Short Eared Owl - March 28, 2013

Today was Clare's birthday. (Happy Birthday Clare!! I can't believe how quickly your growing up.) Conor and I had left dinner and were near to where I had seen the horned owls a few weeks ago. I thought we would just drive by and see if they were around. The sun was starting to set and I didn't anticipate taking any photo's as it was starting to get dark. When we drove to site where the Horned owls were last seen I saw something sitting high up in a tree. I pulled over to take a look. We couldn`t tell what it was from the road and Conor wasn`t real interested in stopping but he called dibs in looking through the camera and lens first and I said "Ok". This seemed to get his interest up and soon he was telling me what was in the tree. It turned out the `thing` was a bald eagle. We made a small attempt to get closer - which ment getting out of the car, walking down into the ditch and maybe climbing through a barbed wire fence. Shortly after getting out of the car the eagle was off and flying away. Bummer.

We drove a little further and looked at the tree where I think the Horned owls are nesting. Conor still had the camera and in looking said he didn't see anything I drove closer and parked the car. I looked and could see an owl in the nest, we got out and tried to go into the field to get closer. Quite soon after entering the field the nesting owls mate flew off. I didn't really see it until it was flying away. We walked through some really deep snow (made worse because we didn`t have proper foot ware) to get a view of the nest which is pretty high up in a tree on the outside edge of the tree cluster. Rubber boots are definitely needed right now as the field is quite wet and muddy our feet got pretty wet. Not wanting to disturb the nesting owl we soon left and made our way back to the car.

We were driving south back to the highway when I mentioned to Conor that this was the time of year that I'd seen short eared owls in the field near this location and they they fly in this real neat loopy way just above the field in the evenings as they hunt for food. I think their migratory and I wasn't sure when they would actually be around. I'd read of sightings near Frank Lake earlier this year. I told Conor he should look out for them and just after I said that I saw one flying above the field!

I excitedly pointed it out to Conor - who still had the camera in his hands. The short eared owl landed on a fence post and I tried to move the car close to it so Conor could take some shots. The owl was kind enough to wait a bit while Conor made some photos. Soon it flew off and we watched it almost bounce across the field. A couple of times it turned hard and dove at the ground. Both of us said "WOW" at the owls acrobatic flying abilities.

Driving again, we were scanning fence posts and spotted another one. By now the light was pretty low and it would have been difficult to get any good photos. This second owl didn't wait around either. It flew off pretty quickly after we slowed the car.

A few minutes later we spotted a coyote in the field. So, In a period of about 40 minutes we saw a bald eagle, two horned owls, two short eared owls, a coyote and hundreds of geese and ducks that are gathering in the fields. Spring must be in the air.

Thanks for looking.
Brad

Station Flats - November 2, 2012

The weather has been heavily overcast and foggy for the past week or so. On Friday afternoon I was out at Bragg Creek for a walk around the Diamond T loop at Station Flats. Given the conditions, I was hoping to get some shots of trees receding into the heavy fog. As it turned out the fog wasn't thick and clinging to the trail the way that I'd hoped. The walk was still nice and it gave me a chance to try out my new boots.

Towards the end of the trail I noticed that there appeared to be some blue sky forming then some of the clouds actually parted and the sun started to break through. All of a sudden there was some beautiful light.

I liked the contrast of the bright trees standing against a darker background.

A little further on down the road the light was streaming in from the side, the colours are subdued.



Soon the sun was down and the light was gone for another day. Driving back towards Calgary the sky was still overcast and foggy. It seems I had been lucky enough to find a hole in the clouds and see some sunshine which can be a welcome sight after weeks of cloud cover.

Thanks for looking
Brad.

Churchill Polar Bears - Oct 28, 2012

I must say, I'm humbled and proud to be a Canadian after my experience on Sunday. It was amazing to have the opportunity to see, first hand, a small sample of the vast and varied landscape that my home country has to offer.

On Sunday I got up at 4:30am. Went to the airport and climbed aboard a plane and flew two and a half hours to Churchill Manitoba to go on a one day Canadian Safari to see wild polar bears as they gather and wait for the sea ice to form so that they can start their winter hunt of ringed seals. Thanks to my family for supporting my photographic passion and giving me the opportunity to make this trip.

On the Safari I was lucky enough to have incredibly good weather and see all kinds of wildlife. We saw at least 10 polar bears, flocks of willow ptarmigan, a curious red fox, a flock of snow buntings, a gyrfalcon and a snowy owl. The day ended with a spectacular sunset that everyone said was completely rare for Churchill. While I wasn't able to photograph all of those things, I feel fortunate that I was able to get as many shots as I did.

Above is one of the first Polar bears we saw. As the Tundra buggy drove by he popped up out of the willows where he was resting and started moving away from us. I have many photo's to share and have created a special gallery here to hold them. Over the next week or so I'll keep adding photo's to this gallery so check back often.

Check out a live webcam feed of the Polar bears as they wait for the ice to form from Explore.Org

The Calgary Herald also had a good article on the trip.

Thanks for looking,
brad.

Fall Sunset - October 16, 2012

Driving down 26th street the sun was low on the horizon and had just peeked out below some clouds. Looking towards downtown and the western sky I couldn't help but stop and take a few photo's of the sunset. Soon the leaves will all be off the trees and the snow will be flying. Luckily I had my camera with me (If you don't know me, I always have my camera with me ;-) There wasn't much time because I was on my way to pick up Conor from Grandma's house and take him to his piano lesson.

I wasn't stopped for too long and still got Conor to his lesson on time. Phew!

Thanks for looking.
Brad.

Pawn Shop - October 15, 2012

Hello. It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog (last post was July 11th). I guess this happens sometimes, you get busy and don't post anything. What I'd like to do is back post entries until I'm all caught up. I've taken a bunch of pictures since July and even thought you could go look at them, there isn't any context. I'm hoping to rectify that.

I took this picture over lunch hour after walking around aimlessly for 30 minutes. I was intrigued by the way the sunlight was reflecting on the buildings across the street. At first I felt a little funny taking my camera out on the street with people around but after I put the viewfinder to my eye I was able to block it all out and concentrate on the photo I was trying to make. I hope you like it. I used the tilt-shift lens to try and isolate part of the street.

Thanks for looking.
Brad

Bow River Kayakers - July 11, 2012

On my way to pickup Clare from the Stampede on Wednesday night I was a little early so I decided to park at Pearce Estate Park in Calgary near the Bow river. The city rebuilt the weir a year or so ago and by doing so introduced a new recreational area for water sports.

I initially walked through the park thinking I was going to shot some macro or landscape shots but I came across these two kayakers in the water and there was a nice low sunset light so I started shooting.

I got a few shots of them from upstream then moved downstream for more rim and side lighting. The fellow in the Blue helmet was racing back and forth across the waves and the fellow in the Red helmet was doing summersaults in the rapids by diving face-first into the river.

After making a few shots I was able to talk to them and give them a contact card so they could reach out and find their pictures. If your interested you can see the rest of the shots by clicking here

Thanks for looking.
Brad.

Glenbow Ranch Wildflowers - July 8, 2012

This is a short post to show off some wildflowers I'd found after making a quick trip out to Glenbow Ranch just east of Cochrane on the 1A.

I was pressed for time and only had about an hour or so before I had to head back to Calgary. Walking along the Tiger lily loop I found these lovely blue wildflowers. I think their forget-me-not because that's what the flower looks like. My experience has been with the alpine variety which are shorter, hairier and stubbier so I'm not 100% sure :-)

What I liked about this particular plant is that the flowers spiral around the top giving it a nice shape.

On the rest of the walk I saw a downy woodpecker, a pair of American Gold Finches, Cedar Waxwing's, some old crows and many other wildflowers. I could have spent hours out there. I wish I had more time to wander but I am grateful for the time I did have, perhaps as the summer slows down (!?) I'll be able to find some time.

Thanks for looking.
Brad