Inflight fight
This shot of two bald eagles sparring in midair is one I have waited to capture for a long time. I felt extremely lucky to get this dynamic image with the wings flared, one claw wide open and the emotion in the top one’s face.
I have photographed bald eagles in many places over the years. They are dynamic, powerful, cunning, intelligent and emotional raptors who I never tire of watching at rest, in flight or on the hunt. This is one of my favorites of these incredible birds.
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Canada geese skirmishing on Frank Lake
The tall grass near the bird blind on Frank Lake is nesting ground for Canada geese, ibis, yellow-headed blackbirds, herons and more. At dusk the cacophony rising up from these residents can be surprisingly loud. There are birds chasing one another, others returning with material for their nest, food for their chicks as well as occasional territorial spats. It’s an incredible spot to set up near the trails and watch life on a marsh. On a visit there in early May the weather was warm and the sunlight before dusk was incredible.
Throughout the evening, the Canada geese were active with a couple being particularly feisty. That presented some new image opportunities that I had not yet photographed which is always exciting for me.
When the sun set, the activity level along the shoreline rose noticeably. All manner of birds flew overhead and low along the water. Some of the geese moved their skirmishing to the small pond directly in front of me. I didn’t move around and they seemed oblivious, or at least undistracted, by me – which was perfect. I stayed until it was dark and loved every minute.
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Bear play
On our last day in Jasper, Kian and I went for a walk along Pyramid Lake that morning. It was the first weekend of September so it was cool with a bit of mist on the water and the autumn colors were just starting to come in. We headed back to town around 9am and spotted a Black bear in the open forest above the road.
One bear soon became two when the other stepped out from behind a dense clump of Buffalo berries. The berries were ripe at that time so the bears had been drawn in. At first we thought they were a mother and cub but when they were side by side, and then when they were wrestling, we could see they were both the same size.
To me, they seemed like they were near adults and given their play fighting I think they are siblings that are still hanging out together. Whether related or not, they seemed to enjoy each other’s company and stayed close to each other as they munched through the patches of berries along the hillside.
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Fighting in the fields
I was roaming the gravel roads east of south of Cochrane on the weekend. As dusk started to fall, I found a small herd of white-tailed deer in the middle of a field. There were two bucks standing apart from four does. The smaller male was prancing about a bit so I put on my longest lens and waited to see if anything would happen. We are still in the middle of the rut so I was hoping they might do some antler jousting.
And, as it turned out, they did. They clashed a couple of times with antlers cracking while they tangled head to head. The battle was short, frenetic and I felt very lucky to watch this moment play out.
After this skirmish the smaller one darted away and they stood apart for a minute before moving up a fold in the hillside back towards the seemingly unimpressed does.
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A few of Jasper’s juvenile bald eagles
The Jasper National Park is an amazing place for wildlife. That statement is not a great surprise but still I wasn’t expect the encounter Jeff Rhude and I had on the last day of our trip up there. Walking along the Athabasca River outside of the townsite we were looking for wolf tracks in the snow. Instead, we found one juvenile bald eagle that was perched above the river. When it flew out of the tree it went to a lower point and that drew our attention to a second and then a third one in the trees. There was a fourth that circled nearby as well. Over the next hour, we hoped they would dive for fish while enjoying watching them fly between one another. Crazily, a set of five mature eagles over them as the afternoon faded and that stirred these younger birds up. They attacked each other a couple of times. Which seemed like play fighting and did not last long enough to be serious. It was incredible to see this action up close. They were in trees less than a hundred feet away when the other eagles flew over and we had a great view of the fights. After these, a couple of them went back to their original perch while the others crossed the river and flew out of sight. I hope to see them again next time I get back to this incredible place.
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Christopher Martin Photography 