As I said in my Feel Good Friday post, this week has been great one for wildlife viewing around the house. The deer have been visiting in force, the flicker, grey jays, hairy woodpeckers, chickadees and magpies are around most days, and the rabbit has been by on more than one occasion.
The special visitor this week though was a gorgeous red fox, who I spotted two afternoons in a row. On both occasions, (s)he was hunting, the second day more successful than the first.
It’s such a joy to look out my office window while working and see all of this unfold!
Now, on to the photos 🙂
I was absolutely blessed with such lovely light the first time I saw this fox in my yard. All day one photos 1/400sec, f5.6, ISO 500.So alert, stopping to listen every few moments.
I have a path cleared to get to the back of the yard from my shed, and that’s the way the fox took to head off on Tuesday.The weather Wednesday afternoon was overcast, but it seemed to be to the advantage of the fox. Here it is listening intently. All day two photos 1/160 sec, f8.0, ISO 500.And then a couple of well aimed ounces and a bit of digging in the snow…Success! Some lunch, which the fox took to go.
I’ve had an amazing week of wildlife viewing so far, and I am really looking forward to sharing that on my What I’ve seen this week post on Sunday. But for today, I thought I would share one of my artistic impressions with you, since it has been a while since I’ve done so.
This was created using the Topaz Simplify plug in for Photoshop.
The mountain gorillas, despite living in conflict zones and being subjected to poaching and diseases, are still around, and in some areas, thriving. Spending time with them is a beautiful experience. I would definitely define them as being resilient. Let’s hope their numbers will increase, and we will be able to share our world with these magnificent creatures for many, many years to come.
A gorilla infant makes eye contact from the safety of the group.
This first monochrome Monday of the year is from my amazing gorilla trekking experience. I have some ideas for future posts about the gorillas, so watch this space in the coming weeks!
A pile-up of juvenile gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda.
This image might be perfect for your walls! You can find this available for print sales here.
Happy New Year everyone! I have a few photos from the last two weeks to share; I hope you enjoy 🙂
An elk grazes in the train tracks in Jasper, Alberta.An elk taking a casual stroll towards the highway. Jasper, Alberta.A ruffed grouse tidying up spilled sunflower seeds.After a meal, it was time for a quick nap in a sunbeam for this deer.He spied me taking his photo through my office window.Today was a gorgeous morning for a walk. A lovely start to a new year.
The most popular post of the year, in terms of views, was of my favourite, elephants 🙂 Good choice everyone!
I chose a pair of adorable baby elephants for my post 2016-05-24: WPC Jubilant. These little ones thrilled us with their antics for quite some time before being rounded up by the adults to head off. The harsh shadows in this image caused me to dismiss it the first time around, but you can still see a playful glint in the eye, which is what this little one was all about.
So there you have it, the end of a short and sweet wrap up of the year. Thank you to everyone for stopping by, sharing your likes and comments, and spending a few moments a couple times a week seeing the world through my eyes. I’m looking forward to 2017; I have a few new post ideas percolating already!
The countdown continues… coming in at #2 was my response to the WordPress photo challenge prompt of Pure. A gorgeous, tiny zebra foal and its mother were featured in that post.
Here is another photo of the two of them; I hope you enjoy.
The third most popular post of the year was a response to a topic from Cee’s Fun Foto website, Black and White Close Ups. Of course, I featured my favourite animal, the elephant. 2016-06-04: CBWC-Close Ups
I spent a lot of time in Kenya amongst elephants and managed to get a good number of close up shots that I liked. I hope you enjoy this one as well.
The end of the year is a great time to reflect on the path that has been travelled over the year, and the ones that you hope to travel on in the coming year. 2016 has been an interesting, and really good year. The photos below encompass some of my thoughts about the various paths that I am on.
There are times when the path is clear; you know where you are going and the way is easily defined. If you have to retrace your steps for some reason, it’s easy to get back where you started.
Sand Forest, Phinda Game Reserve, South Africa.
On some days, the path might seem barren and you feel all alone, but you never know what might pop up ahead.
A saddle billed stork takes to the road. Amboseli National Park, Kenya.
Sometimes others will doubt that you are on a path at all; they will question your direction and your vision. But you know exactly where you are going.
An elephant heads towards the river for an early morning drink. Ishasha Sector, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda.
Sometimes you need to create your own path. You can’t see where you are headed, and if you try to turn around, the way is just as obscured. Going on intuition is the only way forward.
A leopard moving through the tall grasses, Ishasha Sector, Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda.
Sometimes the only thing to do is take a break, rest, and return to the path later on. This is especially true when you have no idea what you are doing, or where you are going!
Silverback Makara rests on one of the game trails in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest, Uganda.
