Birds, Turtles and a Squirrel - End of August 2014

Another outing to Fort Whyte and as enjoyable as ever.

Canada Geese, walked a few hundred yards into the bush to feed on the seed spilled from the bird feeders. The largest Goose stared at us the entire time. The juvenile didn't seem to care about us and went straight for the seed.

Goose Stare

Mallard sitting on a turtle.

Duckling all on its own

Gold Finch

Mallards

Merlin

Squirrel

Turtle

Wood Duck

5 Deer and a Blurry Squirrel - Fort Whyte Alive

Another great outing at Fort Whyte Alive today.
Temps were just below freezing with a freezing drizzle which was more like a fine mist.
Didn't see to many birds, a few Chickadees, a Crow and one Magpie, none of which stuck around long enough for me to satisfy my photo compulsion.
We did get some decent photos of some Deer which satisfied my compulsion and made a great outing even better.

Lake Shore - Reeds 

Deer by the Richardson Lookout

Same Deer

Another Deer joins the first - If you're looking for the blurry Squirrel it is behind the Deer. I saw it briefly through the lens as it shot across the path and was hoping it was a Martin.

A third Deer emerges for a look. There were actually 5 Deer present but I was only able to get 4 Deer in frame at any one time.

4 Deer

Time for them to go

Still open water on the big lake, but, no Geese or Ducks this time. Fort Whyte Alive treats their own water and I am pretty certain the open water is the discharge point for their treated water. 

Skating trail over one of the lakes

Skating rink on the large lake. Beginning of the skating trail can be seen at top left of the rink.

Birds, Frog, Muskrat, Squirrel - August 10 2014

Birds, Frog, Muskrat, Squirrel - August 10 2014

Another great day to be out taking in Nature. A mix of photos taken at the beginning of August.

Flycatcher

Leopard Frog

Mallard - Wood Duck

Muskrat

Squirrel

Song Sparrow immature

Song Sparrow immature

Song Sparrow immature

Wood Duck

Wood Duck

California Condor, Grand Canyon - October 2014

California Condor,  Grand Canyon - October 2014

Dave finally found and sent me his photos of a California Condor.
Dave figures the Condor was 300-500 feet away.
The photos are pretty large crops of the originals, for the distance I thought they were pretty good considering they were hurried shots.
Dave said that he was taking scenery photos when a woman, who had just been looking at a Condor sign, looks up and yells Condor. Dave turns and quickly begins shooting. Talk about a fortunate set of circumstances, or as Dave claims, blind luck.

Grand Canyon Hike Oct 2014 - North Kaibab Trail and Bright Angel Trail - Series 2

Second set of photos from Dave's hike in the Grand Canyon.
There could be more photos coming but Dave hasn't finished picking through his photos as yet. He took close to 2,000 photos, the photos posted thus far are from around 200 that he selected to send to me and I picked about 40 of them for the 2 posts to date.
Hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do.

Plateau Point Overview

Canyon Wall

Canyon View

Canyon Wall

Rivulet

Water Fall

Surveyor Stamp Plate

The Zoroaster Temple

Canyon Wall

Turkey Vulture

View from Campsite

Geological Feature

Across the canyon

Geological Feature

Canyon view

Beginning of Winter Photos - November 21 2014

A mild day today so Dave and I headed to Burger King to fortify ourselves for a nature walk at Fort Whyte Alive.
Temperature was around freezing when we started our walk, which isn't to bad when you are dressed for it, but the wind was pretty fierce and I really regretted not wearing my balaclava.
We were a little surprised to see several hundred Canada Geese on the open water in the middle of the largest lake. While we watched as over 100 Geese took off to continue their southward journey to warmer climes. It was pretty impressive watching them take off and form several large "V's" and head south.
We observed a moderate sized flock of ducks take off behind the Geese but couldn't identify them as they were quite a distance away.
We walked and took in the scenery for about an hour, but, with our cheeks starting to sting we headed into the Buffalo Stone Cafe for a break.
After the break we continued our walk and encountered a few dozen Mallards in and around another area of open water on one of the other lakes.
As I was standing staring off into the bush at lord knows what Dave whispers "there". I turned just in time to see an antlered buck disappear into the brush.  I was able to get one photo of the Stag through some thick brush, not a great photo but it turned out better than I thought it would and I finally got my first photo of an antlered Stag.
It is several hours after our outing and my cheeks are still stinging a bit.
Here are some of the photos I took today at Fort Whyte and at home.

Some of the few several hundred Geese in the open water on the lake.

Part of the group take offs from the lake. We think all the lumps on the ice are Goose droppings, but, neither of us were willing to venture out onto the ice to prove our theory.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Mallards standing in slush around open water in one of the lakes

Trail

Nesting box in one of the ponds

Another pond

Stag 30 feet away through pretty dense brush, feel lucky to have gotten this photo

White Breasted Nuthatch

White Breasted Nuthatch