Monday, May 21, 2012
Caribou Photo Published
It was really nice to hear from Parks Canada that one of my images of the Woodland Caribou was published in the Fitzhugh, Jasper's local newspaper. You can see the photo below (top left) and read the article here.
Plains Bison
A couple of days ago I went to Elk Island National Park hoping to get some photo's of the Plains Bison. I did manage to find a fairly large herd however they were about a quarter to half mile walk off the road. I observed their behavior for a bit before trying to get too close because I saw so many calves in the herd.
I saw that the moms were very protective over their calves and since I was in the middle of a large field with no cover, I very slowly worked my way to within 150 yards of the herd. I kept a low profile which helped. I may have been able to get a bit closer, but what looked like the largest Bison in the herd was paying very close attention to me no matter how careful I was and how slowly I moved.
I decided against trying to get closer on this attempt as I didn't want to encounter an overly protective Bison that might charge. I know that Bison can run at speeds of up to 60-70 Km/h and have been known to injure and kill people. I watched a small group that ran full out for about a quarter mile to join the larger herd and I'm sure they were easily running those speeds! Taking into consideration that my only cover was a blade of grass I think I wisely chose to keep my distance and maintain a very low profile. I did manage to get some shots of the herd but not the one shot that I've been trying for since late February. I thought I would share a few of the shots here. I hope you enjoy them!
I saw that the moms were very protective over their calves and since I was in the middle of a large field with no cover, I very slowly worked my way to within 150 yards of the herd. I kept a low profile which helped. I may have been able to get a bit closer, but what looked like the largest Bison in the herd was paying very close attention to me no matter how careful I was and how slowly I moved.
I decided against trying to get closer on this attempt as I didn't want to encounter an overly protective Bison that might charge. I know that Bison can run at speeds of up to 60-70 Km/h and have been known to injure and kill people. I watched a small group that ran full out for about a quarter mile to join the larger herd and I'm sure they were easily running those speeds! Taking into consideration that my only cover was a blade of grass I think I wisely chose to keep my distance and maintain a very low profile. I did manage to get some shots of the herd but not the one shot that I've been trying for since late February. I thought I would share a few of the shots here. I hope you enjoy them!
This is what looked like the largest Bison in the herd.
It was paying very close attention to me.
A small part of the herd.
Mom with her calf running to keep up.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The Amazing Wildlife of Jasper
After the photography workshop in February, Brenda and I were able to return to Jasper in April and had some amazing experiences! Wildlife always amaze me. You can spend hours or even days trying to find the animal that you want to photograph and sometimes when it seems like they have all but gone extinct, there they are! Patience, persistence and speed with the camera are all critical when they appear as those amazing moments that we try to capture can be gone in seconds! We were lucky enough to see a beautiful black wolf that ran across the road in front of us alone. I was saddened to learn that the pack this beautiful animal belonged to had two of it's wolves killed by a speeding driver days before we arrived.
While in the park we spotted a group of elk and saw a male with a cluster of windshield washer jugs that had been tied together wrapped around it's antlers. This was a sad sight as one of the jugs hung directly in front of its eyes. We did report this and later in the day we saw a park warden near this bucking and frightened elk with a tranquilizer rifle. We didn't see the end result, but we hope the jugs were removed from this poor animals antlers.
I was happy to find the same fox I photographed in February out on a hunt. I was able to follow the fox as it hunted to feed itself and watched as it killed and collected mice to take back to it's den. Before leaving the park we were lucky enough to photograph three Woodland Caribou that came out of the bush for us. While watching them they tried coming onto the highway and one began licking the salt off the road. What really made me wonder is the cars that were traveling through the park approaching this Caribou standing on the road and in plain sight as speeds of not less than 130 kmh! I can't believe how stupid people are!
Whatever happened to the police that used to patrol and enforce the traffic laws in the national parks? From my observations, it is no longer safe to stop along the shoulders of either the Yellowhead or Icefields "Raceways" to observe and photograph animals without the fear of being killed by one of the fools on our roads or perhaps witnessing one of these idiots kill the animal your trying to view.
Now that I've vented, I hope you enjoy these images as much as Brenda and I enjoyed taking them. These images will be available in our online gallery if you are interested in purchasing prints. You can also stay up to date if you follow us on facebook!
While in the park we spotted a group of elk and saw a male with a cluster of windshield washer jugs that had been tied together wrapped around it's antlers. This was a sad sight as one of the jugs hung directly in front of its eyes. We did report this and later in the day we saw a park warden near this bucking and frightened elk with a tranquilizer rifle. We didn't see the end result, but we hope the jugs were removed from this poor animals antlers.
I was happy to find the same fox I photographed in February out on a hunt. I was able to follow the fox as it hunted to feed itself and watched as it killed and collected mice to take back to it's den. Before leaving the park we were lucky enough to photograph three Woodland Caribou that came out of the bush for us. While watching them they tried coming onto the highway and one began licking the salt off the road. What really made me wonder is the cars that were traveling through the park approaching this Caribou standing on the road and in plain sight as speeds of not less than 130 kmh! I can't believe how stupid people are!
Whatever happened to the police that used to patrol and enforce the traffic laws in the national parks? From my observations, it is no longer safe to stop along the shoulders of either the Yellowhead or Icefields "Raceways" to observe and photograph animals without the fear of being killed by one of the fools on our roads or perhaps witnessing one of these idiots kill the animal your trying to view.
Now that I've vented, I hope you enjoy these images as much as Brenda and I enjoyed taking them. These images will be available in our online gallery if you are interested in purchasing prints. You can also stay up to date if you follow us on facebook!
The fox has three mice in it's mouth and it ran for about 4 km to it's den.
This elk had all of these jugs wrapped around it's antlers.
I hope this beautiful wolf is not the sole survivor of its pack!
A Bald Eagle paying close attention to us!
One of many White-Tailed Ptarmigan we saw and photographed!
This pair of Ospreys has returned to their nesting grounds and were fixing their nest!
This Osprey watched for fish from this vantage point. It only took seconds to catch a trout for dinner!
One of the three Woodland Caribou we saw! Beautiful animals!
One of the many Bighorn Sheep we saw! This guy is taking a break on some rocks above me!
This is a very young Bighorn Sheep!
Very curious about us!
A pair of Whitetail Deer checking me out!
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