I am offering a summer print special. ALL my nature and wildlife prints 11×14 and larger are on sale for 50% off till August 31, 2019. Orders MUST be placed in store with the attached coupon presented at the time of order. Orders placed on-line do not qualify! If you cannot make it to the store I will take Emailed orders. Great time to get Christmas presents at a HUGE discount!!! Limit one coupon / purchase per person/group or organization.
I like the scenery in Waterton but I like Waterton wildlife even more!! There are so many animals to photograph!!
Some days it can be frustrating as you can search and wait and nothing appears. Other days you cannot turn around without finding something to photograph.
The last couple of trips there has been a lot of animals to photograph. Waterton wildlife has been out in force this spring!!!
Early this spring I saw more moose in three days then I have seen in Waterton the entire 40 years I have been going there. It seemed that the moose decided all at once to venture out and about.
Heh you listening????
The birds have also been out in abundance. Many I did not even photograph as I was enjoying watching them. Cranes up around Belly river and a pair down along the entrance road.
Hawks and eagles like crazy all over the park.
Lots of song birds and even birds that just wanted to have a conversation with you like a Grey Jay up at Belly River that was having a good conversation with me.
Lookout!
Prepare for take-off!!
EXCUSE ME!!!! White-crowned sparrow
Moving around
I have also seen a couple foxes this spring. They were in a two different parts of the park. I have never seen foxes in these areas before. Since the fire animals have ventured out from their familiar surroundings and the foxes were a long way from the usual places I see them. I think this may be due to the fact that their prey have been able to expand their range as well.
I am not watching you!!
Morning run through the wet grass
Bears are also out in force. In one area I saw four bears. They seemed comfortable with each other and with the people around. Years ago I heard a talk from Andy Russel about bears. He said when the food supply is abundant bears will hang out with each other with no issues. So if that is true the food supply must be abundant this year.
Waterton’s newest power couple!
A little bear out exploring
I LOVE this picture and the burnt trees. To me it says life from fire.
Even insects can make good subjects, especially when they are busy eating.
I love Waterton Park!!! Get me started on the management of the park and you will not be able to stop me as I truly want Waterton protected for the future!. I think Waterton is perfect in so many ways. Now ask me what I think in the dead of winter when the wind will not stop blowing and the snow keeps drifting and I may say something else but that is all part of Waterton.
On amazing days there is no place any better than Waterton! Saturday morning was one of those times. I was suppose to teach a class in Waterton on Saturday morning. Just before they confirmed the class I agreed to head out to Yoho for a shoot. Then the Yoho shoot got postponed as the parkway was not open yet. So I headed to Waterton on Saturday to see what was out and about. It started raining sometime in the early morning on Sunday and got harder and harder all night. Sometime around 4 I got up for a drink and I realized that I had a window open and the rain had been hitting that window. Closed the window and went back to sleep and listened to the rain on the roof. Around 6 I woke up to still more rain. I thought if it was raining I may as well stay in bed. Woke up again at 7 and the rain had stopped and some sun had started to peak out. Got up and headed out to shoot! WOW what a morning!!! No wind, the clouds were breaking up and the sun was starting to poke through.
Where to go???
The only problem with a morning like this is where to go, there are SOOOOO many places that you want to go to when it is perfect out. After a drive up to the lookout just before the border on Chief Mountain Highway I headed back towards the town site. I passed a number of good photo opportunities as I had some ideas in my mind what I wanted to shoot. As I got closer to the town site I made up my mind. I turned off the road to a lookout over the valley that I have always wanted to use. Today was that day!!! Got up to the lookout only to run into a couple bears. So much for getting out here. A few pictures of them then to location two, Driftwood beach.
The weather was still perfect so I got a amazing shot of the POW. Some days it is just a perfect place to work at!!!
When I am trying to do some work on the van and a Goldfinch shows up I have to take a break and take some pictures. I have seen Goldfinches in the river bottom in Lethbridge. This one must have heard about the amazing food that we have and decided to do a road trip for lunch. Of course I had to sneak into the house to take some pictures. I always have the 150 – 600 Sigma ready to go on the 70D body. So I grabbed that set-up and shot off a few pictures before I had to get back to work.
He was a very cooperative subject and I got some great images. One question that I am asked about shooting birds in your backyard is how do I do it?
Do I have windows without screens on them?
Do I open windows to shoot?
Well it is yes and no. I try and remove the screen from the window and quietly open the window. But many times if I do that I scare the birds away. If they are at the back of the yard I will try and open the window. If they are close to the window I will shoot through the window. All these pictures are shot through the closed window. I do not shoot through the screen part of the window. Fortunately for me half of the window is screen. The rest is glass. So I can shoot from any window and use the non glass part.
If I stand really still the photographer will not see me!! Waterton April 20, 2019. This fox came for a visit. He headed to a field to hunt some ground squirrels then would head back to his den He was so wet but this shot does not show it.
Thought it would be fun to see what birds had returned to the river bottom now that spring 2019 is here. While it may say spring on the calendar the birds never got the message. There were a few of the regulars but not a lot of new comers. After it being so cold for so long I understand why there is not a hug influx of returning birds. If I was them I would be waiting down south till I knew that the warm weather was here to stay. I did see a couple Robins, a few Starlings and a Franklin Gull but that was it.
I love seeing the reflection in the water. Means the ice is melting!!!!
