From dawn to dusk, we’ll extensively cover the back roads of central Alberta in search of owls – and with time and interest, we’ll also be on the lookout for other species that call this region home. With our local knowledge, we’ll work to provide you with the best odds of having quality, respectful encounters with snowies, prioritizing the documentation of owls in the context of their ecosystem.
It was early December and our cameras were packed up for the season. The few weeks remaining in the month were booked with meetings and time with Simon’s family in Vancouver, and our last couple of days at home in Alberta were focused on hosting Jill’s family, in from Ontario. Going into the field to document wildlife was nowhere on our agenda.
After the wolverine, a fisher might rank as the second most elusive creature to find and photograph in the Canadian wild. So when we found one this past winter, we were caught off guard. Like literally caught off guard. We had just returned from a prolonged backcountry snowshoe
Easily the best encounter we had in 2017, as far as documenting cool behaviour goes, was the chance to observe a fox family move its den. The circumstances were a little troubling: The family had taken up residence in an abandoned building and the kits used the entire structure as their playground.
Cross foxes are a unique part-melanistic colour phase of the red fox that produces a silvery-black cross colouring of the normally red fur. The cross fox isn’t that rare – the further north you go, the more common it becomes and it’s certainly even more common that the relatively rare full-melanistic colour phase, commonly referred to as a silver fox.
Jill has long pined to see a caribou in the wild, but the dwindling numbers of the mountain caribou subspecies makes them, quite literally, the rarest animal to find in the Canadian Rockies. Yet in 2017, we found two males. Twice. In the spring, we felt extremely lucky to snap a few images of the seriously endangered ungulates and when we found (we believe) the same two males again in November, one still sporting its antlers, we’re were over the moon.
Like many of you, we’re sure that you’ve spotted many porcupines after dark. But in daylight? That’s a much tougher task. Up until 2017, we’ve continuously failed to document this nocturnal creature, but the year began with the chance to snag a couple of pour quality images of the animal sleeping in a tree. But when we visited Grasslands National Park in April, we couldn’t believe our luck to stumble upon (literally) a porcupine walking around the area near where we were camping. We only got one quick shot in the fading light, but to us, it’s a dream come true: A porcupine on the ground in (relative) light. Definitely a check on the bucket list.
River otters are not endangered or rare, but they are extremely hard to find in Canada’s mountain parks. Many locals, in fact, don’t even know they exist and those that do can count their encounters on one hand. Thus to have spotted three otters as they traversed from one habitat to another was not only unique, but incredibly lucky. To have an encounter that lasted for hours and enabled us to watch the mustelids without altering their behaviour was something beyond special – it was a gift that we’ll be forever grateful to have received.
Yes, this is an awful photograph. And, no, the encounter was hardly spectacular. After a week of driving a 10km stretch of road at 10km/hour from before dawn to after dusk, we were at least happy that we could confirm that, indeed, we saw a lynx. Despite the disappointment of not netting a quality image, it was a first for us and any time you see a cat, it registers as a unique moment.
We have been very fortunate to have had one brief encounter with the tiny, grassland-dwelling owl, but 2017 offered a second, much better opportunity to actually capture respectful images. While camping in Grasslands National Park in April, the burrowing owls return for the summer during our stay and, over two days, we were briefly able to watch as a mating pair hunted prairie dogs in the shared space both animals reside.
Gift Certificate
$100.00 – $500.00
Elk in the Mist | Fine Art Print
$100.00 – $600.00
Peeking Marten | Fine Art Print
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Bison Silhouette at Sunset | Fine Art Print
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Cross Fox | Fine Art Print
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Dancing Bears | Fine Art Print
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Snow Bear | Fine Art Print
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Jasper Wolf | Fine Art Print
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Charging Bison | Fine Art Print
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Follow Mom | Fine Art Print
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