Most of my travels take me through rural areas where dairy farms still dominate the landscape. These are priceless visual and ecological resources that attract and support diverse wildlife populations as well as livestock.
Pigeons and crows are permanent residents, usually seen foraging on waste grain in harvested fields or in spread manure.
Once or twice a week I sit in the evening near a field of corn, oats or hay to observe wildlife. Most evenings there is a predictable sequence of visitors, starting with groundhogs, does and fawns.
Small flocks of geese glide into cut hay fields throughout the evening.
Bucks, especially the seasoned veterans, arrive as the sun leaves the fields and camera gear is nothing more than extra weight.
The last light of the evening, in the clouds. Somewhere below the cloud, in an open field on the highest hilltop, was the dark silhouette of a huge buck. It was his time.
Photos by NB Hunter. © All Rights Reserved.
Nick's Nature Pics 
Your photos lift my mood. Beautiful!
You make country life so appealing!
I leave out the part about biting mosquitoes and deer flies trying to distract me from my mission. 🙂
One day I will be in a setting like this, I promise myself! Your photos are really wonderful.
Thanks Melissa. As a conservationist I feel an obligation to promote the natural world, including rural landscapes, in order to foster wise land stewardship. I hope you realize your dream!
I love rural or farm scenes like yours here. I grabbed my chance to move out to the Sierra foothills as soon as I could (1974) and have avoided big cities (with very few exceptions since then). I can’t imagine living with all the commotion and hustle and bustle again. BTW, loved the groundhog shot and not just because his day is the same as my birthday! 🙂