Nature

[Antipatros]

On our last camping weekend we wanted to be here:


Gibraltar Mountain


Bluerock

...but had to "settle" for going here due to full campgrounds:


Cataract Creek






Mt. Burke at Sunset

It's a life of misery.

Interestingly (or more likely not), my last encounter with a baby prairie rattlesnake was between Bluerock Creek and the Bluerock equestrian campground, the area shown in the top two photos. Rattlesnakes could never have been abundant in that area, even before white settlement. They're not even holding their own in their dry, southern fastnesses, due to agriculture and road traffic.

Cataract Creek (in the remaining photos) is an area where the introduced wild turkey thrives. But it's one of the few areas where the common dandelion, an introduced European species, is apparently making little headway and the native mountain dandelion continues to predominate.

[Antipatros]

Juvenile male American goldfinches gorge on thistle seeds preparatory to flying south for the winter:





The females are a fairly drab olive colour; the adult males a miraculous gold, black and white. The juvenile males start out looking like females, then become progressively more adult in appearance.

[noddy]

stunning mountains, we have many wonders of nature but 99% of australia is flat as a pancake, only the south eastern alpine range has any bigger lumps and the biggest of those is only 3km above sea level .. in my area the highest mountain is 1km above sea level and sticks up all alone like a pimple.

beaches however, we got em... this one is rainbow beach on the sunshine coast in queensland, the side story to this picture is that the place was packed like a shopping centre carpark during christmas sales and i was awfully proud of myself to get the angles right and the moment right to make it look so idyllic

the reality was constantly avoiding 4wds driven by drunken teens and we didnt stay very long at all.



in my local area the norm is things that where once large, many millions of years ago and are now just weathered chunks of granite.

[noddy]

some recent happy snaps during my walks.

a galah enjoying the last sunbeam of the day



another silvereye shot, this time in combat mode and about to catch some flying insect dinner



a young pair of rainbow lorikeets seducing eachother.

[Antipatros]

Such magnificent colours! The birds are a delight to behold.

The granite shots remind me somewhat of our hoodoos. These are from a place called Writing-on-Stone, which holds one of the largest collections of Indian petroglyphs and pictographs on the Great Plains. It was a favoured spot for an Indian brave to go on his vision quest.


The scene shows the archaeological reserve (access by guided tour or special permit only) across the Milk River, and the Central Butte of the Sweetgrass Hills (Montana) in the background. The latter is an igneous intrusion exposed by erosion of surrounding sedimentary rock.











The wind sculpts the exposed sandstone into fantastic shapes.

It's also a superb area to see prairie falcons and ferruginous hawks....

I'm off to visit the in-laws for a bit, so we'll see what the Rocky Mountains and Okanagan valley have to offer this year.

[noddy]

the weathered limestones are great, more so with the lovely greenery and mountains aswell.

we have an area of those a few hours north of me called the pinnacles but as with all things australian they have weathered back to just the nubs and are mostly used by tourists for amusing "look at my huge rock penis" shots

some more things that give me a smile.

a 28 parrot stealing from my apple tree (not really stealing, until such time as im desperate for food id rather they got them)
taken late in the evening in failing light, so high on iso noise.



and our chickens-the-size of cows, the emu.. with impressive hair.



much like its cousins the ostrich and the cassowary, one needs to be careful with grumpy roosters when they get to these kinds of sizes.

[Antipatros]

I'm not sure I'd trust that emu. It has a maniacal look in its eye.

We saw one of my favourite species, the California quail, every morning and evening in the Okanagan. There would be a rustling in the dry brush on the steep hillside, then nothing. After a while, entire coveys would work their way down to the lakeshore to forage and drink.

American Bird Conservancy's Field Guide, All the Birds of North America:

California and Gambel's are the only quail that are likely to be confused. Both have handsome, curved head plumes and similar head patterns, but their belly markings are distinctive. Ranges of the two species are also largely separate. Except when nesting, quail live in coveys, scampering warily in or near ground cover. They will flush, but only when they can't run from danger. Males call in spring and summer and are more easily heard than seen....

California quail Callipepla californica 10"
Numerous, widespread from wet coastal brush to dry chaparral. Roosts in trees or brush.

Male has black plume, bold head pattern, scaled belly. Females and younger birds have shorter plumes, lack distinct head pattern of males... Chi-ca-go, loud call.

All the quail photos were taken here:


Okanagan Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia

Nighttime shots:

[Antipatros]

California quail in daylight:

[noddy]

you have such lovely scenery, again im left jealous of people with mountains

the quail are cool, especially the little tuft on the males.

[Antipatros]

Mt. Stephen, British Columbia
Located just east of Field, B.C., along the TransCanada Highway through Yoho National Park.


1: Monday, 3 September 2012, 2:56 p.m. -- rain and mist


2: Monday, 3:45 p.m. -- starting to clear


3: Tuesday, 9:14 a.m. -- a dusting of snow overnight


4: Tuesday, 9:34 a.m. -- blue sky increasing


5: Thursday, 7:52 p.m. -- sunset approaches


6: Friday, 8:54 a.m. -- a new dawn

Edit: Mount Stephen trilobite beds

All shot from the Kicking Horse campground:


Kicking Horse River. The peculiar milkiness of the glacial meltwater is due to its silt content.

[noddy]

gorgeous place antipatros

some first week of spring shots taken while walking, im waiting on a new semi pro bird lens at the moment to upgrade from my cheapo zoom and hope to really get some goodens this year.

wooduck family, these ducks have almost abandoned the water for a more goose like grass lifestyle.
unfortunately this pair setup in suburban road side and havent been round last few days, i think dogs/cats have got them :/



a black duck with plenty of babies, this time in a local reserve so the success rate is much higher.

[Antipatros]

Best wishes on getting more bird photos. I've tried every day to capture some more goldfinch images. Recently I haven't seen or heard goldfinches; I may have missed them until next May.

And the blue jays continue to avoid me, just because that amuses them.

At least mountains are more cooperative:

Cathedral Crags
Yoho National Park
British Columbia

[noddy]

birds, especially the small highly strung ones are always difficult.. hence my enjoyment of refining both my hunting skills and my equipment, a lovely mix of the primal and the techno geek which suits me well.

i never got any decent shots before my descent into the monetary blackhole of camera equipment and my latest toy is funded by my long suffering missus as an anniversary gift, bless her.

and once again im left in awe of your terrain, tis a shame the price for such lovely vistas seems to be either bitter cold or tropical festering

[noddy]

And the blue jays continue to avoid me, just because that amuses them.

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/09/ ... -in-death/

How do birds react when a member of their flock dies? Apparently, for western scrub jays, commotion ensues.

These birds call loudly when they come upon another jay that is dead, attracting nearby birds, which often join in the noise. A team of scientists from UC Davis hypothesized that these “cacophonous aggregations” may function to warn other birds of potential danger. To test this hypothesis, the scientists tracked the response of the birds to a dead jay laying on the ground, and compared those with the birds’ reactions to three other stimuli: a stuffed and mounted jay, a stuffed and mounted great horned owl, and a neutral object that was somewhat similar in shape and color to a dead bird (painted pieces of wood).

The researchers found that the jays didn’t respond at all the painted wood, and the stuffed jay only elicited loud gatherings about a third of the time. The stuffed predatory owl, however, elicited cacophonous aggregations more than 80 percent of the time, almost exactly as often as the dead jay did. Not only did the dead jay and the stuffed owl incite the same type of behavior with similar frequency, but both of them decreased the amount of time that the jays spent foraging.

Together, these results strongly suggest that jays interpret the dead birds as a sign of risk, and that they call to alert other birds to the possibility of danger. Although attracting attention in a dangerous situation may seem counterintuitive, the researchers suggest that the calls may help gather a mob that would deter a predator, or may serve to warn mates and offspring in a nest.

In the paper’s title, the authors refer to these loud gatherings as “funerals,” a term that, to some people, suggests that there is an emotional component to this phenomenon. The use of the word “funeral” has been criticized as unnecessarily anthropomorphic and somewhat misleading, as the study didn’t address any questions regarding animal emotion. However, despite the questionable title, the study greatly improves our understanding of cognition, communication, and risk-taking behavior in jays.

[Antipatros]

Thanks for that, Noddy. They are fascinating little creatures.

[noddy]

got my new toy and did the usual testing regime of heading to the local water reserve and seeing how it goes... woohoo!
i no longer have to wait for them to stop long enough for focus, i can pluck em out of the sky.


a stilt.



a peewee (magpie lark) collecting mud for its nest (which looks like a ceramic bowl)



a pelican coming in for landing.

[noddy]

some more shots of our local water birds (bitterns?) and me learning my new toy.

[Antipatros]

Stunning, Noddy. Keep it up.

[noddy]

the wildflowers are really starting to shine at the moment, i think next weekend will be focusing on those.




and some ducklings at the messy half-fluffy half-adult stage with mother watching over them.

[Antipatros]

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 on Bluerock Creek.


Sheep River Falls


Sheep River valley


Vanishing point


Bluerock Creek gorge


Unnamed peak


Sheep River near Junction Creek

[Marcus]

IMG_8361.jpg (126.73 KiB) Viewed 1472 times

Taken by our son while we were camping on an area lake near here . .

mscat.jpg (67.79 KiB) Viewed 1472 times

Taken from our back deck . . two youngsters checking each other out . .

[monster_gardener]

IMG_8361.jpg

Taken by our son while we were camping on an area lake near here . .

mscat.jpg

Taken from our back deck . . two youngsters checking each other out . .

Thank You VERY Much for sharing the wonderful photos especially the one of the two youngsters.....

What is the name of your feline youngster?

Will he or she be voting for Mayor Stubbs the Cat in the next election?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stubbs_%28cat%29

http://www.facebook.com/stubbsmayorcat

[Typhoon]

Stunning, Noddy. Keep it up.

Seconded.

And you Antipatros.

[Typhoon]

IMG_8361.jpg

Taken by our son while we were camping on an area lake near here . .

Wow.

Is it not rare to spot a lynx due to their solitary reclusive nature?

mscat.jpg

Taken from our back deck . . two youngsters checking each other out . .

And wow.

[Marcus]

Is it not rare to spot a lynx due to their solitary reclusive nature?

While obviously an animal of the wilderness, lynx are not especially reclusive or shy of humans as are wolves. Lynx numbers fluctuate in conjunction with our rabbit (snowshoe hares) population. Rabbit populations are cyclical and currently are in abundance, and with lots of rabbits, we get a corresponding abundance of lynx. So while seeing a lynx in the wild is unusual, such sightings are far from rare.

A couple years back some friends from Texas were fishing the upper Russian River late one night (stays light all night remember). On the way out, the wife was walking ahead when she let out a scream and came running back to her husband. "Biggest damn' bobcat I ever saw," she explained.