Another Fall Walk

Reena and I were able to enjoy another walk yesterday, this time in a part of the UW Arboretum that I have never been to. We were south of the Beltline in the Evjue Woods.



It was around 40 degrees (F), so it was nice in the sun, but chilly in the shade. We made a nice loop that covered just about the entire section. Walking sort of slowly we spent perhaps 45 minutes. The first part of the stroll was all quiet woods leading into a small oak savanna.



The sun was bright and getting towards late afternoon, and everything was very pretty. A really lovely mid-autumn day. Even though we could just barely hear nearby traffic most of the time, we were surprised to see only squirrels, but no birds or other creatures. No sooner had Reena commented on this than we look uphill on as side path and see...



...a small flock of turkeys. They weren't going to let me get any closer, so I had to let my telephoto lens provide the reach. Five or seven minutes later, after a pair of joggers (not runners) stomped past making all sorts of racket, I was pleased to spot a white-tail deer, then two more. They were already on to us and spooked. I got one good shot of a doe before she bolted.



The light was fading in the woods, and my lens is none too fast. If anyone wants to send me $2,400 for Nikon's f/2.8 7-200 lens, I'll be happy to take it. That way I would not have to have my ISO at 1250 because my current lens is at f/6.3 at 200 mm. Ah well, what I shot is about exactly what I was seeing anyway. The photo of her butt bounding away was just a blur. As we were just about to arrive back at the car, I heard an owl hoo-hoot hoot hoooting from a distance. I hooted back and forth a few times with it. I may try to make it back to that savanna today right around 4:15 to catch the nicest yellow-orange sun.

There are a handful more, so if you want to experience our walk as a slide show with much larger images, CLICK HERE.