I have only gotten a few fleeting glimpses of this big guy at Chesnut Park recently. I was there early one morning in early December and saw him running through the woods off the back boardwalk.

I came off the boardwalk and was on the dirt trail when I heard a commotion in the woods. I went in a little ways and hid behind a tree and caught him and a slightly younger buck going at it. I couldn’t get any closer (not that I would have wanted to) so all I got are a few blurry shots of them locking antlers. They fought for just a minute and then the younger buck ran off and the older one went deeper into the woods.

A lady standing in front of the boardwalk.

The usual birds were a titmouse and a chickadee.

Spatterdock in the lake.

This cute pied grebe would flap her wings when coming up after a dive to get the excess water off.

I passed another lady on the trail.

This guy was not shy. I think this is the one fighting the bigger buck.

We were still in drought mode and the swamp was dry and full of the dead cypress leaves.