Black Fox

Another wonderful highlight of our recent trip up to Prince Albert National Park was this gorgeous Dark-phase Red Fox that we found ambling along the road as we were heading home.
One more post from Prince Albert after this, then its back to seeing what I can find around town or perhaps a nearby lake.

I just love his markings...

Timber Wolf

Last Sunday was a special time for me and my wife. This will be remembered as the first time we saw a wolf in the wild.

After hearing that a wolf ( or wolves ) had been sighted in the park a few weeks back, we decided to go for a drive up to Prince Albert National Park and try our luck.
The weather was on our side for Saturday, and we found some nice birds and animals but no wolf.
My next update will showcase what else we saw, with a full list of highlights.

The following day it was dark , cloudy and it was spitting rain...great...
We had a choice, either head for home , or try one more time to see if we can find those elusive wolves.
After driving around for a bit , I suddenly spotted a little dark 'blob' in the distance.
I had to look through my binoculars to see what that thing was, as it was on the top of the hill as the road went up.
WOLF !
We eventually got up to him and he was quite unafraid, but would not stop walking, and only looked at us for a split second before plodding on down the road, occasionally glancing back.
I managed a few shots through the car window as we were moving, thankfully I had set the camera up for low light.
I did some reading up on this particular species, and it seems they have been known to prey on Black Bears, as well as White-tailed Deer, Beavers and Muskrats.
I'm glad we were not on the menu that day ... :-)

Here he is :

Northern Hawk Owl

Here is the male Northern Hawk Owl found recently at the South end of Blackstrap Lake not too far from Saskatoon.
My wife and I had an excellent little trip out to Prince Albert National Park last weekend where we were treated to our first ever wild Wolf, a River Otter and a beautiful dark-phase Red Fox.
I'll post those photos next time...

Click to see him much larger

Fall Sparrows

Its been a strange , and mild fall this year . We still have a small group of migrants visiting our front and backyard that on previous years would be on their way south by now.
We got some snow , but for the most part, it is mostly thawed. The lawn in our backyard is still nice and green, and there are many leaves still on the trees !
This weekend it is supposed to get up as high as 14 degrees, so I guess we shouldn't complain !
Over the past few days we've been lucky enough to have a variety of backyard visitors, including my favourite , the Fox Sparrow. A species we've not had in our yard for nearly 5 years.

Some nice recent findings since my last post have been a group of Whooping Cranes, a Brown Creeper, Rusty Blackbirds and a Northern Hawk Owl, but they will have to wait until next time.

Here is a bunch of photos taken since my last update (All best viewed at full size) :

Fox Sparrow -



Harris's Sparrow -




White-crowned Sparrow -



White-throated Sparrow -



Dark-eyed Junco -

Saskatchewan Birds 2010 Calendar

My 2010 Saskatchewan Birds Calendar will be going to the printers next month, so anyone that would like one (or more) copies, should let me know, so that I can order them and make payment arrangements.
They will be $20.00 and can be picked up at my place on request ( if local ) or I can post them for an extra $3.00.

They are printed on heavyweight, glossy cardstock that is easy to write on and measure 10.25 x 15.6".

I toiled over the idea of maybe just having 12 larger photos, but it was impossible to choose only 12, as I took so many photos this year !
I ended up opting for the same layout as last year. At least this way you get more photos !

The deadline for orders is November 12th.

Here is a small preview :