This beaver was not happy that I was sitting on top of it’s lodge and made sure that everyone else new that I was there. After several tail slaps it dove under the water and swam back into the lodge. Over the next few days they became used to me and decided that I wasn’t worth the effort.
A beautiful cinnamon black bear cub who is the sibling of the black bear cub I posted a picture of on June 15th. This one was much more timid and took a lot of coaxing from the other cub to get it to come down from the tree and run deeper into the forest. Black bears can have offspring that are either black, cinnamon (brown) or even white (aka, spirit bears in British Columbia).
I came across this mother and her calf along the shore of a lake. The calf, no bigger than the mom’s head must have been born that night as it was still unstable on it’s feet and had a very hard time walking through the tall grass. The mother would try to call and lead the calf away but the calf was still not strong enough to follow. I left after a short time and returned to the same spot later that afternoon but they had moved off into the forest.
While walking through the boreal forest to get to a lake I turned around and saw I was going to miss the sunrise on the lake. I quickly took this picture before the mosquitoes could exsanguinate me and fly off with my camera!
One of the largest dragonflies with a ‘cigar’ shaped abdomen. This one was trying to warm up after the morning frost had melted.
This photo was taken near Calling Lake, about 2 hours north of Edmonton. I was on a quad when I interrupted a black bear mother and her two cubs. The mom ran into the forest and the cubs climbed the nearest trees. This baby bear climbed down the tree and ran farther into the forest, but turned around to see if his sibling was following.
I was sitting on top of a beaver lodge taking pictures of waterfowl when I first saw this wolf trying to catch a beaver farther up the lake shore. The wolf quickly lost interest and started hunting for a small rodent about 30 meters away from me as I lay down on my stomach to partially hide. When I started taking photos the wolf heard the shutter, turned and decided I was much better than hunting for rodents! It stalked towards me and when it was only a few meters away I stood up, the wolf stopped, turned and ran back into the trees.
The reward for getting up at 4am and fending off hordes of mosquitoes to reach a lake before sunrise!
The wood frog, which is able to survive above the Arctic circle, burrows under dead leaves and then it will stop breathing, their hearts stop beating and much of their body becomes frozen. An antifreeze they produce keeps liquids from freezing inside their vital organs and killing them!
Owen Slater Photography 