Bear in the Park!

I thought I would take my dog for a walk in Rotary Park in Whitecourt today, Sept 7,2019. There was a lot of discussion on bears being seen . I hardly ever go anywhere without my camera and caught this guy chowing down on crabapples. You can see what he thought about having an audience!

These are nature's pruners.

He is hiding, but still wants those apples!

 Yum!

Unfortunately for him Natural Resources arrived to put a live trap in place. He will be soon relocated.

There were a fair number of kids, dogs and parents using the trail beside the apple trees.

Mule Deer and Triplets

They are triplets, but I couldn't get them all in the same picture. 

Apple Pie, Crisps, and a Full Belly

Our apple trees are ready for doing something with. The apples are a little smaller than last year, but much more plentiful. Therefore I started working with the corer, peeler and put 72 cups of apples into 6 of these bad boys and 8 Crumbles. 

 5 pies and 8 crumbles made it to the freezer! One got sacrificed in the quality control exercise. It passed with flying colours.

This is God's gift to apple peelers. I don't know how I ever got along with out it. It peels and cores and slices with just a crank of a handle. Well worth the cost in time saved!

Now, I have half of one tree picked with another 2 1/2 to go! I think I will be giving apples away, after 6 more pies!

Black Bear andCubs

I have never seen so many bears as I have this year. They are every where it seems  I saw this group  just north of Whitecourt eating Clover and grass. The way they were eating, I suspect we are going to have an early winter. The Mom was very watchful. It was a while before she let the second cub out of the bush

This cub was very cute. He appears to have injured his right eye some how. It sure didn't stop him from chomping down.

He stood up when his sibling was coming out of the woods, but wouldn't give me a front view.

As you can see, all heads are down doing some serious munching.

The sow looked as if she would take no nonsense when it comes to her cubs.

Another First!

I decided to do another bear hunt (with camera) and came across this boar Grizzly. I have never been able to get up close enough to get some descent pictures. He was very cooperative. 

I tried not to disturb him, for several reasons. He was very happy feeding on vegetation, and probably didn't want to taste a tough and stringy old geezer like me.

 He looks friendly, but why take a chance. I have seen videos of Grizzlies chasing down elk. They look fat and heavy, but they can move when motivated!

 Yep, a fine specimen and very pretty.

A Bear Hunting Day!

I decided to take a drive and see how many bears I could find. I found 9 total, two sows with twin cubs and the rest lone males. The foliage along the highways is lush and green with lots and lots of clover. It was hard to get facial shots as they were munching like there was no end. I suspect we may have an early winter!

 When I first saw these three, they were laying down eating just rising enough to get fresh clover. This little gaffer was quite curious. Mama kept calling him back.

 Mama was a good sized bear and very protective. She kept them close at hand.

 When Mama moved. so did the twins.

 The grass and other stuff was very tall and it was hard to get shots in the open.

 At times the cubs seemed to disappear

She needs to put on a lot of weight before winter!

 This old boar seemed to be quite chubby. All ready for mating.

Grain and Friends

I was out taking a cruise and I saw this Whitetail Deer in a field of barley. At first, I thought she was laying down. Not so. She was standing on her tip toes trying to get a look at the stranger pointing a camera. 

She looked around, at times almost disappearing.

When she went to alert and walked, her tail followed her over the grain. It looked weird to see a caboose following.

Finally, I was able to get a full deer shot just to prove she was upright.

There were also some Sandhill Cranes. I guess they were waiting for the grain to ripen. I feel sorry for the farmers this year. We have had so much rain it is impossible to get on the fields. What hay that has been cut has been rained on daily.

 Then there were a few Magpies doing their thing, mainly squawking at the intrusion.

Just Lurking Around

A Whitetail Doe caught enjoying her salad

A Low pass by a Canada Goose

Its hard to tell the young from the parents now

 Mama with three young of the year

Here is a Solitary Sandpiper with one of her young.

Swatting Mosquitos

The mosquitos were horrible after 3 weeks of rain. I swung by the Osprey nest in Rotary Park.

 I could not see and young ones yet.

 She was not moving around much

This looks like a Herring Gull sitting on the pond

This is a different view

I am assuming this is a young of the year.

 Here is a sad case! No parents or siblings around, but enjoying the flooded grass.

 Paddling around, growing bigger. Hope he makes it! I am no sure what type of duck