Last Day of 2017

The years sure fly by. It seems to get faster and faster. We lost some friends, connected with a few from the past and gained some new ones.

Spring Thaw, Bruce Peninsula, ON

I didn’t feel like I did much although it turns out we added many new images. We stayed in Ontario for the most part. No big trips. No unusual adventures. It was nice not to drive quite so much. Here are a few of my favourite images from the past year.

Sometimes, the best images came from close to home like this one in my back yard:

Northern Flicker Yellow-shafted Male

Dog-day Cicada Adult and Exoskeleton

We travelled to a few of our favourite haunts in Ontario. We found this Coyote in Killanrey.

Coyote

Lori found this Yellow Warbler building a nest. It was quite accommodating.

Yellow Warbler Female with Nest

We also checked out some Ontario Provincial Parks for the first time:

The Pinery Provincial Park

Awenda Provincial Park, ON

The college where I teach went on strike this fall. So I took some time to shoot the fall colours in Algonquin.

Fog in Algonquin Ontario

We had one final trip to Parc Omega in Quebec and Wolfe Island in eastern Ontario:

Bull Moose

Grey Wolf

Short-eared Owl

Happy New Year! All the best for 2018.

Off the “Rock” and into the Highlands

We had a good trip down to Burgeo, NL. This is one of the most beautiful places we have visited on Newfoundland. We had a good visit with Lori’s nephew Ben. I had hoped to see lots of Moose and Caribou but I think we were too late in the year. They must head up into the highlands to avoid the bugs. Burgeo is a small somewhat isolated community on the south shore of Newfoundland.

Sandbanks Provincial Park, NL - Click for larger

Cemetary, Sandbanks Provincial Park, NL - Click for larger

We did a few hikes and found orchids and some landscapes. Sandbanks Provincial Park is one of the highlights of this area.

Small Purple Fringed Orchid

We caught the ferry to the mainland at 5 am and slept in the lineup till 3:30. On the ferry we had a berth. This allowed us to get a bit more sleep, do some backups and charge some batteries.

When we landed, it was pouring rain. We headed to Cape Breton Highlands National Park and met up with our friend Adrien Veczan. Adrien is working for a newspaper in Halifax and had a few days off. We camped at Cheticamp and hiked the Skyline Trail.

Skyline Trail, Cape Breton - Click for larger

We saw lots of moose. It really is a lovely trail.

Bull Moose - Click for larger

Bull Moose - Click for larger

Adrien headed home the next day. Lori and I decided to stay a bit longer. We found lots of orchids and wildlife to photograph and the landscape is very dramatic.

Cabot Trail - Click for larger

Black Bear Cub - Click for larger

Coyote - Click for larger

Male Spruce Grouse - Click for larger

White Fringed Orchis - Click for larger

We are heading off tomorrow to the Sackville area of New Brunswick to look for shorebirds and then on to PEI. I think it will be difficult to top this part of our trip.

The Adventure Continued - Day 1-3

It was an uneventful trip to Winnipeg. I sailed through check in and Security in spite of my slightly overweight carry-on. I was in Winnipeg and sitting in the rental car by 10:30 local time. But I wasn't sure what to do. So I looked at the map and decided to head to Hecla/Grindstone Provincial Park. It was a nice drive but not much to photograph. I shot some images in Hecla and headed back to Winnipeg. There was a farmer baling straw. I think that was the best shot of the day.

Baling - click for larger

Back in Winnipeg I checked into my Hotel and had dinner in the lobby bar. There was a group just back from Churchill exchanging bear stories. Sounds like they had a great time.

I went up to my room and rearranged my gear for the next part of the trip. My friends and fellow adventure seekers, Robert, Scott and John arrived around 8pm. We made plans to get up the next day at 5 a.m. and head to Riding Mountain National Park for first light. Then we went to bed.

We drove an hour before stopping for Breakfast. It was mild and the roads were clear. Along the way we saw a few things including a Bald Eagle and a Snowy Owl. We didn’t get "keeper" images but it was great to see these birds!

Over the next couple of days we worked Riding Mountain National Park. It's so great to be out working with other photographers. We are all very passionate and driven to get images. At the same time we are all very supportive of each other. We all tried to make sure the other guys would get their shot as well.

We saw so much in the Park. Here are a few highlights:

Bison - click for larger

Spruce Grouse - click for larger

Northern Hawk Owl - click for larger

Ruffed Grouse - click for larger

Coyote - click for larger

Wetlands - click for larger

Tomorrow we leave for Churchill and then on to the Seal River. Can’t wait!