Nature

[noddy]

lovely cat marcus

took these this morning before work, using my new lens to spy on a heron catching breakfast.




and some from the other day - a black swan protecting its babies from a young ruffian.

[noddy]

and a few spring wildflowers, they are everywhere right now.

[noddy]

The weekend just past is likely to be our second last camping trip before winter sets in. We were fortunate to have perfect weather: clear skies (apart from some forest fire smoke); high temperature each day in the mid-20s Celsius; overnight lows of 7C or 8C.

I had hoped to see the Clark's nutcracker, another member of the corvidae (ravens, crows, jays) family. No luck there; they're probably still at high elevation until the snow and cold sets in. (The same factors probably account for the absence of bighorn sheep sightings in the Sheep River valley.) We had frequent visits from the gray jay, a.k.a. whisky jack or camp robber, but that comes as no surprise, as they have almost no fear of people.

American robins were present in large numbers, perhaps already migrating south. And, of course, there were plenty of crows and ravens.

We did see one black bear, several mule deer (praising the Almighty for their safety in provincial parks during hunting season), and hordes of busy, busy squirrels.

We didn't see any rattlesnakes this time. I'm okay with that.

All of these scenes are in the Sheep River valley, within easy hiking distance of the Bluerock and Bluerock Equestrian campgrounds

and yet more wow, your scenery is truly something.

[Marcus]

Nice photography, Noddy . . thanks.

Here's another, taken by my wife in the back yard a couple years back . .

mscalf.jpg (104.67 KiB) Viewed 1587 times

[noddy]

cute scene

[noddy]

swan babies are as cute as any other duckling, i never did understand that story.

swamphens and moorhens have certainly got something special going on.....

[Simple Minded]

Thanks for the great pictures everyone.

Marcus,

Your picture of the moose calf and the cat reminds me of watching our oldest cat stalk deer in the backyard. He hasn't brought one down yet....... but I think he is still working the plan in his mind......

[Simple Minded]

tiger cubs and Basenji/Aussie cattle dog mix

Evidence of evolution and entropy.... Tasha rapidily evolved into an Australian Couch Dog.....

[Antipatros]

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park Alberta
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Our weekend at Writing-on-Stone will be our last camping trip for the season. It's just day trips until next spring.

Autumn colours:



Hoodoos:





Side coulee, NWMP post:



As Noddy's wildflowers flourish, ours fade and wither:





I liked these swallow nests, hanging on the cliff face over the Milk River like modern art on a gallery wall:







Apart from the abundant white-tailed deer and a couple of pronghorns, we saw a couple of hawks and a prairie falcon.

Particularly abundant was the mountain cottontail (Sylvilagus nuttallii), a tiny rabbit that is smaller even than the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus). The white-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus townsendii) positively dwarfs it.

There were numerous beaver and raccoon tracks along the river, which was exceptionally low. The beaver tracks are no surprise.

Some of you who have lived in the East or down South are undoubtedly only too familiar with raccoons and the havoc they cause. You may have used coonhounds in a praiseworthy endeavour to repel their incursions. But the fact is that they are not native here and are becoming a bit of a concern. Last I heard, government biologists were trying to determine where they've come from.

[noddy]

some more recent happy snaps from my walks, this time along the river.

a lovely little kestral on the hunt for ducklings


an azure kingfisher on the hunt for dragonflies

a new holland honeyeater showing off for the ladies in the sunset light.

[Antipatros]

Slough - Tsuu T'ina Indian Reserve - 23 October 2012

We had 8" (20 cm) of global warming overnight and this morning, and it shows no sign of letting up. Despite that, the blue jays are calling raucously and entire bomber wings of Canada geese are honking their way through the cloud and snow. But the coyotes, who have had choir practice early every morning recently, are hunkered down. And the jackrabbits wish that they were wearing their winter white....

[noddy]

shudder

recently visited an island nature reserve off the coast, saw some wild sealions up close for the first time.

some young lads having a play




and a big fatboy who i nearly tripped over whilst concentrating on other things.



spring is definately sprung, tern style.

[Antipatros]

The big bloke basking in the sun has the right attitude: enjoy the sunshine and good weather while it's there.

[Antipatros]

Finally! At least the little blackguard literally works for peanuts.

[noddy]

The big bloke basking in the sun has the right attitude: enjoy the sunshine and good weather while it's there.

its a male only colony, they hang out away from the females as lazily as they can and get as fat as possible before the next breeding season.

mumble, cough.

Finally! At least the little blackguard literally works for peanuts.

thats cheating

hes a ripper, i can imagine the blues/whites can make him quite camouflaged... its incredible how our many gaudy rainbow coloured parrots can completely disappear in foliage.

[Antipatros]

Christmas cactus

[Yukon Cornelius]

[noddy]

managed to get a cute little sequence of one my favourites, the willy wagtail, punching way above its weight attacking a young kestral, which is a small falcon.

the kestral wasnt too bothered but constantly turned its head to avoid losing its eyes.





finally mum arrived home with dinner (a mouse in her feet, hard to see)



and the youngen gave the world a big F*ckYou as it held its dinner.

[Endovelico]

There are rewards in life...

[Azrael]

Mammal carnivore species newly discovered in South America.

[Nonc Hilaire]

How in the heck does one discover a whole new species one day and then claim it is spread through two countries the very next day?