Some Of my Best For Month. Oct-Nov. 2013

This blog will feature some of my shots taken in last 2 months.  Just an eclectic assortment.

The sun seems to shine right through the gorget of this male Anna's Hummingbird.

The female Anna's has a golden sheen when the light strikes it at the right angle.

An Black-necked Stilt visited the Whiterock Beach Oct 10 2013.

Coming in for a landing was this blue Great Blue Heron.

This photo was quite sharp so I include it.

A Great Horned Owl was at Island 22.  Compare the "ears" with the Long-eared Owl below.

Long-eared Owl fluffing up in our cold spell.

Same bird.

Pied-billed Grebe

After some discussion with others it was decided that this was a dark morph Red-tailed Hawk.  A Harlans  was ruled out .

Rufous-sided Towhee

Pink Salmon (Humpback) female

Sanderling at Point Roberts

Black Turnstone at Point Roberts

Savannah Sparrow Harrison

Song Sparrow

Wilson's Snipes Wilband.  In the "old days" hunters would shoot snipes which are very erratic flyers.   If you could hit one you would be considered a good shot.  And that is how modern "snipers" got their designation.

Finally a male Pink Salmon

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River Otter Encounter Nov. 27 2013 Abbotsford BC

I have a pond I visit regularly and sometimes I get rewarded with River Otters.  I haven't seen them for about a year so I was pleasantly surprised to find them today while the sun was shining.  The following pictures are the best of 135 pictures I captured over a 2 hour period as I sat partially concealed on the pond's edge; getting cramps as I tried not to move.

They can hear the camera shutter but can't figure out where I am which is about 3 meters away.

For more otter photos see my website;  http://lenjellicoe.zenfolio.com/p733144743
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Oct 15- 22 2013 A week in the Kootenays

We decided to visit the Kootenays for a week as it has been years since we passed through that country.  
Our base camp is in Nelson.  On a tip from Travis Reid we stopped at Grand Forks on our way down to witness some California Bighorn mating rituals.  This herd here is transplanted, as it is in Kamloops.

Scenery

We checked into our accommodation in Nelson and the next morning hooked up with Alistair Fraser, a resident of Nelson who is a marvellous photographer with a great love of nature.  Alistair graciously offered to guide us up country where the Kokanee Salmon were spawning.  Our hopes were high for feeding Grizzlies.

  A lady had seen a Grizzly here 1 1/2 hours before we arrived.  It was promising news.

Dian and Alistair .    

This river looked promising for bears.

This is a very picturesque river in the autumn.

We felt fortunate to find a  flock of 6 Wild Turkeys close to Kaslo and then another 20 by Winlaw.

After 2 days of searching for bears we spotted this Black Bear adjacent to spawning channels.

Gibson Lake at Kokanee Provincial Park.  The ice is starting to form.

American Widgeon on Kootenay Lake

American Bald Eagle fishing for spawning Kokanee

He sees something.

Attack

Success.  To get these shots Dian and I sat in the car and kept the camera trained on the bird for half an hour in anticipation of some action.

It took us four days to finally get a glimpse of a Grizzly.  We were with Alistair and Derrick Kite who had guided us to some promising locations.  Although it was exciting it was a little anticlimactic  to only get this fleeting shot.

Then on the fifth day I woke Dian at 4 am and said let's give it one more try.  We were in a promising location when we spied this bear on the opposite side of a river bank.  

What a perfect opportunity.  We had about 150-300 feet of 12 inch deep river to separate us.

She was scavenging dead Kokanee Salmon.

I took the teleconverter off the camera as the bear was filling my lens.

Checking under flotsam

Answering that age old question "does a bear does poop in the woods?".  She was distracted by something she either heard or smelled further back in the woods and she eventually sauntered off in that direction.

She was very interested in a piece of wood that already had "puncture marks" on it.

A local photographer told us her name was Apple.  She is about 14 years old and has recently rejected a couple of her cubs to survive on their own.  The cubs had been with her for 3? years.  The scar on her nose identifies her.  We would like to return next year to see if she has a new set of cubs.

The sun sets on Kootenay Lake.  Many thanks to Alistair and his wife Dorothy for their guidance and generous hospitality.   They made a great trip so much better.  Alistair and Derrick Kite were great traveling partners.


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