Jasper in June...with a side trip to Banff

The trip to Jasper and Banff last weekend ended up being just awesome.  There were many bears along the highways and I was glad that we were able to spot our first three black bears with no traffic around.  We were able to spend about 2 hours watching the three of them do "their thing!"  As you watch these animals you get a great sense that they only wish to be alone so they can forage for food and rest without human interference.  Keeping our distance to respect the animals was our first priority and the close-up shots are because the bears walked nearer to us, not because we chased them.  I think if more people were educated about wild animals and learn to respect "their space" we would have fewer problem encounters.

The third bear we saw was much larger than the first two.  I noticed that he had a tag on his left ear.  While watching this bear, Brenda and I both could see that his teeth looked in poor shape.  I'm guessing that this guy is quite an old bear and he didn't want much to do with us when he noticed us.

One of the things that constantly amazes me is how stupid some people can be!  This shot was taken along the Icefields "Raceway"!!!  This bear was eating grass along the side of the highway and before long there were probably 20 or 30 cars that had stopped along the shoulders with many more cars and motor homes stopping and blocking one lane as well.  As seems to be the norm on Alberta's highways some idiot in a speeding red pick-up towing a car almost drove into the back of a motor home that had stopped behind traffic on the highway.  This idiot then swerved into the oncoming traffic lane and forced the oncoming traffic to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid a head on collision.  Unfortunately I couldn't get the plate because of his speed but I did see that it was a B.C. plate.  Had this idiot flown by a couple of seconds later he would have hit the bear and no doubt several other vehicles!  WHEN WILL THE POLICE START ENFORCEMENT ON THE HIGHWAYS IN OUR NATIONAL PARKS?  It's getting to the point where it isn't safe to drive the speed limit!

Back to the photo...this motorcyclist had stopped to see the bear and didn't keep her attention focused on the animal.  The bear suddenly decided to cross the highway walked behind her about 10 meters from the biker and she didn't even notice it cross.  Can you imagine what could have happened if the bear suddenly had taken an interest in this biker?

Brenda and I stopped for a bite to eat and were immediately joined by this little guy.  He obviously wanted to join us for lunch and made some real attempts at looking cute to entice us to feed him.  Was it hard to look into this little guys eyes and not give him something...yes!

We were lucky enough on Sunday before sunrise to see this calf elk with it's mom!  We watched them for awhile and were able to see it feeding, but unfortunately behind some trees where we couldn't get any pics!  It would have been great to get those shots but just watching them was reward enough for the day!

We spotted this Mountain Goat feeding on the side of a cliff.  We watched and took a lot of pics.  We didn't see any other goats around, but he didn't see to mind us.  He had an itch that he had to scratch in the bottom photo.

We also spotted this young Bighorn Sheep and it's mom on Sunday.  I think the photo's say it all...

I must thank Brenda for taking these great shots of the photographer in action!  I am very proud of her for braving this 8 km hike that we did on Sunday!  I can't believe that in the two short years after her stroke (with many life threatening complications) that she was able to enjoy these views and all the other remarkable places and wildlife that we saw this past weekend!!!

We couldn't go through the parks without getting some landscape shots as well.  The shots below were taken at various locations through the parks!  Please enjoy them!

AUTHORS NOTE:  MOST OF THESE IMAGES AND MORE WILL BE ADDED TO OUR ONLINE GALLERY AND PRINTS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE.  PLEASE CONTACT US FOR PRINT PURCHASING INFORMATION.

Bear Encounters

We headed back to Jasper and Banff this past weekend in search of bears.  We had some great encounters with 9 different black bears!  The pictures below are the first three bears we saw.  We watched these three for about 2 hours as they fed, relaxed and drank.  It was awesome watching these three without the distraction caused by huge crowds and traffic jams when they are seen next to the highways in the parks.  I will write a full story about our trip in the next post.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed taking them. 

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!

 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.

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!

 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!