These two black bear cubs climbed up this tree while their mom slept on some of the bigger, stronger branches farther down the tree. By the time they were done they had broken off most of the branches, which fell down and were eaten by their mother who was woken up by a branch hitting her on the head.
A lichen covered bolder sitting in the open prairie overlooking Waterton Lakes National Park.
One of three bison calves born this year in Waterton Lakes National Park.
This great horned owl fledgling flew off to join it’s sibling to feed on a ground squirrel that was delivered by their mom.
A coyote walks through the prairie in search of ground squirrels with the Prince of Wales hotel in the background.
During the night the elk make their way out from the trees to the open grasslands in Waterton. These two females where heading back into the forest as the sun was rising. Sunrise and sunset are the best times to see the elk.
While this looks like a fierce battle it was actually a mother grizzly wrestling with her 3-4 year old cub. Eventually the mother will drive her cub off as she gets ready to give birth to the next litter.
I took this photo near the park entrance to Waterton where this and one more GHO fledgling waited for their parent to come back with ground squirrels for them to feast on.
In Waterton the bison are kept in a large paddock. This year there are three calves increasing the herd size to 14 animals.
These fawns, with their bright blue eyes were in the Waterton townsite where many mule deer are found. By staying near the town the deer have access to lots of green grass and are less likely to be predated on.
Canada Day fireworks in downtown Calgary. I took this picture from a hill overlooking the Calgary Zoo
A common spider that apparently can change from yellow to white depending on what colour of flower the spider is on. This on must have been colour blind. These spiders hide under flowers until wasps or bees come to feed and then they are ambushed by the spider which bites the prey and injects venom that paralyzes the prey. (They aren’t poisonous to people)
This fledgling bluebird was quiet particular about what insects it would accept from its parents. Several times the parents would return with an insect that either the fledgling would close it’s mouth at or if it looked tasty it would take the insect, the parents would fly off and then the young bird would spit it out. I guess some insects to birds are like some vegetables to kids!
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).
Owen Slater Photography 