with a car. Then there are two big guys who seem to travel together. My observation is that with six males in the yard the larger animals keep a distance from the smaller. While the two big guys went for the bed of leaves the smaller guys stayed about 30 yards away. One time there was a disagreement when one of them went wanted to join them on the bed. A few snorts, a quick head but and kick and the smaller guy moved on.

In this picture is the 'King Buck', sporting the largest antler rack I've ever seen close up. So my theory today is that there is a hierarchy going on in the group of 6 that can be occasionally adversarial. And second, the group of 6 appears to be two sub-groups of larger and smaller bucks. I will continue to observe-- all the while re-confirming that Nature, including these friends, is wondrous.

Boys in the Back

This past week the boys, that is the buck deer, have reestablished themselves in our back yard. In the middle of summer the woods are thick with leaves, vines, downed trees still alive and ground cover. The squirrels shake the trees on their majestic jumps from branch to branch while the cardinals and humming birds are active both in song and in flight.

As summer has passed, the buck have increased their rack size since the earlier spring post. I look for them every day but it seems like it's the evening when they want to settle down and rest in the bed of leaves. Recently, I have been on an investigation about the turtle population of New Jersey and I never considered the lives of a buck deer until they started to come around regularly. In Pennsylvania stories circulate about the wisdom and elusiveness of bucks during hunting season so I am always awed to see them. Last weekend I walked closer to take photos while they rested. They continued with their own business as I walked toward them, keenly watching and allowing me to get within 100 feet. But when I sat on the grass that was too much and off they went into the thick woods where we could hear them but not see them.

This week they've visited the leaf zone at least twice. Three males, all antlered walked down the grass and into the woods. On nature type TV Darwin's natural selection model usually portrays males as territorial and controlling in order to show their 'mate with me' attributes to females. Our back yard boys are about the same size with one slightly larger than the other two. Witnessing them come into our yard was one amazing thing- but as you'll see in this 37 second video two bucks approached each other and started to lick each others neck. The big antlers somehow staying out of the way they continued for at least 3 minutes. What an amazing thing to witness. So that's what really happens in the back woods.

Polarization and the Scene of the Week

I really enjoy wearing my polarized sunglasses. The blues turn to deep blues, the interface of sky against clouds becomes much more contrasted. Polarizing moves apparent dull and haze into bright and deeper colors. The act of polarization takes the randomness of the light and filters it or aligns it to one direction. Take a look at these two pictures, almost identically taken but with polarized light (top) and randomly polarized light(bottom). Notice the bluer sky, the darker picture overall, and can see greater depth or contrast to the hills in the view.

So as part of the 4th of July Celebration Ted and I went for a ride to Bear Mountain State Park. It was a windy day so we first drove to Haverstraw in search of good sailing pictures, but none stood out. We drove up along the Hudson on Rt 9W and entered the park, traveling to Perkins Memorial Drive and to the tower. I've been to the tower before two or three times, once in Spring, once in fall but this time it was a clear summer day. We didn't take many pictures- I was unable to find a way for the camera to completely capture the tone and view of the outdoors. After after the BBQ and before the fireworks, I looked at the photos on a big screen and this one took my breath away. It's the scene of the week. I love the flowing hills, fully green and presenting their shape. I love the bright blueness and the line of clouds lying starkly white against the blue. Amazing.