And another week begins! I don’t know about all of you, but the weekend flew by in a flash for me (which is the exact opposite of how this leopard sighting turned out). We came across this gorgeous male leopard early into our afternoon game drive, and tracked him for a short while along with another vehicle. He went into a thicket and the other vehicle gave up, but our guide Albert predicted where he would come out of the bush, and we reconnected with him and then got to spend time with him when he climbed this tree and the sun set. That other vehicle certainly missed out on a great sighting!
For this week, I decided to focus my Frozen World post on the animals that visit my yard during the winter time. Once the cold temperatures set in, and the risk of bears diminishes, I begin to fill up the bird feeders. Once the snow falls, I add in a bowl of food for the deer as well. There is plenty of wildlife to be seen all year round, but with the feeders out in winter, there is activity all day long, just outside my office window. Deer visit frequently, along with chickadees, hairy woodpeckers and nuthatches. This year, the pine grosbeaks and common redpolls are back, along with occasional visits from the magpies, ruffed grouse and northern flicker.
Tracks along the road and through the yard show just how much activity there is. Although I haven’t seen any this winter, I have come across the occasional moose tracks through the snow, along with hare, fox and coyote. I was lucky enough to look up from my lunch a few days ago to find a pair of coyotes in the yard, sniffing around the various feeders. Even though he is always on leash, I was extra cautious letting Spencer out later on that afternoon.
While it is not ideal, all of these photos were taken through my window. When the temperature is hovering between -20C and -30C, the animals would likely be gone by the time I bundled myself up enough to get outside and capture a photo or two. And trying to do anything with a camera while wearing mittens is an exercise in both patience and frustration!
I hope you enjoy seeing what I see when I look through my office window out into the frozen landcape.
This image was from before Christmas, but it is not often that I see the male deer around, especially this guy with his impressive antlers.Incredibly skittish, this coyote was constantly running back and forth to this spot. I’d left some peanuts for the birds and squirrels under a few of the trees the previous week; perhaps she found a couple that were missed.The big source of her skittishness seemed to be all the birds swarming around her. There had to be two dozen or more redpolls flitting about, and every time they took off for the trees as a group, she would run around and then stop and gaze into the sky.This one stayed further from the house and didn’t seem to be as skittish or bothered by all the birds flitting around in the area.This morning the whole gang showed up for Sunday breakfast. There were two Mom’s nibbling at the trees in the yard; here the four youngsters enjoy some tasty grains.
The first WordPress photo challenge topic of the year is growth. There are lots of directions that this can be taken, but I’ve decided to use it as an opportunity to show off some of the younger generation of animals that I saw on my last safari. The wild is a dangerous place for youngsters, with so many species having mortality rates above 50%. I hope all of these animals have been able to grow strong and healthy.
A rhino cow and calf seen during a late afternoon game drive on the Ongava Reserve near Etosha National Park in Namibia. We were very fortunate to have several rhino sightings during our trip. Namibia, April 2017.This lion pride was very busy, with 6 small cubs, all of whom were suffering with mange. I am hopeful they all made it through the winter months. South Africa, May 2017.I have few photos of this sighting, as the light was falling rapidly and the cubs were deep in a thicket. But their antics were too adorable not to try and capture. So while their Mom fed on a giraffe kill, these two scampered around, wrestled, and attempted to climb the tree behind them. They even had a few moments of playing with the food. South Africa, May 2017. (1/250sec, f5.6, ISO 25,600)We came across these elephants just after setting out from camp early one morning. They had discovered an underground water pipe and had pulled it up to get to the water. Elephants of all sizes were enjoying a drink as the sun came up. Being amongst the elephants is definitely one of my favourite things; I could have happily spent the whole day with them. South Africa, May 2017.Right after leaving the elephants seen above, we saw this. I don’t think it gets any better in terms of an amazing sighting; we were able to track this beautiful leopard all the way to her new den site, and then spend time watching the tiny cubs explore their new home (a hollow log). South Africa, May 2017.
Happy Monday to all! For my first monochrome Monday post of the year, I decided to share not only my favourite animal, but an image that I recently printed for a display in my home. I love surrounding myself with images that evoke memories of wonderful times and fantastic adventures. I reuse old frames over and over again, some needing to have duck tape on the back to hold everything together, but it allows me to update images whenever I want. I have loads of photo displays throughout my home, from beautifully framed large-size matted prints, to unframed 5″ x 5″ cardstock images arranged in groups of 25 images. As I move throughout my home, I’m taken back to beautiful places and inspired to plan the next adventure.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.
An elephant in the desert. Hoanib Skeleton Coast Camp, Namibia. April, 2017.
Another year has drawn to a close, and I have welcomed 2018 with open arms. I’ve taken a little break from posting over the past week; it has given me a chance to reflect on my blog, and come up with some plans for the future.
I feel like I lost focus with my blog in 2017; at times posts were rushed or forgotten about altogether; shoved to the bottom of a to-do list that never seemed to get any shorter. I’m sure that is something that everyone struggles with from time to time, and I am very grateful for everyone that continued to view my posts and photos, despite the lack of focus.
For 2018, I have decided that I need to add some structure to my photographic life; in terms of continuing education, time out in the field and with my editing. I have a couple of year long photo projects that I am finalizing, but I am also planning to explore a different topic each month, and use that to guide my reading, shooting and editing. I really thrive when I have schedules and plans of action, so I am hoping that this will ensure that I am getting out to shoot regularly, and be able to post some interesting content each month.
For January, I am going to focus on the frozen world. With the cold temperatures we have been having, it is a timely starting point. I’ll be posting on the topic each Sunday in January, and then move onto something new for February.
I’ll be working to participate more regularly in the WordPress topic of the week, and will still be posting my usual Monochrome Monday and Wordless Wednesday posts. I still have lots of images from my last trip that I am working on as well, so I should have lots of content to share over the year ahead.
Below are a few photos from out and about over the last couple of weeks; its not much, but it gets the ball rolling.
Here’s to a fantastic year ahead.
This is why I love getting up early. A beautiful sunrise greeted me while out for a morning walk with Spencer a few weeks ago.A few of the 7 deer that stopped by the yard late yesterday afternoon.Right now, the time between sunrise and sunset is rather brief. We do get a beautiful long twilight period though, which looks even prettier with some snow on the ground and in the trees. A quick snap while out for an afternoon walk, it was too cold to stop and do much more!
A few old boys at a water hole near Nxai Pan in Botswana. The one spraying mud was the first one there, and when seeing him we thought he was an absolutely enormous bull. But then these other individuals came along and he was forced to make way for them, deferring to their larger size.
