I’m going through images from last year that I haven’t gotten around to posting. This is from the buffalo paddock in Waterton Lakes National Park. The herd crested over a hill just as the sun rose above the landscape allowing me to create this image of a young male calf having some golden grass for breakfast.
It was a great year for snowy owl sightings in and around Calgary. A bumper crop of lemmings in the north last year resulted in a population explosion of snowies that were seen as far south as Texas. One even made it over to Hawaii where it was promptly shot! I photographed this one several times throughout the winter near the town of Balzac.
I took this photo back in January in Banff National Park. I was photographing the light hitting the mountains when I spotted this raven off in the distance. As luck would have it, it was just high enough in the ski with just enough light to freeze it mid flight as it flew across the frame. The mountain in the background is Mount Rundle.
A profile shot of the uniquely coloured ‘cross’ fox as it trotted along the crusted snow.
I came across this uniquely coloured fox just outside of Whitehorse. Red fox colouration can vary from their typical appearance to almost completely black. This one was a cross between the two and hence the name “cross fox” that is assigned to this naturally occurring variant.
The section of road between Tok, Alaska and the US/Canada border was unbelievable for the number of caribou roaming near the roads. Everyone is allowed to hunt in Alaska and most do so the animals outside the parks are a bit more wary of people! As long as cars don’t slow down they continue to move about normally, but as soon as vehicles start to slow down they run for the trees. I stopped a fair distance from this herd to try not to disturb them, but after a few seconds of standing and staring at me, they sprinted off for the cover of the forest. I quickly snapped off a few photos before they disappeared. With the nice backlighting and snow flying up all around them it made for a great photo.
Just north of the little community of Burwash Landing is an area known for Northern hawk owls. True to it’s reputation, I spotted at least five different owls within a kilometer. This particular one was very tolerant of me and allowed me to slowly approach without being disturbed. Once I was in a good spot for photos I sat and waited for when it took off. Obviously, birds are much more likely to fly away from a person if they feel at all threatened so keeping far enough away to not disturb them is key. Also working in my favor on this day was that another hawk owl flew behind me and landed in a nearby tree. The first owl started calling and repositioned itself on the branch facing me. I made sure I had it positioned in the frame with a high shutter speed and within seconds the owl launched off the perch and flew directly overhead.
The drive from Whitehorse to Fairbanks along the Alaskan Highway is spectacular. The mountains, wide open spaces, permafrost stunted forests and vast areas with little to no human development was a refreshing change to life in the city. Along the road is Kluane National Park, home of “Sheep Mountain.” By no coincidence Dall sheep make their home on this barren mountain. At this time of year there was little snow on the south side of the mountain. Even still, they were just little white dots on the mountain side when I first saw them. After loading up my gear and taking a mental image of where they were, I scrambled up the mountain in the hopes that they would still be where I spotted them. About 30 minutes later as I scrambled up the hill I spotted one up on a ridge looking down at me. It wasn’t too concerned but to avoid spooking it I stayed below it and moved parallel along the mountain to get a better vantage point. As I came around the side of the mountain the rest of the herd appeared. Forty five in total. Mostly young animals with a few rams and all in good condition. Thankfully they didn’t seem to mind me being there and allowed me to get close enough for great photographs without altering their behaviour. I photographed them for about an hour before I was forced down the mountain by an incoming storm. This was my favorite shot of the bunch.
Starting off the latest photo collection with a bang! I just got back from helping some colleagues up in Alaska and took a few days to drive between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska. A quick side trip down to Denali National Park paid off with four lynx sightings within a day! This was the first time I have seen lynx in the wild and I couldn’t have asked for a better photo opportunity. I was driving down the highway just north of the small town of Healy. The light was perfect and the surrounding mountains looked spectacular. I was scanning for wildlife when I spotted what I initially thought was a coyote. I hit the brakes and as I passed by it I realized it was a lynx! I think at this point I swore in excitement and my swearing continued when I realized I hadn’t set up my camera properly. I had switched lenses to photograph the mountains and had forgotten to switch back to the telephoto. I almost always make sure my camera is set up beside me ready to go in case any fleeting wildlife crosses in front of me on the road and I thought this mistake would cost me the opportunity to get photos. I frantically fumbled with the lenses and camera making sure I had the correct settings before I started to back up the car to get in position. Thankfully, the lynx stayed in the clearing and as I backed up I noticed a second one! Likely last year’s kittens as they weren’t fully grown yet. I managed to get a few shots off before they turned and disappeared into the trees. I quickly hit the playback button to see if I had managed to get any good shots and I was thrilled when I saw this one! The next day my lynx luck continued as I saw two more in Denali National Park. One was running down the side of the road hunting for snowshoe hares while it’s partner stayed on the other side of the snow bank. Unfortunately the light wasn’t great for photos and they lost the hare they were chasing, but it was still amazing to see. Overall the trip was a huge success with lots of great wildlife sightings, including numerous barren ground caribou, northern hawk owls, a dark phase red fox and beautiful scenery. Over the next few weeks I will post the best photos from the trip.
On the way to the ski hill I took a short detour to scan for wildlife and was I ever rewarded for it. I slowly pulled up to a clearing that looks down onto the Bow river and couldn’t believe my luck. A lone black wolf was racing around and leaping in the air at a flock of ravens fluttering just above it! Not knowing how long this would last I pulled over and snapped off a few not so great photos before it was apparent that the wolf was going to stick around and finish off the bone it was protecting. Once in a better position, I got to watch and photograph this young wolf for about 45 minutes as it periodically chased after ravens and magpies in between gnawing on a bone.
There are several researchers that believe if wolves are raised in close proximity to ravens, they become accustom to each other and the wolves will not try to harm ravens. I’m not sure this explanation fits for every case, particularly in a food limited environment. In this particular case, the wolf seemed to enjoy displacing and chasing the ravens but he didn’t seem to really want to kill them as he had several opportunities where he easily could have. See below for several other photos documenting this interaction.
After a few games of chase the raven, a young adult wolf sits down to enjoy it’s bone. The ravens kept their distance, each with just enough room between the wolf and each other to get airborne in time to avoid capture.
While the ravens gave up, two magpies decided to give it a try but with quickly put in their place by the wolf, who drove them off with a sudden burst that nearly resulted in the demise of a magpie
With the bone buried under the snow, the wolf trots off along the frozen bow river to catch up with the rest of the pack.
Owen Slater Photography 