Miracle baby
Thirty years ago, we cut down a large portion of our small patch of forest, which we'd bought about 10 years earlier. The tall, bare spruce trunks were old and only had a tiny tuft of green left on top, while the ground beneath them was covered with dry spruce needles. Nothing grew beneath them and animals no longer wanted to live there. So we decided that if we wanted to see a new forest grow, we had to act now.
Over three bitterly cold February weekends, we, along with many friends and family, planted 8,000 trees one year and another 7,000 the next.
Slowly the new forest began to take shape and with time those meter-high, wafer-thin twigs became real trees. And with the trees, wildlife returned.
First the hares and the roe deer. The martens and badgers followed. Woodpeckers, goldfinches, hawfinches, goldcrests, and even hawks built their nests there. The ponds were thriving with great crested newts, grass snakes, and countless frogs.
After seeing the wolf once, I set up several trail cameras to see if it would return (it hasn't since), but the cameras did closely monitor the development of the forest and its inhabitants.
A few months ago, a pair of red deer suddenly wandered through the forest. We'd seen them before, but they were always passing through. Then, suddenly, a doe started appearing solo on the cameras more often.
And then, one beautiful evening in May, she suddenly walked past one of the cameras with her still-wet, super-cute fawn beside her. I can't tell you how incredibly proud we were and how much we enjoyed this—to us—miracle baby! Who would have thought that 30 years ago?
Mother and child have since moved on, understandably, because our little patch of forest is a bit too small for these large animals, but this photo, which I took from our driveway, will forever bear witness that our little forest was the nursery for this beautiful little fawn.
ps. If you would like to see more of our project and our feathery and furry guests, feel free to visit the little video I made of it: here
Canon R1
Canon EF600mm f/4L IS II USM
ISO 2000, f4, 1/125s Exp. comp +1/3
Miracle baby
Thirty years ago, we cut down a large portion of our small patch of forest, which we'd bought about 10 years earlier. The tall, bare spruce trunks were old and only had a tiny tuft of green left on top, while the ground beneath them was covered with dry spruce needles. Nothing grew beneath them and animals no longer wanted to live there. So we decided that if we wanted to see a new forest grow, we had to act now.
Over three bitterly cold February weekends, we, along with many friends and family, planted 8,000 trees one year and another 7,000 the next.
Slowly the new forest began to take shape and with time those meter-high, wafer-thin twigs became real trees. And with the trees, wildlife returned.
First the hares and the roe deer. The martens and badgers followed. Woodpeckers, goldfinches, hawfinches, goldcrests, and even hawks built their nests there. The ponds were thriving with great crested newts, grass snakes, and countless frogs.
After seeing the wolf once, I set up several trail cameras to see if it would return (it hasn't since), but the cameras did closely monitor the development of the forest and its inhabitants.
A few months ago, a pair of red deer suddenly wandered through the forest. We'd seen them before, but they were always passing through. Then, suddenly, a doe started appearing solo on the cameras more often.
And then, one beautiful evening in May, she suddenly walked past one of the cameras with her still-wet, super-cute fawn beside her. I can't tell you how incredibly proud we were and how much we enjoyed this—to us—miracle baby! Who would have thought that 30 years ago?
Mother and child have since moved on, understandably, because our little patch of forest is a bit too small for these large animals, but this photo, which I took from our driveway, will forever bear witness that our little forest was the nursery for this beautiful little fawn.
ps. If you would like to see more of our project and our feathery and furry guests, feel free to visit the little video I made of it: here
Canon R1
Canon EF600mm f/4L IS II USM
ISO 2000, f4, 1/125s Exp. comp +1/3