Wild animals of Alberta 3

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 the beautiful female seen in this photo and, at another location, a 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 this 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 this female first, then the youngish male, 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. Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for such a great day - including the delicious chili that you brought along. Hope you were pleased with your own photos and video. Most of the time, this female was in the shade, which made taking photos a bit of a challenge. What a difference in the colour of her coat when she occasionally moved into the sun, as in this photo. “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

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

On 8 February 2015, I decided that I would join a group of friends for a morning birding walk in Fish Creek Park. I tend to miss most of the walks, so felt it was OK to go a second time this week. We started at Shannon Terrace, covering a good part of the area, and then the group started heading eastwards, towards Bebo Grove. At that point, my body was telling me that I had done enough walking, so I left my friends and made my way back to the parking lot. We had seen a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, which was perhaps the highlight of the walk. The light was not good as the Woodpecker was quite deep within the trees. I timed my return walk well, as I saw a pair of these spectacular birds out in the open. I also stopped to take a few photos of this little Red Squirrel, busily feeding on some seeds that someone had obviously left for the birds in this cold weather. On the way home, I called in at the area of the park where the tiny Northern Pygmy-owl had been seen on many days for the last few weeks. However, when I was at that location yesterday, no one there had seen the owl at all, apparently making it the fifth day in a row that it had not been seen. Shortly after I arrived there, a friend drove into the parking lot and we got chatting about the extremely confusing system of the way roads outside the city limits are numbered. Roads can have two different numbers - a Range Rd/Township Rd number plus a street or avenue number. All the maps that I have seen give the RR/TWP number only, so it's very difficult to find a location given in St. or Ave. numbers. The reason for this chat was that some of us were unable to find on a map the locations for Wild Turkeys and Northern Hawk Owls that have been reported recently. My friend told me to hop in and we'd go looking for turkeys : )! He already knew this whole area SW of the city, but I had never driven that part. Even though we were unlucky with finding any of the birds, it was extremely helpful to me to just see what the area looked like - more hilly than I had imagined. An area where I know I could very easily get totally lost, especially given the confusing mess of road numbering! Many thanks, Phil, for this unexpected and very helpful trip!! I really appreciated it! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_red_squirrel www.arkive.org/american-red-squirrel/tamiasciurus-hudsoni...

There are a number of Wild European Rabbits in Calgary, and this is just one of them. Seen on 23 July 2014, when I went on a botany walk at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area. Right next to this area is a Cemetery - funny, I do tend to see Rabbits in cemeteries, either these Wild European Rabbits, which come in all sorts of colours, or the White-tailed Jackrabbits. The town of Canmore, near Banff, in Banff National Park, has had a problem with these Wild European Rabbits. They attract Coyotes and other wildlife into the town. They were going to do something about this problem, but I don't know if they ever did. Here is a link to a Calgary Herald newspaper article from 15th December 2010, about the problem with these Rabbits in the town of Canmore, near Banff: "Canmore Mayor Ron Casey is taking aim at the picturesque Alberta town's rascally rabbits. Casey, who said the animals are attracting predators such as cougars, has secured support for a $50,000 budget to deal with feral rabbits." Read more: www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Canmore+cull+bear+baitin...

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 the beautiful female seen in this photo and, at another location, a 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 do come close. All this 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 this female first, then the youngish male, 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. Most of the time, this female was in the shade, which made taking photos a bit of a challenge. What a difference in the colour of her coat when she occasionally moved into the sun, as in this photo. 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. “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 Only 7 new photos are showing up from My Contacts this morning (29 March 2015) and it's already about 11:15 am.. It never feels "right" when this happens.

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates! Hope you have sunny days the next few days, so that it feels like spring. When I checked our weather forecast very late last night, it was for snow today, so I changed my plans for a day out. Woke up really late this morning and the sun was shining. I guess snow could still arrive this afternoon. This little rabbit is one of the Wild European Rabbits that I've seen in Calgary. I'm not sure if they are only found in this one area of the city or elsewhere. Seen on 23 July 2014, when I went on a botany walk at the Erlton/Roxboro Natural Area. Right next to this natural area is a Cemetery - funny, I do tend to see Rabbits in cemeteries, either these Wild European Rabbits, which come in all sorts of colours (light brown, black, black and white, and so on), or the White-tailed Jackrabbits. The town of Canmore, near Banff, in Banff National Park, has had a problem with these Wild European Rabbits. They attract Coyotes and other wildlife into the town. They were going to do something about this problem, but I don't know if they ever managed to "get rid" of them all. I seem to remember reading that a fair number of them were sent to British Columbia to a sanctuary there and the rest were "got rid of". Here is a link to a Calgary Herald newspaper article from 15th December 2010, about the problem with these Rabbits in the town of Canmore, near Banff: They were, of course, also eating the plants in people's gardens, which some home owners complained about. "Canmore Mayor Ron Casey is taking aim at the picturesque Alberta town's rascally rabbits. Casey, who said the animals are attracting predators such as cougars, has secured support for a $50,000 budget to deal with feral rabbits." Read more: www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Canmore+cull+bear+baitin... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A three-minute YouTube video on ALBERTA - "Remember to Breathe". www.youtube.com/embed/ThFCg0tBDck

On 19 August 2014, I was lucky enough to have the chance to try and photograph a couple of these absolutely adorable little creatures : ) After a while, I was beginning to despair of ever getting any decent shots at all. These tiny Pikas, also known as Rock Rabbits, hardly ever remain still and they are extremely fast! Imagine a mountain hillside covered in sharp, jagged rocks of all sizes and then try to picture how difficult it is to find in the viewfinder the single rock on which one of these Pikas might happen to be sitting for a second or two, lol! By the time you find the rock, the Pika is long gone. As time passed, I managed to take quite a lot of photos, though a lot needed to be deleted. They rely on existing spaces between the rocks for their homes - they don't dig a burrow, though they can dig to make their home bigger. Because the Pikas are a similar colour to many of the surrounding rocks, it is so difficult to see them - unless you happen to catch sight of some movement or you see a bunch of greenery moving at top speed over the rocky mountain side. They keep so busy, collecting plants and leaves to store in their little cave for the winter. As soon as they have dropped the bunch of greenery in their cave, off they go to collect yet another mouthful. They are only about 15 to 23 centimetres (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length, so really are pretty small. And, no, I didn't put one in my pocket to bring home with me! "The American Pika is a generalist herbivore. It eats a large variety of green plants, including different kinds of grasses, sedges, thistles and fireweed. Although pikas can meet their water demands from the vegetation they eat, they do drink water if it is available in their environment. Pikas have two different ways of foraging: they directly consume food (feeding) or they cache food in haypiles to use for a food source in the winter (haying). The pika feeds throughout the year while haying is limited to the summer months. Since they do not hibernate, pikas have greater energy demands than other montane mammals. In addition, they also make 13 trips per hour to collect vegetation when haying, up to a little over 100 trips per day." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_pika Link to a video that someone has posted on YouTube, to see and hear these little Rock Rabbits: youtu.be/W4U9IxhQSTc

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. This photo was taken through the windshield, so the colour is not the greatest. 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 see 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 OK to be posted. “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

Came across another photo of this animal that I had never posted. Thought I would add it to my set of Long-tailed Weasel photos. After missing almost all the birding walks with friends in the spring and fall of 2013 (and again in 2014), I pushed myself out the front door on 17 November 2014 and joined them for a leisurely walk in Fish Creek Park. I left them shortly before the end of the walk and called in to see if there was any sign of the little Long-tailed Weasel that I had seen three days earlier, on 13 November. A few friends had the same idea, so it was nice to have people to talk to while we watched and waited. We were lucky enough to see the little Weasel and I was able to get a few shots. The first time the Weasel appeared, my camera wouldn't function at all and I missed some good chances. Thankfully, I discovered that I had accidentally moved a small lever on the side of the camera to a different position - so easily done at any time, but especially so when wearing a pair of fleece winter gloves over a pair of thin knitted gloves. The local Black-capped Chickadees and a little White-breasted Nuthatch kept us company while we stood and waited. The Weasel was so hard to photograph, as it would run fast across the snow-covered ground, rarely stopping. This photo was taken when it stopped for a few brief seconds and scanned its territory. "Counting its tail, a large Long-tailed Weasel male, the largest of the three species in Canada, stretches nearly half a metre (20 in) in length, yet can slip into a hole just 3 cm (1.25 in) across. This enables it to enter small rodent tunnels used by mice and voles. In summer, it enters ground squirrels burrows in search of its favourite food. Average males measure 406 mm (16 in), their tail is 135 mm (5.25) long and they weigh 225 g (12.6 oz). Males are approximately 25 per cent larger than females, which on average weigh only 102 g (5.7 oz). When winter approaches, within 30 days it grows a coat of white, giving it perfect camouflage against the snow -- all except for the tip of its tail, which stays black. A hungry predator, such as a hawk or owl, aims for that black tip, enabling the weasel to escape. Towards spring, between late February and April, in only 25 days, it reverses the process, acquiring the cinnamon-brown topcoat it will use all summer. This includes brown feet, unlike the other two species which retain white feet. The underside is usually buff-coloured." (Taken from the old weaselhead.org website).