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.

Farewell 2009 and hello 2010!

Today is the last day of 2009 and what a year it has been. I have spent a lot of time this year researching and finding/photographing all sorts of wildlife. Our trips this year included Yellowstone, Vancouver Island, Algonquin, Killarney, French River, Amherst Island, Point Pelee, Minesing Swamp, Luther Marsh and many more. It has been just amazing to discover things like red-spotted newts, yellow and blue spotted salamanders, pine martens, coyotes, pikas and so much more. There have been many upsetting times as I would find an animal, visit them frequently (you feel like you start to get to know them almost like your pet greets you at the door) and then you find out the next day that they met their demise upon the front bumper of someone's car. As frustrating as this was to learn, it was always mildly comforting to know that another animal was quick to take advantage of these situations. Some of my favourite moments were winning the photo contest, seeing geysers and just learning how close nature really is to my front door. As enjoyable as 2009 was, I am eager for what 2010 has to offer (Florida, Tommy Thompson Park and Montreal to start). There are many animals out there that I still have yet to find, so stay tuned because there will be more!!

The Pine Marten

Wow, what a weekend. We decided to drive up on Friday Dec.11/09 despite the storm and we got to Bracebridge and couldn't get any further due to a crazy amount of snow that fell. Hwy 11 was closed between Bracebridge and Huntsville. We stayed in a hotel there until morning. We waited around on Saturday in hopes that the road would open in time for us to get up there and it did. We got to Algonquin later than we wanted but once we got there I made my way towards the area where I heard had two pine martens. I couldn't see or hear a marten so I set up the tripod and waited. There were tonnes of chickadees, goldfinches, two nuthatches, a pine siskin, about six hairy woodpeckers, couple of red squirrels, two blue jays would pop by for some seed every now and then and some crows would fly by making there usual ruckus. After two hours of waiting I bird landed in the top of a tree near by. I couldn't tell what it was at first due to it being silhouetted by the sun but it kind of looked like a shrike. I stood perfectly still and waited for it to come closer. Finally it dropped down to the feeders and it was a female pine grosbeak. That was a new one for me. All of a sudden I noticed a large bird in the tree next to me so I turn to see a whiskey jack (gray jay) starring right at me. I managed to take a couple of pictures and then I heard a large rustle behind me so I turned and there was the marten moving towards the feeders. It saw me and was very curious. The lighting wasn't the greatest but I managed to get a couple shots and I am pretty happy with them. After it felt comfortable with my presence it ate at the feeders for a while and then made its way back into the forest. They are such an interesting animal and I feel privileged that I had the chance to see them.