The Cutest Marsh Wren

The Cutest Marsh Wren

Mar 1, 2022 | Birds, Ponds & Wetlands

This little bird was singing his (or her?) heart out amongst the cattails, but for the life of me, I could not spot him from to the side of the pond! I was determined to find the owner of the pretty song of this little bird, so I walked back to the truck to grab my rubber boots. 

Carefully, I walked in amongst the reeds and cattails, careful not to make too much noise to startle any birds that called that riparian area home. Often I stopped to listen and watch for any movement, my camera at the ready to snap a quick picture.

And then I saw him, flitting about the cattails, singing away to his heart’s desire! I snapped as many pictures as I could, hoping at least one would turn out to be able to share. But I had to stay to watch him and saw him pecking at the cattails, either to eat the seeds or collect the fuzz for a nest nearby; I couldn’t tell. 

But goll darn it, that little marsh wren was sure cute.

Taken at the Mattheis Research Ranch (University of Alberta’s Rangeland Research Institute) near Brooks, AB, Canada on June 5, 2014, with my old Canon Rebel XS DSLR camera with a Canon EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM telephoto lens.

Meeting Creek Heifers

Meeting Creek Heifers

Feb 27, 2022 | Badlands, Farm Animals

I’ve driven through this area before on another trip to some place to the east, and my curiosity got the best of me to explore this area a bit more. So, one weekend I packed my camera and some water and travelled out to the village just on the edge of the cliffs of this beautiful hidden gem of natural beauty. 

I wasn’t familiar with the country (at the time), so I decided to go for a hike, walking down a gravel road until I arrived at the trail to where I wanted to go. Gates didn’t deter me from going in, so I went in. As I ventured in, I noticed this group of ~30 beef heifers that were grazing in the area, and they certainly noticed me! Knowing cattle, because I’ve grown up with them, I didn’t panic.

Instead, I walked calmly through them, talking to them quietly. Not once did any of those heifers give me trouble. As I kept walking, they stayed put, just watching me move along. I turned around and noticed the beautiful background, and just had to take a photo. Well, a few photos, of course! 

Taken on August 7, 2016, just northwest of Donalda, AB. I used my (surprise!) iPhone 6 to snap these photos. 

Rolling Fescue Foothills

Rolling Fescue Foothills

Apr 22, 2021 | Foothills

The Waldron Ranch, south of Longview, Alberta, Canada, has quite the fantastic views. This is an endangered grassland that is normally over-taken by acreage ranchettes that prefer big expansive lawns of non-native grass over vast acres of Foothills Rough Fescue (Festuca hallii) and many other plant species that reside in the Foothills Fescue Grasslands of Alberta, and which are now protected thanks to a conservation easement put in place on several thousand acres that is the Waldron in the Porcupine Hills.

Taken on August 21, 2016, with my old Canon Rebel XS DSLR, with a Canon EF 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 ISU USM wide-angle kit lens.

Bumbler on a Gaillardia

Bumbler on a Gaillardia

Apr 22, 2021 | Grasslands, Insects, Wildflowers

On a range health checking trip at the Cypress Hills in Alberta, Canada on August 6, 2014, I found this busy lovely bumblebee doing some nectar-collecting from a Gaillardia or Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristrada) and just had to talk a shot of it. Taken with my Canon Rebel XS DSLR, Canon EF 100 mm f/2.8 macro lens.

I Thought It Was a Fence Post

I Thought It Was a Fence Post

Apr 22, 2021 | Birds, Ponds & Wetlands, Wildlife

I couldn’t believe my eyes! I was more focused on all the other waterfowl that were in their full glory of the spring mating seasonal rush, focusing my camera on any movement and flash of colour that gave away an American Coot or a Ruddy Duck or even a Lesser Scaup, that I nearly missed this beautiful bird!

Standing so perfectly still and with such patience of any stealthy avian predator, this Black-Crowned Night Heron almost had me convinced that he was nothing more than a silly fence-post sticking out from the water; a weathered-greyish fence post that nearly struck the light well enough that it appeared to be just another dead, unimportant part of the scene. Just like the platform it leant on and the dead willow branches laying on the water surface.

That is until I noticed the beak and red eye.

Then I got excited and started snapping down on the shutter of the camera. The whole time that bird barely even moved a muscle. Of course, he knew I was there, me sitting in the truck parked on the side of the road, but if I didn’t look close enough, I would’ve just moved on and found other birds to capture in my lens.

Captured near Stettler, Alberta, Canada on May 27, 2018, with my old Canon Rebel XS DSLR, Canon EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM telephoto lens attached.

I Spy With My Little Eye…

I Spy With My Little Eye…

Apr 21, 2021 | Forests, Rabbits & Hares, Wild Herbivores

Look really carefully and you’ll find that there’s a Snowshoe Hare trying to make himself invisible in the woods. Unfortunately, his movements caught my eye and put me on the hunt to get a good photo of him!

Taken at J.J. Collett Natural Area (near Ponoka, Alberta) on April 30, 2017, armed with my old Canon Rebel XS DSLR with Canon EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM telephoto lens.