I have watched this nest periodically over the summer, hoping to catch the fledglings as they take to the air. I lucked out, as I saw each one of them practice their newly discovered flying abilities. This particular bird did a low fly by over the heads of the two others, who ducked to get out of the way as they watched it soar past.
It is relatively common to see black wolves in North America, but that was not always the case. In fact, the black colouration is actually, in evolutionary time, a recent coat colour inherited from none other then the domestic dog some 10,000 to 14,000 years ago. Genomic studies have shown that prior to this time there were no black wolves. However, this trait was common in dogs and through breeding between the two, this gene has since been incorporated into the North American wolf genome and has provided these wolves with an adaptive advantage. What that advantage is no one really knows. Theories include improved camouflage, which doesn’t hold a lot of weight when you consider that wolves are not ambush predators. Another is that black colouration is linked to other genes that enhance immune function, which would provide these individuals with an obvious advantage. However, this theory has holes as well because there aren’t any black Arctic wolves, which you would expect if black colouration provided such a clear immune advantage but. Whatever the reason, Banff National Park has one of, if not the highest proportion of black wolves anywhere. This black wolf pup is one of six pups born this spring in Banff National Park. Of those six pups, five are black.
Not a particularly great photo due to the light and background but seeing bear cubs this small is pretty rare so I had to share. These three scrambled up a steep, rocky hill, using the exposed tree roots to pull themselves up to rejoin their mother feeding on the plants above. No bigger than a few pounds, they have a lot of growing to do!
A three month old wolf pup peers out from behind a small hill in Banff National Park. This pup is one of six born this spring in Banff National Park. He is one of the bold ones, and as such tends to wander off from the den area without parental supervision to explore his new surroundings. Already, the parents are taking the pups on long hunting excursions, swimming across fast flowing rivers, avoiding grizzly and black bears, navigating the roads and railways all the while searching for their next meal. If the family is lucky, half of the pups will survive through their first year.
Over the past few weeks it has become clear that more education is required for people travelling to wilderness areas. Seven black bears and three wolves have been killed on the Trans Canada Highway already this summer. While some of these were likely unavoidable, speeding has played a large part in many of these deaths. Just recently someone was clocked speeding at 203km/hr just outside of Banff where the speed limit is 90km/hr! Posted speed limits on the Bow Valley Parkway (aka 1A) are much slower but are rarely followed even when wildlife warning signs are posted.
Even more concerning are the number of reports of bears and wolves being fed by people. This was sadly highlighted earlier this week when a wolf in Kananaskis country had to be killed by conservation officers because it had become a risk to public safety. This wolf had been fed by people and developed an association between humans and food. It approached parked cars, motorcycles and bicyclists looking for handouts. It frequented campgrounds and was recently observed running from a campsite with a roast in its mouth. The last straw was when it approached to within a few meters of a man and his son walking in a campground. They were able to get away by entering a bathroom at which point the wolf left. With a food conditioned large carnivore reliant on people for food, there was no other option and it was promptly shot. All because a few people thought that it would be a good idea to give it a few handouts.
I have spent more time in Banff National Park this year than any other year and it is abundantly clear that many people think it is Disney Land. I have seen parents placing their children within a few feet of bull elk to photograph them with these animals. One even tried to place their child on the antlers! Others park in the middle of the road and jump out to photograph bears feeding on plants right next to them. Remarkably, the animals have tolerated this stupidity and simply retreated, often times with people racing after them.
Wildlife photographers are also a problem. Several routinely get out of their vehicles and approach grizzly bears with cubs to within 10-15 feet, prompting a bluff charge from the bears. These same photographers have high powered telephoto lenses that enable them to stay back at a safe distance, but this seems to be lost on them. I have seen a professional photographer that proclaims to only obtain ethical wildlife photographs endangering wildlife and motorists by directly blocking the path that the animals are travelling along with his car, completely blocking traffic by parking diagonally across a road and even driving the wrong way on a one way road all in order to get the shot. Its hard to expect tourist that may not be used to seeing wildlife to act responsibly when those that know better set a poor example.
Please do your part to help our wildlife survive and reduce the risk that you will get injured while viewing wildlife. Follow the traffic laws and posted speed limits, don’t feed wildlife and view them from a safe distance while allowing them to carry out their natural behaviours. If you see others behaving inappropriately in the National Parks please report it immediately to Parks Canada staff or call 1 888 WARDENS (1-888-927-3367 ). Thanks!
I took this photo last weekend in Banff National Park. I have been fortunate enough to see this impressive female on multiple occasions over the past several months as she leaves and returns to the den site with food for her younger siblings born earlier this year. When the parents are off hunting she is an excellent babysitter, often playing with the young pups in the forest. On this particular day I spotted her a fair distance away as she made her way back from a hunting trip. This allowed me enough time to park my car in a pullout and hope that she would pass nearby. Once in place I set up my camera and waited. Sure enough, within a few minutes she trotted right up to where I was, took a few seconds to stop and look at me, before continuing on to rejoin the others back at the den. It was just enough time to get this photo.
This spring has been mainly overcast with lots of rain and cool days which has extended the dandelion season in many areas of Banff National Park. Here a black bear pauses between dandelions before sticking out its upper lip to pluck off the head of the next flower. With such a short growing season in the Rockies the bears are in a constant state of looking for and eating as much food as possible. Even then, they typically are much smaller than bears found elsewhere in Alberta and across Canada.
Over a 24 hour period in Banff National Park I came across 6 different grizzly bears within a very small area. This accounts for about 10% of the population of grizzly bears estimated to be in the park. This time of year with snow still present at the higher elevations, the bears are concentrated in the valleys where elk calves and fresh dandelions are numerous. This family of bears is well known in the area. The mom, known as bear 64, is a 23 year old bear that is extremely smart and has adapted to life in the busy Bow Valley. She has three yearling cubs, and has been fitted with a radio collar, ear tag and ear tag transmitter to allow Parks Canada staff to monitor her movements. She makes a living in close proximity to people and so knowledge of her movements will help managers understand how to mitigate any potential problems and will also help them determine ways to keep the bears away from the railway. A more in depth article from the local newspaper can be found here. On this day she had to contend with two large male bears (known as boars) who were in the area. If possible, the boars will try to kill her cubs so she starts cycling again and therefore, the family is always on the lookout for these males. In this photo they are sniffing the air as a big male wandered into the area (though I wasn’t aware of this until about 5 minutes later when he showed up). The family quickly dispersed into the woods and the male was more interested in eating dandelion flowers than the female.
After sniffing the area, this big male decided that the fresh dandelions were more tempting than getting into a battle with an equally large female with cubs.
Although this bear was pretty big he was not the biggest in the area. Later in the afternoon, bear 122 (based on a ear tag), a larger, more experienced bear showed up and quickly displaced this bear (known as “Split Lip” due an old gash over the left upper lip), from the area. If the female had been around and cycling it likely would have been a much more combative fight. Instead, Split Lip sprint down and hill and out of range from 122 before any damage could be done.
A red tail hawk tries to dry out from another prolonged downpour in Banff National Park this spring. With record snowfalls over the winter and several days of rain this spring, many of the low lying valleys are or were underwater and a few roads were temporarily closed due to mud and rock slides.
This clump of feathers appeared almost like a ground nest, but in fact the feathers are all that remain of a grey jay that was likely consumed by a fisher or a pine marten.
These two males took a break from feeding along the Bow river in Banff National Park. Harlequin numbers have been down over the past few years and this year an effort is underway to try and catch as many as possible for banding and placement of radio-transmitters to help researchers figure out why.
Another photo from the vault. This was a few years ago in Jasper National Park. A goldenrod crab spider, which is an ambush predator, managed to catch a much larger bumble bee when it visited a chive flower to collect nectar. The spider hides under or adjacent to flowers and waits for a pollinating insect to come by. You would think that the bee would be able to fly away in time, but the spider is very quick and has powerful, fast acting venom which is injected into the prey to paralyze it. The spider holds on while the venom takes effect and then devours its meal as is. No web making required.
This photo is from last year as well. The cliff swallows routinely nest under the bridge just before the main gate and whenever I heavy truck goes over the bridge they on mass, fly out from underneath. For a few minutes they circle from above to make sure it is safe to return to their nests so I set up on the bridge with my wide angle lens on a bright sunny morning and didn’t have to wait too long before a truck went past and I was able to catch them in flight with the mountain range in the background.
Owen Slater Photography 