When you go out in the woods today

Ann McRae

you're sure for a big surprise..(..anybody else remember the Teddy Bears Picnic song?)

We had a small snowfall yesterday, and I thought it might make the countryside refreshed and pretty, so I convinced hubby to come with me to Elk Island Park. Since I visited last fall with skippy, I have imagined the perfect shot of a buffalo in the snow.

The day wasn't to produce the perfect shot, but I grabbed a couple:



The bison loop is closed for the winter, so we couldn't do any drive by shooting of these guys :

We drove the park rode and around one loop, spotting a few bison lying far away and one lone coyote hunting. We then crossed the highway to the wood buffalo side and went for a walk in the woods. Took about 20 steps along the path and the dh says, out loud, there's a moose. I thought he was bsing! But sure enough, there she was(sadly, the pic quality isn't great):



Another step, to see if I could get a shot without the trees in the way, and :huh she had a calf with her. All I could think of as I took this was the scene from Bambi where they encounter the hunters:


We carried on, coming across tonnes of fresh prints - the moose prints for sure, coyote, deer, other species that I wasn't able to id from the tracks. When we got near a lake, we found a coyote that had found himself a meal:


Driving home, we saw mule deer. There are Canada Geese around too. We also saw a huge bird nest in the top of a big poplar, and a short distance away a really huge bird. I wouldn't think the birds of prey are migrating up here yet, but I am sure this was a huge hawk or an eagle.

summerz

VERY cool!

dbaker1221

like the first shot Ann.. the Coyote must have been cool to see

Harryb

Good variet there Ann.

Ann McRae

summerz wrote:

VERY cool!

Thanks - the moose encounter was so quick that it really seemed unreal!

ann

Giphsub

Dammit! For some reason that song gets stuck in my head and stays there for days everytime! :splat

The coyote strikes a very lonely figure in that wide shot. Thanks for sharing.

DoctorIt

AF was sooooo your worst-enemy on that moose shot!

they all look so wintery and foreign to me!

grimace

Nice shots Ann!!

BBiggs

Nice set of shots!

Maestro

I like the bison, nice image.

Ann McRae

dbaker1221 wrote:

like the first shot Ann.. the Coyote must have been cool to see

Hi
I like the bison too, still want my portrait with fresh snow and steam from his breath!
Actually, we have brave coyotes that will walk right up to our house. The moose is a relatively rare animal to spot, and having only a few meters of tree trunks between us was quite amazing!

ann

Ann McRae

Harryb wrote:

Good variet there Ann.

Thanks Harry - at least it wasn't squirrels or egrets!

Ann McRae

Giphsub wrote:

Dammit! For some reason that song gets stuck in my head and stays there for days everytime! :splat

The coyote strikes a very lonely figure in that wide shot. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry 'bout that Mike. Hope your not still humming it. For my hubby, the song was 'Elvira' hehehe

Ann McRae

DoctorIt wrote:

AF was sooooo your worst-enemy on that moose shot!

they all look so wintery and foreign to me!

Yes, for sure it would have been nice to have a great shot - too many trees in the way. Amazing that an animal that size doesn't make noise!

And I sure wish winter were foreign to me. But we are so much better off than easterners right now.

ann

Ann McRae

grimace wrote:

Nice shots Ann!!

Thanks Adam!

Ann McRae

BBiggs wrote:

Nice set of shots!

Thank You, Brenton.

Ann McRae

Maestro wrote:

I like the bison, nice image.

Thanks Stephen. They are impressive and formidable animals.

Can't imagine what the prairies were like when there were wild herds of them!


ann

jwear

very nice but it sure looks cold