Fierce Polar Bear, Journey to Churchill

I really got lucky on this day photographing the Polar Bears swimming underwater at The Journey to Churchill.   My wife and I have been members and visited them well over a dozen times and only seen this behaviour once.

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Surprise visitors, Stewart Canyon, Banff

These guys wandered into my landscape shot while I photographed the trestle bridge at Stewart Canyon, near Lake Minnewanka, Banff.  Now it doesn’t look like they are very close, but I was using a 16-35mm lens on my full frame camera, so they are very close.  One of those rare lucky moments took a pretty mundane image and made it much more memorable.  A group of tourists along with my wife and two dogs retreated from the bridge allowing them to cross without much stress.

We returned the next day, hoping to get them front on as they crossed, but after a couple hours of patiently waiting had to move one due to time constraints and impatient dogs, I did manage a few other images on the return including the rocky island in Lake Minnewanka, below.

Arctic Fox with fish

Arctic Fox, captive, at Assiniboine Park Zoo.  Had to photograph this guy with his fish, even though it was through some frosty thick enclosure glass.

Watch out for feathered friends, FortWhyte Alive, Winnipeg

A nesting Canada Goose honking, at a family passing a little too close (out of frame).  This goose was sitting on her eggs next to a fence line path, at FortWhyte Alive, Winnipeg.  Lets all be on the lookout and try not to stress our feathered friends, particularly at this time of year.  Of course that goes for all animals, especially in our ever increasing urban areas.

Barn Owl, portrait

Another captive Barn Owl portrait from Fort Whyte Centre in Winnipeg.  I was hoping to get some catchlight in this guys eyes with this background, but he just wouldn’t cooperate.  I did manage to get front lit shots with eye catchlight but with a boring blue sky background.

Golden Eagle, Portrait

 

Captive Golden Eagle, I wish I could claim I had spent the day hiking the wilds of Canada for this but it was shot at 400 MM through some chain link fencing at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg.

Black Bear on rock, Thornton Creek, BC

A black bear taking a brief break while fishing for salmon on Thornton Creek, Vancouver Island

Bighorn Sheep, Banff

Another Bighorn shot posing in front of a nice painterly background in Banff National Park.

Bighorn Sheep portrait, Banff

A Bighorn Sheep Ram in Banff National Park, these animals are so used to people, images like this are fairly easy to get.  This was shot at only 200MM, so you don’t always need a giant 400-600mm Canon.  The key is to be patient and not spook these guys by running around after them like many tourists tend to do.  Fergus and Angus never bark or startle wildlife, thankfully.   Below is a snapshot of Fergus watching this very scene unfold.  Angus is so used to this that he sleeps in the back of our SUV with little interest.

Great White Pelican, Red River, Manitoba

American White Pelican warming his wings on a rock in the Red River.   These large birds frequent the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, particularly easy to see near Lockport, Manitoba.  Shot a few years back in the summer, another uncovered old image, that was never processed.