A merganser crèche
This momma common merganser and her babies swam across the lake just before sunset the other night. I thought she would angle away when they got close to me. Instead, the crèche came right along the water’s edge in front of me. The babies jostled for a place on mom’s back while she briskly paddled past.
Near this same spot, a loon had favoured me with a evening show a couple of days before. The lake is always beautiful and I’m appreciating the wildlife enjoying it so far this summer.
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Common loon – uncommon photographs
I have photographed a solitary loon at this small lake in early summer for years. It is unlikely that it is the same one each year, more likely just a convenient spot to fish and rest for a couple of weeks before continuing on its migration. I went out near sunset, close to 10pm presently, and enjoyed watching the loon preen, shake and then settle down for the night.
When I arrived at the water, it was overcast. The weak light was great for longer exposures. As the bird raised out of the water to shake itself dry, I liked the motion blur of the wings and the water.
After a little while, the sun fell below the cloud line and lit the water up in golds and pinks. Before it dove behind the hill, I went to the far side of the lake to photograph the loon in silhouette. It was a special evening for me with one of my favourite birds.
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A Coyote for Lilac Festival
I found this coyote trotting around some acreages on the western edge of Calgary yesterday. She grabbed a spot of shade under a lilac bush which seemed to be foreshadowing for a great outdoor event going on downtown today.
The 4th Street Lilac Festival in Calgary is a great outdoor party with music performances, artisan vendors and a variety of other entertainment. I don’t know if the coyote decided to check it out. Yesterday was really hot and today has cooled off a lot – so, maybe, she will. Either way, I’m just happy the flowers are in blooming, wildlife is out and summer is here.
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Capturing Motion: Upside-Down Chickadee Photography
I love showing motion in my wildlife images. Here one of the chickadees landed upside down and I was able to capture the instant it turned to fly away from the branch. The relatively slow shutter speed created a blur in the wings as it gathered together to launch. The images below are from before and then immediately after this one. They share a bit of the moment that I was really happy to realize with these beautiful little birds.
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Out in a surprise snowstorm
I didn’t see the forecast so the snow falling this morning was unexpected. The dogs and I piled into the vehicle and headed out. I wanted to get some last wintry shots – and hoped to find an owl. I haven’t photographed one flying in the snow in a long time.
I found this one out hunting in the sleet. Snow falling off branches startled him a couple of times. He looked at the ground a few times in different places but never dove after something.
I’m sure it was just me but he look a little bit miserable. I look forward to finding him and his mate in nicer weather soon.
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Shaking and spraying in Belize
We spent a lot of time on the dock at the Anchorage Resort in Caye Caulker. We were there for most of our stay in Belize. The dock extends out into the sea and was usually surrounded by pelicans, cormorants, a variety of shorebirds and a few osprey. It was a wonderful place to photograph these birds throughout their days. Watching the cormorants cycle of diving, fishing and then drying off always held my attention. This cormorant surfaced and then rose up to shake off the water. The droplets flew chaotically while the surface boiled around his tail. With the piercing blue eye sharply contrasting the blur of the wings and the spray, this photograph was one of my favorites from many overlooking the Caribbean.
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A brown pelican perspective
We were in Belize last month and I had some great opportunities to photograph the wildlife there. I have always loved Brown pelicans – the way they fly, their mannerisms and particularly how they dive to fish. There was one that perched on the roof above me on a dock. Leaning over to look down into the water, this pelican offered me a great view at its long beak. The water drop made it one of my favorite photographs from last year.
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Wildlife photos from 2022
I had some great encounters with animals over the past year. I’d always love to get out more but it was great to have these images and the memories. Here is the link to the gallery with my picks from 2022.
This was probably my absolute favorite of the set. Heavy fog rolled in as dusk approached. Des and I sat above the field waiting for an owl to go hunting. Instead, this white-tailed deer materialized out of the mist and we watched it walk in front of us. At this moment she picked up something in the air and lifted her head to concentrate on that. Her almost silhouette framed beautifully in the scene.
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Happy Owl-oween!
I hope you have fun celebrating this spooky, scary day! We have five kids and can’t wait to get costumed-up and watch them trick-or-treating!
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Those eyes…
We had two wonderful encounters with great gray owls yesterday. The highlight for me came when the second owl flew across the field to a tall post about 30′ away. I took some good flight shots there. Then he glided down and landed 2′ away on a fence post beside me. When he was there, it was incredible to share the space. Being that close I was awed by the power and wisdom that I felt from him.
He stayed there for around 10 minutes before I moved further down the fence. The wind picked up as the clouds covered the sun. The owl remained focused on finding dinner in the long grass but after several more minutes, with his feathers whipping around, he flew off into the trees.
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Common loon cleaning
This loon had a small lake to himself a week ago. After swimming around a small island once, he decided to preen. I am used to this being a relatively short session that ends with the stretch out of the water as in the image above. This time was very different and saw the bird splash, skim, dunk and flap for 15 minutes. I’m guilty of thinking that he was having great fun during his bath time. While this is not unusual behavior for loons, it was new to me for the amount of time and the exuberance displayed.
I had a great time was watching and enjoyed looking for dynamic images that I have never had the opportunity to photograph before. The head emerging from the water, wings outstretched perpendicular to the water, surface skimming while beating droplets into a fury around him were among my favorite moments. Here are a few of the images that put a smile on my face when I reviewed them a couple of days after the encounter.
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An owl in the rising sun
I went out onto the Foothills last weekend to catch the sunrise. It was beautiful but this great gray owl stole the honors for the morning to me. I loved having her backlit by the warm sunshine while she flew to hunt in the field.
Amid a number of current challenges, I enjoyed getting out for time to photograph and put energy into this passion of mine.
