First drive of 2010

I woke up this morning expecting that the weather was going to be cloudy with flurries but I looked outside and saw a beautiful shining moon with no clouds in sight so I packed up my stuff and headed out to see what I could find. It was very cold and windy but it was beautiful out. The moon was setting on one side and the sun was rising on the other. I checked some of my usual spots but saw nothing so I decided to take a drive to a place where there are sometimes snowy owls. I saw a few hawks along the way and then once there I found two snowy owls in two separate locations bundled up on the ground trying to stay warm while catching some zzzzz's. One was heavily barred while the other was almost completely white. The most excited thing though was as I was driving I saw this dog like shape sprinting towards me from across the field, which isn't that unusual since a lot of farmers dogs chase my car as I drive slowly down the road, but as it started to get closer I realized it was a coyote and it was heading almost right towards me. I quickly rolled down the window, shut off the car and started taking pictures. It was beautiful. It had his full winter coat in effect and man it could move fast. I managed to snap a few shots before he crossed the road about twenty feet in front of my car. After he crossed the road he did their common behaviour of looking back to see if I was a threat or not but it barely slowed down at all. In a flash it was all over and it left me with a smile on my face that lasted the entire drive home. Brushes with nature like this are just amazing and I cherish each one I have.

Squeeze one more in before the New Year.

We had a lot of time this week free to get out and look for stuff and what a week it has been. We have had really cold temperatures along with quite strong winds. I think this has made it excellent for taking photographs of the wildlife because they seem less inclined to change locations. The cold temperatures also brought out the most amazing sundog I have ever seen. Here are a couple of my shots from this week. See you in the New Year.

Rough-legged Hawk

It just stopped raining and the sun was starting to make an appearance so we decided to make a break for the door. We eagerly jumped into the car and started to drive with hopes of see something full of nature. We drove for quite a while before seeing anything other than landscapes and then finally we turned a corner and saw two red-tailed hawks in a tree and then a little further down the road we saw one more. All three were a little too far away for a decent picture so we just stopped to admire them for a moment and then resumed driving. About five minutes down the road we found a hawk in a field on the ground. This guy looked much bigger than most red-tails I see but it was still difficult to tell what kind of hawk it was until it took to the air. As soon as he banked to the one side you saw the pattern underneath which made me positive it was a rough-legged. It is so neat to see things that are different. Rough-legged hawks and snowy owls are very similar in their breeding locations, as they both breed in only the most northern parts of Ontario and they only grace us with their presence in the winter months. I think this makes them a little less comfortable with a human presence. Just stopping the car sometimes seems to put them into flight much quicker than some of the other hawks I have seen. Rough-legged hawks can be a light morph colouring and a dark morph colouring but either way they are amazing to see. I have enjoyed both times I have seen them and I can't wait for a third.