Licking salt off its lips
Driving in a winter wonderland
Love a Pika's ears
Young bull Moose
Pika, up close
Forgetmenot Pond
The joy of peace and quiet
Fence line in the fall
Deciduous yellow
Sparkles on Forgetmenot Pond
Travelling the Cobble Flats road
Morning awakes
Sunlight on the low cloud
Licking the salt
Moose cow looking for salt
Pika / Ochonta princeps
A day in the mountains
Yellow Warbler male
Yellow lady's-slipper
One of my favourite views
Spotted Sandpiper
Flycatcher sp. - Willow or Alder Flycatcher
Middle Lake, Bow Valley Provincial Park
Willow Flycatcher
Fleabane
Kalm's Lobelia / Lobelia kalmii
Now they can't see me
Osprey take-off
Strawberries and cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii
Paintbrush - green flowers, red bracts
Mt Lorette Ponds, Kananaskis
Wind-blown Osprey
Unidentified fungus
Treasures of the forest floor
Slightly patterned
A joy to behold
Strawberries and Cream fungus / Hydnellum peckii
Green jelly mass on Buller Pond
Above the tree line
Unexpected closeness
A view from Mt. Shark
Tiny Hummingbird at Highwood House
Female Spruce Grouse with one of her young
The cutest little furball
Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
Mt. Buller, Buller Pond, Kananaskis
Bighorn Sheep - she's a beauty
A bright splash of blue in August
Northern Willowherb / Epilobium ciliatum
Young Spruce Grouse
Northern Gentian
A gathering of female Bighorn Sheep
One of my favourite meadows
Looking beautiful
Mushroom in a wonderfully lush setting
Young Spruce Grouse
A brief moment's rest
Chipmunk with a yummy snack
Peninsular, Lower Kananaskis Lake
A brief moment of rest
Quite a typical view
Lower Kananaskis Lake at Peninsular
Lichens and moss at Rock Glacier
Mountain splendour
Moose portrait
Love those big ears and big feet
Sunshine on a mighty peak
Such a cute little thing
Gathering food for the winter
A patchwork of lichens
Sitting in the middle of the lake
Another car gets a licking
A moment of closeness
Set from the movie, The Revenant
From shadow to light
Such a fun Moose
Time for another Pika shot
Coyote relaxing in the sun
Gentle and curious
How did he get there?
Our mountains in winter
Ice as far as the eye can see
One sweet, curious female
Red Fox in a mountain location
Sunlit peaks
A final goodbye
No equipment needed - just a tongue
Sunbathed mountain slopes
A place of peace and beauty
Happy New Year, everyone!
Time to rest
Light and darkness
Free car wash, anyone?
A solitary Moose cow
Heading into the sun
Texture of burnt trees
Just in time
Soaking up the incredible beauty
Male Moose are judged by the size of their antler…
Moose in a winter wonderland
Pine Grosbeak
Yesterday morning's sunrise
Stocking up on food for the winter
Between the trees
Purple Club Coral / alloclavaria purpurea
Pika storing food for the winter in its cave
Just a small mouthful
Forgetmenot Pond
Living in a rocky world
A moment to ponder
Cedar Waxwing with mountain bokeh
Forgetmenot Pond - one of my favourite places
Watching and waiting
Looking a lot like fall
Where I was, yesterday
A change from Marmots
Harebell and tiny visitors
Pika, busily feeding
Oh, so cute
A quick, two-second rest
Aphids on Fireweed
Fine old vehicle
What could be cuter?
Yesterday's excitement
Subalpine Fir / Abies lasiocarpa
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A young male Moose
What a day I had on 7 December 2014, with friends Cathy and Terry, in an absolute winter wonderland! We set off from Calgary about 7:45 am (still dark) and drove westwards to the Kananaskis area of our majestic mountains.
My friends had been hoping for a long time to be able to show me a winter Moose and on this day they did really well, finding a beautiful female and, at another location, this youngish male with antlers that looked rather like two little twigs sticking out of the sides of his head. The size of both these wild animals was huge! The closest we saw them both was when they approached the car. You can stop the car some distance away from them, but if they are busy licking off the salt and minerals from any car in sight, they sometimes might eventually come close. All the female was interested in was doing this very thing : ) She would occasionally stop, straighten up and look and listen - usually this would be because she had heard or seen people snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing on a nearby trail through the forest. The rest of the time, she licked and licked and licked some more - the slurping sound could be heard from quite some distance :) At one point, she bent both front knees to kneel, so that she could reach the lower part of a vehicle. Lol, she did a fine job of cleaning headlights till they shone. Impressive and rather amusing at the same time. Free carwash, anyone??
We saw the female first, then the youngish male in this photo, and then we saw the female a second time, later. After feeding on dead leaves and tiny twigs from under the deep snow, she then lay down in the snow at the edge of some trees - the first time I had ever seen a Moose lying down. Such a peaceful scene - no one else was around either.
I always feel so privileged when I witness any kind of wildlife, especially so when you get the chance to watch a while and learn the behaviour of the animal or bird you are lucky enough to see. I always tell my friends that just being in such spectacular scenery and being able to photograph the mountains is more than enough for me.
When a Moose is standing in the shade, it makes taking photos a bit of a challenge. What a difference in the colour of the female's coat when she occasionally moved into the sun. I can't remember if this male was in the shade or not, but I took this photo through the windscreen, which almost always changes the colours and tends to result in very blurry photos that have to be deleted. Thought this one was just about fit to be posted, though it looks more blurry than it looked late last night when I was editing it.
“The moose (North America) or Eurasian elk (Europe), Alces alces, is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with adendritic ("twig-like") configuration. Moose typically inhabit boreal and mixed deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Moose used to have a much wider range but hunting and other human activities greatly reduced it over the years. Moose have been reintroduced to some of their former habitats. Currently, most moose are found in Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia. Their diet consists of both terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. The most common moose predators are wolves, bears, and humans. Unlike most other deer species, moose are solitary animals and do not form herds. Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become aggressive and move surprisingly quickly if angered or startled. Their mating season in the autumn can lead to spectacular fights between males competing for a female.
The moose is a herbivore and is capable of consuming many types of plant or fruit. The average adult moose needs to consume 9,770 kcal (40.9 MJ) per day to maintain its body weight. Much of a moose's energy is derived from terrestrial vegetation, mainly consisting of forbs and other non-grasses, and fresh shoots from trees such as willow and birch. These plants are rather low in sodium, and moose generally need to consume a good quantity of aquatic plants. While much lower in energy, these plants provide the moose with its sodium requirements, and as much as half of their diet usually consists of aquatic plant life. In winter, moose are often drawn to roadways, to lick salt that is used as a snow and ice melter. A typical moose, weighing 360 kg (790 lb), can eat up to 32 kg (71 lb) of food per day.” From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose
My friends had been hoping for a long time to be able to show me a winter Moose and on this day they did really well, finding a beautiful female and, at another location, this youngish male with antlers that looked rather like two little twigs sticking out of the sides of his head. The size of both these wild animals was huge! The closest we saw them both was when they approached the car. You can stop the car some distance away from them, but if they are busy licking off the salt and minerals from any car in sight, they sometimes might eventually come close. All the female was interested in was doing this very thing : ) She would occasionally stop, straighten up and look and listen - usually this would be because she had heard or seen people snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing on a nearby trail through the forest. The rest of the time, she licked and licked and licked some more - the slurping sound could be heard from quite some distance :) At one point, she bent both front knees to kneel, so that she could reach the lower part of a vehicle. Lol, she did a fine job of cleaning headlights till they shone. Impressive and rather amusing at the same time. Free carwash, anyone??
We saw the female first, then the youngish male in this photo, and then we saw the female a second time, later. After feeding on dead leaves and tiny twigs from under the deep snow, she then lay down in the snow at the edge of some trees - the first time I had ever seen a Moose lying down. Such a peaceful scene - no one else was around either.
I always feel so privileged when I witness any kind of wildlife, especially so when you get the chance to watch a while and learn the behaviour of the animal or bird you are lucky enough to see. I always tell my friends that just being in such spectacular scenery and being able to photograph the mountains is more than enough for me.
When a Moose is standing in the shade, it makes taking photos a bit of a challenge. What a difference in the colour of the female's coat when she occasionally moved into the sun. I can't remember if this male was in the shade or not, but I took this photo through the windscreen, which almost always changes the colours and tends to result in very blurry photos that have to be deleted. Thought this one was just about fit to be posted, though it looks more blurry than it looked late last night when I was editing it.
“The moose (North America) or Eurasian elk (Europe), Alces alces, is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with adendritic ("twig-like") configuration. Moose typically inhabit boreal and mixed deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere in temperate to subarctic climates. Moose used to have a much wider range but hunting and other human activities greatly reduced it over the years. Moose have been reintroduced to some of their former habitats. Currently, most moose are found in Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia. Their diet consists of both terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. The most common moose predators are wolves, bears, and humans. Unlike most other deer species, moose are solitary animals and do not form herds. Although generally slow-moving and sedentary, moose can become aggressive and move surprisingly quickly if angered or startled. Their mating season in the autumn can lead to spectacular fights between males competing for a female.
The moose is a herbivore and is capable of consuming many types of plant or fruit. The average adult moose needs to consume 9,770 kcal (40.9 MJ) per day to maintain its body weight. Much of a moose's energy is derived from terrestrial vegetation, mainly consisting of forbs and other non-grasses, and fresh shoots from trees such as willow and birch. These plants are rather low in sodium, and moose generally need to consume a good quantity of aquatic plants. While much lower in energy, these plants provide the moose with its sodium requirements, and as much as half of their diet usually consists of aquatic plant life. In winter, moose are often drawn to roadways, to lick salt that is used as a snow and ice melter. A typical moose, weighing 360 kg (790 lb), can eat up to 32 kg (71 lb) of food per day.” From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose
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