Despite having gone through some prime Moose habitat on my trip to the northern Rockies, I saw only one. This cow was relaxing along Swiftcurrent Creek in the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park. It was quite warm that day and it was mid-morning when we saw her so no doubt she was quite content to remain laying and just relax and people watch.
Bald Eagle takes in the morning sun
With his progeny growing older and more independent, this male Bald Eagle had some renewed freedom. On the morning I was there, he spent much of the time alternating between posing regally to disappearing for periods of time. He knows his work is not done yet as his young one has not fledged so he did spend some time working on the nest. Here he sat for a while, just enjoying a peaceful Colorado morning. Taken July 4 in Jefferson County, Colorado. Have a great weekend everyone!
Young Bald Eagle tests its wings for Freedom Friday
What better way to spend Independence Day than watching America’s national emblem? Despite having just returned from my vacation and the fact there was tons of yard work to do, I simply had to go check out my favorite nest and see how ‘junior’ was doing. My how big he / she has gotten!
As of this past Monday, it had not fully fledged although reports are that it had taken some very short hop flights. When I arrived, it had managed to get itself about 15 feet away from the nest and spent the balance of the morning testing its wings, never quite letting go of the branches.
Clearly the confidence just isn’t quite there yet. It didn’t help that the poor young one was being constantly dive-bombed by Western Kingbirds that did not appreciate the big raptor’s presence.
Undoubtedly that first, real flight is just days away if it hasn’t occurred already since the start of the week.
Just chillin’ out
In the evening at Glacier National Park it was almost a certainty that we would find at least one of these cool creatures hanging out on Logan Pass. On this, what was our first day in our park, this one was content to lay on the snow and stay cool.
A very noisy neighbor in the campground
Soon after setting up our first campsite in Jasper National Park, I began hearing this very odd sound – almost like a screeching. Not quite like a bird but also not anything I had heard before. Keeping watch I finally found the culprit – a Colombian Ground Squirrel. They were usually quiet but sometimes, for whatever reason, they could raise quite a ruckus.
They are common in the northern Rocky Mountains and in the coldest parts of their reach, they hibernate the majority of the year. You can read more about them here.
Elk calf stops to smell the fauna
It didn’t take long after arriving at our first destination in the Canadian Rockies to find wildlife. In fact, it found us. Nine Elk cows and four very cute calves came walking right through our campground. The ladies were certainly pretty but needless to say, it was the little ones that stole the show. This particular one proved to be the most photogenic of the youth giving me many fantastic poses including this look of it sniffing at the grass and a piece of wood.
Big grizzly goes for a morning walk
One of my biggest goals with my excursion to the Canadian Rockies was to capture decent images of a Grizzly Bear – something that has eluded me over the years. The opportunities are rare and when I have had them, conditions were less than ideal and the images disappointing.
The fates finally took mercy on me and gave me a good opportunity on Saturday, June 25th in Banff National Park. While driving along the Trans-Canada Highway we spotted this massive guy walking along in an open area, seemingly oblivious to the traffic flying along nearby.
Coming to a fast stop I quickly pointed my camera and began clicking away. He gave me a number of good poses and while he was a good ways away necessitating heavy cropping of the images, the images are the best I have ever captured of this North American monster.
Unfortunately this was the only real chance I had at photographing one during the trip as we saw only one other and that one was too far off to get worthwhile pics.
Bald Eagle flies into the sun
A bit of a mistake of an image as I didn’t realize the eagle was heading right toward the sun as I panned with it. Ended up keeping the image though as I kind of like the back-lighting. Happy Independence Day!
By dawn’s early light…
Our national emblem, the Bald Eagle, takes flight into the early morning sun back in March in Morgan County, Colorado. I’ll return to posting pictures from my recent trip but for now, given that it is Independence Day, it is fitting to share images of this majestic creature, one that symbolizes the meaning of the day. Have a happy Fourth of July, everyone!
Beautiful Bald Eagle strikes a post for Freedom Friday
A capture of a female eagle that was perched along Colorado’s South Platte River a few weeks ago. By the time I had found her the light had gotten a bit harsh but that didn’t really affect how impressive she looked. Have a great weekend, everyone!