On Easter Sunday afternoon I took a drive to the Arthur, Ontario area in search of snowy owls which had recently been reported there. No luck on the owls, but I did spot a young raccoon curled up in an open snow-covered field only 20 yards off a sideroad. Since raccoons are generally nocturnal creatures, I stopped and approached it to see if it were sick or injured. As I drew closer it raised its head and watched my approach warily. It allowed me sufficient time to take a few photos from just a few feet away, before it bolted for its nearby den in apparent good health. I suspect it was merely basking in the sunshine before I interrupted its reverie. Here I used my Canon 40D with 100-400mm telephoto. I had been using Aperture Priority at f8 (where this lens in sharpest) at ISO 800 to allow for fast shutter speeds under the midafternoon light conditions. For this fairly stationary subject (before it bolted) I switched from AI Servo continuous focus to One Shot Focus, and from automatic focus point selection (to best capture birds in flight) to center point focus. I also had to switch my lens focus limiter to allow the close in shots, although I was wary if the raccoon should suddenly get aggressive. Nary a snarl from this little guy (or gal -- dunno which), although I would bet it was annoyed at my intrusion!

The other shots I took were much too far away to be of any note, such as the wild turkey and whitetail deer pics. I was surprised to see the otherwise-cautious deer out in the middle of a farmer's field in broad daylight, but I believe the heavy snow cover this year has made them bolder in search of graze. As for the wild turkeys, I saw many of them today out in the open, but I couldn't get close in without them scuttling away. Several hawks were also spotted, but they, too, flew off before I could get a decent shot. Those raptors have great eyesight....who'd a-thunk? LOL