View from Upper Bankhead

This shot was taken from Cascade Mountain at Level C, the highest entry of the old Bankhead mine.  It was raining down below, and snowing up above.

Fairy Slipper

These little orchids were on Cascade Mountain.  The latin name is Calypso Bulbosa and it is found circumpolar in the northern hemisphere but is now threatened in some places.  Here is a link if you want to read more about them.  I'm going to have to take another photograph of these, the bokeh (blur in the out of focus background) isn't too good.

Natural Bridge

The water of the Kicking Horse River dives underneath the rock I am standing on and heads towards the right side of the frame.  The horizontal rock stretching along the right is the natural bridge itself.

Downstream of the natural bridge

Boats at Emerald Lake

It was cold, even snowing, and not a good day to boat.

Chipmunk Holiday

A chipmunk on holiday at Morraine Lake.  I saw a photograph like this somewhere on the internet where they set a camera on self timer and the chipmunk popped up in the group photo like this so I tried to for something similar.  They are very tame here and will come right up to your hand trying to get something to eat (but it is illegal to feed wild animals in the parks and I didn't).

Lake Louise

It was a cool, somewhat snowy, and cloudy day today.

Scruffy Elk

This elk is shedding and still in velvet. 

Chipmunk

I can't be sure, maybe a Yellow-Pine Chipmunk.

Banff Fairmont

From the golf course.

The Widow Maker

Water wasn't coming too fast out of the dam today.

Yearling Sheep

There were three yearling sheep licking salt on the road near the turn-off to Shark Mountain.  We also saw a group of young rams and a larger 3/4 curl one near Canmore.  I still haven't seen any lambs, kids, fawns, or calves.  But I know the elk are supposed to be calving.  And there was a report of a bear with her cub in Banff.  The cubs are born in the den, and the females emerge later than the males in the spring.

This weekend we saw and photographed elk, white tail deer, mule deer, big horn sheep, grizzly bear, coyotes, chipmunks, ground squirrels, tree squirrels, and maybe something else.   I need to start photographing and learning the birds here too.

A spot not too far from Shark Mountain at the bridge crossing Smuts Creek near Mt. Engadine Lodge.   Two weeks ago I was at this same spot and there was still a lot of snow, now just a bit....

Bear Jam

First, I must admit to photo manipulation for this grizzly bear.  He was wearing both a radio collar and a green ear tag.  I have done a quick and sloppy job of removing the ear tag.  The radio collar is leaving a ruffle around his neck but I haven't retouched it.  He was climbing up on the railroad track just off Hwy 1 and across the border into British Columbia.  I've cropped out the track just under his chin.  He isn't as close as he might appear.  I'm using my longest lens, at 400mm with a 1.4 tele-extender on it and I've cropped way in.  It is hand held which is why it isn't so sharp.

This guy was causing a bear jam.  When wildlife is spotted, people stop on the road (hopefully off the road) and get out to see it.  He was a couple of hundred meters away and there were at least 20 cars and a tour bus stopped to see him.  Finally a Parks Canada ranger came by and shooed us away.

The reason he is on the railroad tracks is because grain frequently spills there and they eat it early in the spring when there isn't much else.  It was snowing lightly at the time and you may be able to see a flake or two.  Anyway, I really wanted to photograph a grizzly and here he is.  I'll try not to participate in the bear jams in future.

Morraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks

There used to be a view of these mountains on the Canadian $20 bill.

Blue Sky

East of the continental divide, looking into Glacier National Park

Goat Lick

The mountain goat is the symbol of Glacier National Park which is fitting.  They like steep mountain sides and higher elevations.  But every spring they come to this location close to the highway to lick minerals.  It's not the best photo because they were still several hundred meters away but at least you can see what they are.  There were five here and 4 or 5 higher up the mountain.

Somewhere in Glacier National Park

Somewhere along the middle fork of the Flathead River in Glacier I pulled off the road and took a shot.

Sinopah Mountain and Two Medicine Lake

Glacier National Park

Running Eagle Falls

Running Eagle Falls is on the east side of Glacier Park and is named for a Native American woman who lived in the early 18th century.  Running Eagle was a great warrior, but died in a raiding party across the continental divide on the Flathead tribe.  She was buried above this water fall.

Glacier National Park

The falls on the lower right are MacDonald Falls in Glacier National Park.  You still can't drive all the way in due to snow.  From the west gate you can drive about 16 miles in.

Flathead Lake

Old Barn, Somers Montana

Somers is an old lumber town on the north end of Flathead Lake in Montana.

Upper Bankshead

I wrote about Bankshead a while back, have a look here if you are interested in the story.  The picture before was taken in Lower Bankshead where most of the industrial equipment was located.  Most of the people lived in Upper Bankshead.  There isn't a whole lot left there.  Most of the houses and buildings were moved to Banff, Canmore, or Calgary or destroyed. 

The mine itself had three entrances along three different seams.  The "C" level was above Upper Bankshead and I hiked up there.  About all that remains is this old ruined concrete building that someone has decorated, some mining equipment, and some unstable areas associated with the old mine that has collapsed.  It snowed on me as I walked up the trail.

Stalking the Wild Elk

This isn't the best picture I ever took of elk (that would probably be this one) but there is a story here so stay with me.  I was driving down Hwy 1A just past Cascade Mountain when I saw elk well off the road.  I have seen elk in the area a number of times and always look for them when I go by.  This time I decided to turn around and stalk them to get a picture.

It was a mile and a half to two miles from where I was able to safely park to where the elk were.  I carried my camera, telephoto lens, and a large tripod through the woods and meadows and found them not too far from where I had first seen them from the car.  The wind was in my face so they couldn't smell me and I used trees and a gully to avoid being seen.  I got to within 200 meters of them and set up my camera to take this shot.

One saw me not too long after I took this and perked towards me, then another.  It didn't seem to bother them too much.  I don't think they could figure out what I was because my outline would have been broken up by trees and I was still.  I squatted down and snuck off so as to not disturb them further.  I was pleased with my rusty woodsman skills.

Sunday was a good day for spotting wildlife.  I saw coyotes, elk, ground squirrels, tree squirrels, bighorn sheep, a bald eagle, an osprey, mule deer, ....  Notice that the cow elk here don't appear to have calved.  I didn't see lambs with the sheep either.

Coyotes in Canmore

I saw two coyotes last Sunday in the Canmore area.  The first was inside the town limits on the east side of the highway.  He was a bit scroungy and moving quickly towards the brush when I saw him.  I had just enough time to point my camera and get a couple of snaps off.  You can tell it is a coyote but that is about it.  I saw the one above coming down the road in front of me about 10 miles out of town close to the Spray Lakes.  I just stopped the car, rolled down the window, and took a couple of pictures as he trotted past.

Smuts Creek near Mt. Engadine Lodge

The view from the bridge crossing Smuts Creek at Mt. Engadine Lodge. 

Mount Rundle (without the osprey)

I saw an osprey dive and catch a fish in Two Jacks Lake.  With Mount Rundle in the background.  I was too dumbfounded to take a picture.  Just watched it happen.  There has been a bald eagle over at Vermillion Lakes the last few weeks and I've photographed it perched in a dead tree but it was too small to make a very compelling photograph.

Awww

Almost too cute to post.  This ground squirrel seen at Two Jacks Lake - there were a bunch of them hopping in and out of their dens.

Robin, harbinger of spring in Canada

I have been seeing Robins for about two weeks now.  This was one of a pair at Two Jacks Lake near Banff.  They seem more colorful than the ones in Texas.  It is probably my imagination.

Fullerton Loop

The Fullerton Loop is a nice 2 to 2 1/2 hour trek in Kananaskis that turned into 3 1/2 due to my trail finding skills.  We took an unplanned detour down the Elbow Trail where there weren't any footprints except for the deer and bunnies.  After backtracking, we found the Fullerton Loop trail which climbs a ridge that overlooks the Elbow River Valley before looping back through the forest.  The trail is pretty slushy in places in the shade, and there was even moderately deep snow on the north side of the ridge, but made for a pleasant outing.

Nice Spring Day

I had a nice walk home along the river today...  This is the view back towards Eau Claire and the city from where the new pedestrian bridge is being built.

Geese and Goslings

These geese and goslings were down at Prince's Park.  The goslings seem to wander from group to group.  I saw a pair of geese herding more than 20 around.  Another smaller group wandered by and two of the goslings in the first bunch peeled off and went with them.  Another time two strayed off and followed a pair who didn't seem to want anything to do with them.

The Canada Goose lives 10 to 20+ years. They mate in their second year and generally stay together for life. The female lays 3 to 8 eggs in a shallow nest and both parents guard it.  Protective parents lower their head, stick out their necks, and hiss as a warning like the goose on the right.

In like a Lion - Out like a Lamb

Oh wait a minute, that saying is supposed to be for March isn't it. We woke up this morning, 5th May, to snow and a few degrees below freezing. We don't mind it though. We're Canadians.

This picture taken of our patio just outside the living room with my trusty 14-24 ultrawide angle lens.

Galveston

Seagull

Pipers