On one of the recent cold snaps in Calgary, a light dusting of snow covered the branches of the aspen trees in my backyard, creating a beautiful winter wonderland. I’m sure in a few months I will be longing for a tropical retreat, but for now I’m enjoying winter!
Happy New Year! Thanks for stopping by and for those returning, thanks for your support in 2012! It was my best year to date with visits from over 110 different countries! I had several amazing wildlife experiences resulting in a few of the photos you see here. It will be hard to top 2012, but I’m looking forward to seeing what develops in 2013 and sharing my photos and stories with you here.
On one of my recent trips to the mountains I watched a pack of wolves slowly wander along a frozen river and took in a beautiful sunrise as the moon set over the mountains. I also came across these two bull moose in a large meadow surrounded by mountains. Moose in the Bow Valley ecosystem are the hardest of the ungulates to find and it’s even more rare to see more than one adult together at a time. However, this past year I have seen more moose than ever before and there is evidence to suggest that their numbers will steadily increase in the park over the next decade (as long as rail and vehicles strikes can be minimized).
These two large males just came through the rutting season. Just before the start of the rut, their testosterone levels surge and they essentially become the human equivalent of an Olympic caliber athlete on performance enhancing drugs. For over a month they battled other males, wander large distances to find reproductively active females and hardly eat a thing, all for the opportunity to breed. The end of the season is marked by a gradual decrease in their testosterone levels. They no longer view each other as competition but instead, periodically seek out the company of other males and forage together. These two spent the day trying to replenish their energy reserves by eating and resting together in a large meadow. The mountain in the background is known as Castle Mountain, which on its own is one of my favourite mountains to photograph in Banff National Park. Add in a sunny day with clear skies, a great vantage point and a couple of moose and it was the perfect recipe for getting a good photograph.
A radio-collared wolf pauses to survey her surroundings before plowing through the deep snow. While looking ahead she used one ear to listen for members of the pack following behind as they co-ordinated their movements up a hill in search of prey.
When not using his antlers to fight over breeding rights, this elk delicately used his antlers to scratch a hard to reach spot!
The dipper gets the distinction of being the only aquatic passerine (songbird) in North America. Remarkably, it makes its living diving and swimming in frigid glacier fed waters and then flies around in temperatures as low as -40 degrees. Adaptations that allow this bird to survive include an extra layer of feathering, an enlarged preen (oil secreting) gland for waterproofing, a nictitating membrane (third eyelid), enlarged muscles of the eye to accommodate for underwater vision, nasal flaps and increased hemoglobin levels to boost their blood oxygen carrying capacity that is essential for underwater swimming for up to 30 seconds at a time! I spotted this one along a partially frozen river as it entered a small ice cave in search of food.
A green winged teal creates ripples in the water as the sun sets in Banff National Park
Last weekend I came across a peculiar scene with this bald eagle literally swimming across an icy cold river using its wings as oars. Up in the sky the distinctive call of ravens could be heard as they circled. The eagle managed to make its way to shore, climbed up a bank and rested in the snow. After several minutes it attempted to fly off but was unable to get any lift. It did this a few more times but still couldn’t get off the ground. Thinking that it had fractured one of its wings, I put my gear down and hiked into the forest to try to keep out of its sight while I approached it. I got to within about 30 feet before I ran out of any tree cover. By then the eagle had spotted me and I made a dash for it (don’t worry, I’m a trained professional and I have handled many birds of prey!). It quickly beat its wings and ran through the snow as fast as it could. Just as I was getting close enough to grab it, it managed to get out onto an ice-flow that would not support my weight. It seemed to know this because it turned and watched me as I came to a halt. Thinking that it might come back onto more stable land, I headed back into the forest to wait. About thirty minutes later, I moved into a better vantage point but it must have caught sight of me. With its powerful legs it sprang up into the air and managed to get just enough lift to take off. Thankfully, it cleared the river, flew several hundred feet and managed to perch in a nearby tree!
While I didn’t see the initial incident it is highly likely that the ravens managed to ground the eagle in the river. Once there, it became waterlogged. By resting in the powdered snow, some of the water was absorbed while the rest turned to ice. By repeatedly trying to take off, the ice crystals on the tips of the feathers would have been knocked off, which must have been just enough for it to regain flight. Thankfully no broken bones, but likely a bruised ego and a new respect for ravens! I on the other hand learned that eagles can swim and I have a new respect for their ability to tolerate frigid conditions and still survive!
A male red poll (males have crimson breast feathers in addition to the red cap) sits on snow covered fir tree in Banff National Park
From Little Red Riding Hood to present day, the wolf is often given an image that is not even close to factual. Hollywood continues to portray wolves as human killers (eg. the latest Jason Bourne film) and groups advocate for open hunting seasons because they feel the wolf is killing all their deer or free ranging livestock. On the other extreme are the advocates that think wolves can do no harm. As usual, somewhere in between these two extremes is where the wolf belongs. Here, one sits down in a field of daisies just long enough for me to snap off a few pictures before rejoining the pack.
During dusk and dawn when wildlife are usually more active, I spend most of my time in the car since it serves as a natural blind that animals are less likely to react to. Obviously, this involves a lot of sitting so after several hours I need to stretch my legs. With some of the best scenery around, it is not hard to find somewhere to hike and take photographs. On this particular day I loaded my gear into my backpack, made sure I had my bear spray and headed out with camera in hand. As I came around a clump of spruce trees I spotted some movement in the thickets about 200 feet away. I immediately retraced my steps back into the shadows of the trees to not be as visible and from there I was able to get a good enough look to figure out that it was a large grizzly coming in my general direction. It wasn’t until I had my bear spray in hand that I called out and stepped into the open to alert it to my presence. Only then did I notice an adult wolf was only a few feet behind the bear! Before I had time to take any photos, the wolf disappeared back into the thicket, while the bear stopped and went up on its hind legs to get a better look at me. Facing the bear, I slowly backed away. The bear went back down on all fours, turned to its right and ambled off while I retraced my steps back the way I came. I’m sure the wolf was watching everything from a distance making sure that both the bear and I continued out of the area.
In October, with the fall colours at their height, I came across this seven month old wolf pup making its way along the banks of this river. Since I was on foot, I quickly hid behind a tree to not be spotted. Luckily the wind direction was in my favour as well. Without knowing I was there, it stopped and appeared to look at its reflection in the turquoise waters, rooted around for some rodents and then I thought it would disappear into the thicket. However, it came around the corner and started trotting towards me. I crouched down on the ground and stopped taking photos to not give my position away, as the faint sound of the camera would have easily been picked up my the wolf. It proceeded to walk about 30 feet from me before it rounded another corner and went out of sight.
Continuing with the theme of unusual animal sightings, this one occurred earlier this year. Unlike in Newfoundland, moose generally live very solitary lives in Alberta. Prior to this day, the only time where I have seen more than two unrelated animals together was during the breeding season. So it was very surprising to be driving along a back country road and come across this scene! We immediately slammed on the brakes, grabbed our cameras and started taking photos. In total there were 11 moose in this one meadow, with 7 in this frame. There were two mothers with calves and several yearlings and two-year olds. With hunting season just over they were still a bit skittish, so we grabbed a few photos, got back into the car and continued on.
A wolf was hunting for rodents in the back of this meadow when a red fox nonchalantly trotted into the middle of the meadow right in front of the wolf. Since wolves are known to kill other carnivores if they come across them, I expected to see either the fox quickly run and hide or the wolf chase after and try to kill it. Instead they both just glanced at each other and then almost in unison, they resumed hunting. For several minutes they mimicked each others hunting stance, before the fox decided to move on and look for prey elsewhere.
I often drive several hundred kilometers and spend countless hours outside trying to find wildlife to photograph. However, sometimes it’s much easier. This past week I just had to look out my office window! Sitting in a stand of aspen trees was this great horned owl. Not surprisingly the usual four squirrels that frequent the backyard were nowhere to be seen. I quickly grabbed my camera, took a few photographs and returned to the warmth of my office to watch the owl from a distance.
Owen Slater Photography 