Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum - Live Wildlife Pics Thread

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- - Live Wildlife Pics Thread (http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=337547)

Picture my mom took a couple days ago

Just some muleys..:)

owl and blue jay

It appears our resident owl is back gathering squirrels. After all the magpies left a couple of jays showed up. He hung out for about twenty minutes then took off.

Geo

some very cool pics here thanks for posting

Great pics... Keep em coming!

From the past couple years.. not the best camera.

I haven't been out much this winter. Too much work to do here at home and too few days with enough light for good photography. Plus, not enough money to spare.

I do love to hunt with my camera though so here are some photos from past photo opportunities.

All of these are wild, free roaming animals, in the wild. No game farm or park animals included. All photos were as is spur of the moment opportunities.

First is a Muskrat packing away feed for the winter at a local farm pond/dugout.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4095/4...4dcc26_b_d.jpg

Second is a Albino Mule Deer that hung around east of town for a few years. It dissapeared some time after it's second year.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4102/4...fce82a_b_d.jpg

Then comes my favorite animal. A Chipmunk and it's eating Dandelion flowers!
What's not to love!!

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4079/4...2c3a85_b_d.jpg

The only live Fisher I have ever photographed. I have seen a few alive, in the wild, but this is the only one I was able to photograph.

I saw it along highway 35 one day while I was patrolling the highway for snow removal reports.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4123/5...b8ccef_b_d.jpg

Hossenfeffer anyone?

Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Hare. We call them Rabbits. Or supper.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6131/6...3b8df6_b_d.jpg

A River Otter at Lac Cardinal. There were no Otter in this area when I was growing up. This was the first one I had the opportunity to observe over more then a few seconds. It kept me entertained for over an hour.
Awesome creature!

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5145/5...df0fb7_b_d.jpg

A wild Mink. This one didn't appear to notice me or the traffic streaming by. It went about it's business as if it were hundreds of miles from the nearest human.
This was along the Chin road 80 miles west of Manning.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4149/5...141ee8_b_d.jpg

One of the prettiest Cross Foxes I have ever seen. This color phase is called a Golden Cross, or just Golden Fox.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5145/5...d05b99_b_d.jpg

I hope you all enjoy these photo as much as I enjoyed taking them.
It is why I do photography, so I can share my world with those who may never get the chance to experience it.

Great set of photos Keg! And I appreciate that you took the time to add interesting captions that tell a bit of a story.

Do you pursue bird photography as well?

Quote:

Originally Posted by thumper (Post 3739820)

Great set of photos Keg! And I appreciate that you took the time to add interesting captions that tell a bit of a story.

Do you pursue bird photography as well?

Birds are my favorite subjects, but I'm a nature nut, I am interested in all wild things from fungi to fowl and everything in between.

It all started with a fascination for birds when I was barely old enough to walk.
I became some what of a local expert, so much so that my school teacher would send people to me when they had a question about birds.

Funny thing is, the more I learn the more I realize I know next to nothing in comparison to the real experts.

Here are a few of the thousands of bird photos I have.

Again, these are all local birds, in the wild, not habituated to humans except for the birds that visit my feeders.

We are on the southern edge of the Sand Hill Crane nesting area. We have a few that hang out here all summer, like these. I found them less then a mile from my house on a hot August day, just before harvest began.

I believe they are hunting grasshoppers.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4076/4...65b5dc_b_d.jpg

This was one of many Ceder Waxwings I discovered hunting insects as if they were Flycatchers. I had no idea they do that. Unfortunately I was not able to catch them in the act.

This was along secondary 692 at the community water supply pond.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4075/4...12aa49_b_d.jpg

This is a Warbling Vireo a bird that prefers dense forest cover and one that does not sit still for more then a second or two As a result they are seldom seen even when we are in their nesting areas.

This one had a nest nearby which I was unable to find. That may be a good thing.

Un-named thicket along highway 35

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4081/4...75a7b5_b_d.jpg

I used to love to sit out in the yard late in the evening and listen to the night hawks do their territorial dive. They nested up on the ridge west of the homestead.

I found this one at an old gravel stockpile location along highway 35. This is a typical roost location for them. They like flat sandy of rocky places to spend the daylight hours and for nesting.

Near Twin Lakes Alberta.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4121/4...4f0dbf_b_d.jpg

I had to use my 400 mm lens and x2 extender to get this photo. This is as close as one normally gets to a Le Conte's Sparrow.

West of Dixonville Alberta.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4136/4...8e7176_b_d.jpg

Our largest Blackbird. A Yellow Headed Blackbird.

How can such a beautiful bird have such an ugly song?

Winagami Lake Provincial Park.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4094/4...886532_b_d.jpg

One of the real interesting things about birds are their colors. Man will never match the depth or iridescent qualities of the colors that many birds display.
This Green Winged Teal is one example of how amazing a bird's colors can be.

Keep in mind, even a camera can not fully capture the true colors of many birds.

Weber's Sough, near Dixonville.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4120/4...29d3de_b_d.jpg

I never did discover why some of these Franklin's Gulls are pink. Someone told me it is from recently molting but I was unable to find anything to support that theory.

This was in the Mile Zero parking lot in Grimshaw.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4120/4...4a8807_b_d.jpg

Birds do some amazing flying when they are displaying for a mate.

I believe that is what these Ravens are doing in this photo.
Amazing to watch and I am sure, huge fun to experience.

Hawk Hills, spring of 2013

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4094/4...215e97_b_d.jpg

I love to watch ducks fly. They look like miniature jet plane but fly much better.

These Pintail Ducks are among the best formation flyers in the world in my opinion.

Hawk Hills, spring of 2014

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4117/4...45c7b5_b_d.jpg

Last but not least. A Canada Goose on her nest. Just south of Manning, spring of 2012. Beside range road 225. She nests here every year. If there is enough water.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4137/4...c5353f_b_d.jpg

You are being watched! :)

Stay safe out there people.

Great bird photos too! A Hutterite friend told me that young Sandhill cranes (called colts), seek out depressions in the ground and then lie flat on their belly with their beaks straight out - in order to escape detection by predators. He said that they come across them while driving their tractors down trails surrounding the fields, and unfortunately, often can't stop in time to avoid squashing them. Have you seen this strange defence behaviour - or was my friend pulling my leg?

Quote:

Originally Posted by thumper (Post 3740146)

I have not seen Cranes do that but I have seen Geese do it, both the young and adults and I've seen it in other species, Grouse for example.

It is what the Goose in my photo is doing. From my observations it is clearly and attempt to avoid detection.

It did not appear to me that they sought out depressions but they certainly tryd to hide by laying as flat as possible and they usually have their heads straight out as seen in the photo of the Goose.

I would say it is very plausible except for the part about seeking out depressions. It seems to me it's more a matter of seeking the lowest possible body position.

Wow some really amazing photos on here, thanks for sharing. A real pleasure to veiw

a few from around town here in central east saskatchewan

Wow folks some pretty outstanding pictures - love them all and thanks for sharing! I'll share a few too & thanks for looking ~

Amazing photos, keep them coming and thanks for sharing.

Great thread!! Awesome pics, thank you all for sharing them

Keg, those gulls have been eating farmed salmon. ;)

The pink feathers are from consuming the pigment astaxanthin.

Great picture everyone, thank for sharing!