Would They Return?

After I was lucky enough to photograph the two deer who'd let themselves into my backyard a few days ago, I wondered if they'd return.  I knew if they did, I wanted to try capturing their jumps over my fence.  My camera was on its tripod and my settings in burst mode were primed for the deer's return.  Burst or continuous mode shoots several frames a second and allows the photographer to capture a whole sequence of motion. 

It all happened very fast.  The first deer cleared the fence before I was out of my chair.  But I was at my camera when the second deer started her jump.  I could see right away from the markings on her flank that it was the deer I call Lucy.

My jaw dropped in awe at the height she attained in clearing the fence.  I'm glad I didn't have to think much about settings and just kept the shutter button depressed while I watched her progress over the fence.  The snow is so deep in the backyard.  I have a three tier split-rail fence and the snow is up to the second rail.  How did she gain such momentum when she started her jump from a standstill?

Making her landing without missing a step, Lucy headed over to the corner where her now-grown fawn was munching on my hemlock tree branches.

 But on her way to the corner, she turned and looked me in the eye, in a way acknowledging our connection.

 The two deer munched a while together.  There isn't much difference in their sizes now.

Before I could capture its movement, the young deer jumped the fence and joined the rest of the pack who were taking a more circuitous route to my feeding stations.

Lucy continued to eat from the hemlock boughs a while longer.

Eventually, she followed the fence line and jumped over to join the other deer.  While she was out of my range by then, once again I felt fortunate to have photographed the deer as they enjoyed my yard.