Shenandoah Skyscape

There is nothing to compare to the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley and Skyscape.  I never tire of it. It's just as exciting to me as all the wildlife we see here

Every year I take the same pictures and each year they look different to me

My brother David checking out the clouds

 An unusual tree, shaped by the weather no doublt

On a clear day you can see all the layers of mountains and valleys

 

 

At this look out is where I took a picture of my favorite 'picture' of Skyline Drive

She was capturing the beauty that I so admire

 The area is rich with history

To God be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He hath Done

Deer and Fawn of Shenandoah National Park

All of these deer were seen at the campground at the Meadows in SNP.  The first one is very small even for a newborn. 

Take notice that the fawn's head does not even touch the doe's underbelly. 

 Mom was very attentive and paid no attention to us in the car snapping pictures

 A short distance away we came across a bigger fawn

Mom was not far away.  She has tags in her ears.  a lot of the deer are tagged and some even have radio collars. 

 They began tagging the deer in 2012 due to CWD (chronic wasting disease)  A lot of photographer's were upset about it.  SNP is one of the few places you can get close to wildlife in a natural habitat

 We would have never seen this tiny fawn if someone hadn't told us where he was.  I walked up from a distance to take these pictures and he never took his eyes off me.  But he did not move.

Bucks were not moving around much  but we did see this one along the road

A young spike was eating alongside one of the overlooks. 

As we got closer we saw  what we think were warbles on his face.

They are caused by the warble fly (The fly lays eggs on the forelegs of large animals. They are ingested when the animal licks them off. The larvae travel to the skin surface and cause swellings called "warbles" They remain under the skin, and can be destroyed by pressure,)

One night leaving the restaurant after dark the headlights caught this deer

SNP is the place to go to see wildlife!

To God be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He Hath done

Shenandoah National Park June 2014

I would say this is the year of the Black Bear in Shenandoah National Park.  We kept track of the number of bear and these were the numbers for 3 days of riding around and looking.  We counted 5 cubs and 15 adult and yearlings . Most years we are lucky to see even one.

 

 How Challenging photographing  black bears. They never want to look at you....

 And when they do they are in behind the ferns

   or walking away

You can't get your settings right because of low light in the forest

Or you see a big one and it's between  rock and a tree!

 A sow was foraging and three of her cubs were just running wild.Can you find the two in the ferns in this picture?

  This was probably a big male because sows only go between 100 and 175 pounds where males can weigh in at 300

 This was a small cub foraging alone..  He would NOT lift his head.  It was early morning and he was soaking wet from the dew.

 The bear population is estimated between 500 - 700 in the Park

 Sows become sexually mature at age 3 or 4-- mating in mid-summer

 The embryo does not develop until she dens in the fall and she carries the cub (s) for 6 weeks

 A cub weighs about 8 ounces and is hairless with eyes closed when born

Twins are common but four is not uncommon

Even though I was not happy with my photography skills I am happy about how many bears I saw and how easy they were to find.

To God be the Glory  ~~Great Things He hath Done

Shenandoah National Park

When this is posted I will be in Shenandoah again with my brother experiencing the  beauty that you see here.  This was my trip last year with my friend Rose.

 

 The first day was so foggy we hardly could see to drive on Skyline Drive and everyday we were there we would have to wait until about noon for the mist and fog to lift to head out.

I like the way it looks even with the mist rising up

My favorite part of Shenandoah is the wildlife and especially the deer.  Early June all the whitetail have their fawns.

Seeing one or seeing double  ~  it is so exciting and.....

You can get so close to them

Adorable

 Don't forget the spectacular sunrises and sunsets either.  There is plenty of those.

To God be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He hath done