The Fall is Great!

 One of my favourite times of the year is fall. The colours are spectacular and the temperatures are comfortable. A person isn't soaked in sweat all the time!

River Trail

In the fall the wildlife is moving around more. With all the colours they are still hard to see. If you are lucky, an ear twitch may give them away

Cow elk with babies

Bull Elk

Mule Deer

The Mulies know how to blend in

Elk Resting

This is the time to enjoy the colors as the first wind will bring the leaves down. For the next 10 days, the night temperatures are forecast to be below 0C, and daytime highs only +3 to +5. The next thing, the colors will be gone and the landscape turned to white!

The Last Two Days

The weather was good and I got out and about. Here are a few of the results. It might be a few days before I get out and about again, as we are forecast to get 20 cm of snow overnight.

The first two are of a Juvenile Golden Eagle that decided to thermal right over me. I had to get some help from Alberta Birds to identify it.

 The next two are of Common Gold Eyes that are showing up in droves.

And here we have the Canada Goose having a good stretch. They are starting to nest up and things are getting quiet on the Athabasca

The next couple are of a Rough Grouse having a bad hair day.

Finally, here is one of the 15 Elk that I came across in a farmers field.

A Couple of Surprises

Daphne and I took to the bush today to try and get out 5 miles per day in. On one of the trails, Daphne put up this Roughed Grouse and it perched right beside me in a tree.

We also came across a herd of about 15 Elk. I could not get a shot through the bush, so we moved down the road and waited for them to cross. I guessed to crossing point quite well. They came single file, in a hurry.

We also found a few geese in the slough.

All in all, not a bad day in the bush!

A Lucky Day Out!

While driving along a county road, I saw a couple of critters cross at a distance. At first I thought a couple of horses had got loose. Then I saw the white rumps and the rest of the herd

 This is the first herd of Elk that I have seen in some time

 

They were a little spooky, but hung around long enough for me to get a few pictures.

 

Normally you don't see them out and about at mid afternoon. They are called the Ghosts for a good reason.

 One is still molting and looking very scruffy.

I guess this shot is what you would call "The End(s)"

Five minutes later and I would not have seen any sign of them!

Elk, Getaway,Part Two of Three

 I took the opportunity to take a few Elk pictures on the trip. We have a few in the area around the Acreage, but they are very elusive, so any opportunity to get some good photos should be grabbed. About 2 months ago, these bulls would be scrapping with each other. Now they are getting along really well.

When it is sunny, and warm, they seem to be pretty laid back.

No trophies in the lot, but some nice bulls. The full curl ram  http://wildwestfarm.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-was-time-for-getaway.html was a ram that would be very high in demand, and worth a lot of money!

The cow elk was very laid back and content just to watch the bulls approaching.