Here is one “spouting off” .  As you can see the ocean was a bit rough on this day but that did not prevent us from seeing many grey whales that were migrating up the coast of Vancouver Island.  The whales were feeding on herring roe according to our guide Lance Blackwell.  They were amazingly close to shore and rolling on their sides to feed in shallow waters. These are baleen whales that filter their food from the ocean water. We saw a few whale tails, many whale flukes and lots of spouts in the Broken Group Islands area. It was difficult getting really good photos due to the rough waters and weather conditions  but seeing these amazing mammals once again was an awesome experience. Below: Grey Whale tail, flukes and backs.

During this three hour outing we experienced the most fickle weather – hail, sleet, rain, sunshine, mists, winds . . . but it was still more than worthwhile to watch the whales.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

Sometimes we need to learn to share our space with “masked bandits” that roam the nights – the good kind that is.  In this case, a very plump raccoon!  I was out filling up bird feeders late at night and thought I passed something in the fern patch but thought, no – just my imagination.  Well I was not imagining things when this night visitor sat squarely on my sidewalk blocking my path  to the backyard.  Eventually he wandered into the backyard to get some peanuts that I had put out for the jays and ate some raspberries left on the bushes.  I watched him/her roam around checking everything out. They are so curious, unafraid and did not appear threatened by me.  Having said that, I did keep my distance.  I was more worried about the feral cats that are around fearing a fight but that did not happen either.  I watched one of the cats and the raccoon follow each other around the yard neither of which seemed bothered by the other.  In the following photo you can see the orange tabby cat beside the raccoon.  I wonder what else happens during the night hours when we are sleeping?

The photo below from a previous year – again at night but this time crawled up a tree and watched me from the neighbours roof.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

Here’s the scenario.  I am driving home from the Whiteshell on Hwy 44 and from a distance see a fox family up ahead crossing the road.  The mother is a black fox, white tip tail ( only the second one of this colour that I have seen ) which is a  variation of the Red Fox.  She has two kits with her.  Momma fox and one kit run towards the bush to the right of the highway and are safe.  The second kit runs across the highway to the left on its own.  There is fairly decent traffic on this highway and cars were coming in both directions.   I had slowed down but still driving I could see that the kit realized it had been separated from its family and starts back up towards the highway.  It was coming up on the highway, stopping on the road, going back toward the ditch and seemed confused about where to go. I had visions of another little dead animal at the roadside.  So, I pulled off onto the shoulder and chased the kit back down into the ditch area.  The kits were quite young and its first instinct was to crouch down and lay still as pictured above.  It laid there looking at me.  After a few minutes there was a break in highway traffic so I walked around and behind the kit and chased it up and over the highway so it could safely join its mother.  I have to believe she was at the forest edge watching for her kit and that they found each other again.   The kit was so beautiful with a soft and richly coloured coat of fur.  It always makes me so sad to the wildlife laying at the sides of roads being the victims of vehicle traffic.  A happy ending I hope.

Back up and over the highway towards its mother.

Running back to the forest and to momma.

Enjoy!

Sharon

Today some photos of the Red Fox.  Fox can become accustomed to human presence, frequent places like golf courses, cottage areas etc. and will accept handouts if people make the offer.  Not likely a good idea.  A few years back at the Pinawa Golf Course, foxes were so bold they would snatch lunches/snacks from the golf carts.  They are very cute little animals, slightly larger than a domestic cat but sometimes look bigger because of their usually bushy coat of fur.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

This photo is cropped closely to give you a good look at the woodchuck’s paws.  Very hand-like with long claws for digging.  In a previous post of a woodchuck the colour was more grey-dark brown while this one is clearly more a rusty brown colour. Woodchucks are also known as groundhogs.  A very handsome woodchuck indeed!

Enjoy!

~Sharon

Stellar Sea Lions were just one of the highlights of a recent trip to Ucluelet on Vancouver Island.  Ucluelet is south of Tofino on the Pacific Rim.   It was great fun watching the sea lions swimming around, chasing the fishing boats looking for handouts, sitting on the dock and floating in the water with flippers up in the air. This group was close to the cabin we were in and we could hear them “barking” throughout the night.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

This is the hydro generating station at Seven Sisters Falls, Manitoba.  This operational station is situated on the Winnipeg River System just outside Whiteshell Provincial Park.  Most of my visits have occured when the waters are  low and the river bed floor is quite visible.  The photos below show the Canadian Shield bedrock that lies below the Winnipeg River System.  We watched a river otter dragging a ling cod that it picked up in one of the pools at the river bed bottom.  The fish was larger than the otter.  Pelicans and Cormorants also sit here for the easy pickings from the small pools.

Below: Facing North East waters heading toward Pinawa, Manitoba

Enjoy!

~Sharon

This Snowshoe Hare turned white before we had snow and was laying low between two stumps underneath the cover of a spruce tree.  Because it turned white before the snow it would have been much more visible to predators.  The hare has really large feet to help it stay on top of the snow covered ground.   These hares are brown during the summer months. The Snowshoe Hare lives in the boreal forest and is found in every province and territory of Canada.  They can have as many as four litters each year.  It uses a network of trails in its range and is most active between dusk and dawn.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

The hardy white-tailed deer are out and about year round.  They do have difficulty in years when there is a lot of snow cover as it becomes more difficult for them to find food.  This photo was taken at Pinawa, Manitoba where deer are abundant around and in the town.  Many residents have built deer fences to protect their gardens from the deer who really love munching on hostas, lillies and other garden variety plants.  Red squirrels build cozy insulated nests but do come out on the warmer winter days and don’t seem to mind the snow too much.

The red squirrels, like birds will eat the snow for moisture.

This horse didn’t seem to mind the snow.  If I recall it was very cold this day but bright and sunny.

Enjoy!

Sharon

I think that Mother Nature has the hiccups! Our weather this year has been totally out of our normal weather patterns. This hare started turning white in October just showing white on its ears, feet and belly. Now, at the end of November the hare has completed its colour transition and is totally white. It is so cute but very vulnerable now to predators because it is no longer camouflaged due to the lack of snow. We should have snow on the ground by now but instead we have still been enjoying the above normal temperatures. A very unusual but welcome fall seeing as we didn’t have much of a summer this year. In early October we had a fair bit of snowfall but it all melted away and our temperatures went up into the double digits again. The Canada geese are still here and should have been gone a few weeks ago while the Snowy Owls have returned. The small ponds and marshes are just beginning to get a layer of ice while the waters on the lakes and rivers remain unfrozen. Like I said earlier, Mother Nature must have the hiccups . . . Most of us are enjoying one less month of winter weather but there are those that depend on winter for a living or look forward to winter recreation – the ski resorts, snow clearing operators, snow machine enthusiasts and the like. It has been snowing lightly today so perhaps winter will arrive in the next few days – we’ll see. Personally I’ll be happy to settle for a warmer winter with snow – can’t imagine not having a white Christmas on the prairies.

Look at those big feet !  This will help the little hare run on top of the soft snow instead of sinking into it.

The Snowy Owl preys on rabbits and small rodents.  They survey their hunting grounds from high up and can often be seen perched on top of hydro poles.

Enjoy !

~Sharon