//Google Plus Verification Google+

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Lockport Manitoba

A popular place for picnics, and fishing, Lockport Manitoba is quite active with all kinds of wildlife. My favourite is the pelicans, who seem to defy gravity as they glide across the water. They spend most of their time gathered in large groups near the dam, hop-scotching over each other as they float too far from the dam. I can only assume they are catching the smaller fish that congregate near to the dam.

Don't forget to try a world famous Skinner's Hotdog, while you are there. So good!

 
 
 
 
 
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Facebook

Hi guys, just a logistical update.  EHP now has a facebook page here.  If you have not already done so, please consider "liking" it.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Red Fox

It looks like at least one of last year's litter is doing quite well. This red fox was looking quite healthy and full of energy, except for a brief lay down in the cool sand. It was fantastic to see her doing so well. I suspect her mother died during last Winter, as I have not seen her around. In the wild, they don't tend to live longer than a year or two. This little vixen was quite busy scent marking, and chasing anything that moved. Red foxes are easily one of my favorite subjects to watch and photograph in the wilds of Manitoba and Ontario. I have yet to get a good photograph of the kits, as they tend to stay in the den if they catch wind of me. The only time I have seen them active is in dusk, when it is too dark to photograph, let alone see them.  They are also extremely fast when they are old enough to actually come out of the den. Definitely something I am trying hard to do.




Monday, August 15, 2011

Black Capped Chicadee

These little guys seem quite tame. It looks like they have been fed by people. Makes for some really good up close shots. The first one is not really all that good, but I included it as this one in particular landed on my foot! He didn't stay put for long, but I am tickled that I snapped a decent shot of him before he flittered off.




Posted by Picasa

Bee


Refreshing


Posted by Picasa

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Blind Bandurist Player

This is one of those photos where I found meaning in the lens.  To me, this image has contrasting themes.  On one hand you have a man, sitting amidst all this visual beauty, colour, and form.  The sorrow flows like tears, in the misty drops on his skin.  For a moment, you may consider, his sadness is not for himself, he is playing music, the notes flow, with beauty, colour, and form.  Perhaps the tears are for you.  You are deaf to his melody.

This is my interpretation of this sculpture situated in the Leo Mol sculpture garden, inside Assiniboine Park, in Winnipeg.  Leo moved me.  I hope you find meaning too.




Our Moon


Saturday, August 13, 2011

White-breasted Nuthatch


The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a small songbird of the nuthatch family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine subspecies differ mainly in the color of the body plumage.
Like other nuthatches, the White-breasted Nuthatch forages for insects on trunks and branches, and is able to move head-first down trees. Seeds form a substantial part of its winter diet, as do acorns and hickory nuts that were stored by the bird in the fall. The nest is in a hole in a tree, and the breeding pair may smear insects around the entrance as a deterrent to squirrels. Adults and young may be killed by hawks, owls and snakes, and forest clearance may lead to local habitat loss, but this is a common species with no major conservation concerns over most of its range.





Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Mountain Chipmunk

Found this little guy on the shores of Lake Moraine.  Alberta, Canada.    The mountains in the area are the ones printed on the reverse side of the 1969 and 1979 issues of the Canadian twenty dollar bill.

Monday, August 1, 2011