Back to the wild. One afternoon, I spotted a Porcupine waddling across the upland prairie. Usually I see them in thickets; this one was in the open - and my dormant brain screamed "Photo op!" I drove past it, got out, and then walked a big circle to get the weak sun behind me. If the Porcupine was aware of me, it seemed to forget after finding some delicious roots to eat, and I slowly worked my way closer so that it was pushing through the grasses toward me. I noticed how much, despite its dark face, it looked like a bunch of grass. Sure enough, it emerged into the open, more or less. I managed four head shots, and about 200 butt shots as it turned around to show me its tail and rump armed with thousands of quills (a Porcupine has about 30,000 quills on its body).
It was a good re-entry after two weeks of suspended animation during the Polar Vortex. I had been sleeping too much, eating too much. During previous winters I didn't let minus 30 weather deter me, but those days may be gone. Strange to get such cold temperatures during a winter with almost no snow: it felt like winter, but didn't look like winter.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Porcupine Erethizon dorsatum animal mammal rodent quills wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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Dawn light spreads across the Broken Hills above the Frenchman River Valley in Grasslands. There had been a hard frost overnight.
We're looking at the little bridge across the "mighty" Frenchman, along the Ecotour Road - the park's main access route. At lot of my wildlife shots have been made along this road.
Three things I really like about this time of year: (1) Sunrise happens late. I can get a good night's sleep and still be out for the dawn light; (2) the good light lasts all day. That's because the sun never gets very high - thus the colours stay warm and saturated and the only limitation is my own stamina (admittedly not what it used to be); and (3) no people! In recent outings I've had the entire park to myself: no other visitors, very few staff. And lots of critters.
The cold is nothing if you have proper clothing and know how to drive in winter conditions. It only becomes a factor below -30C, and even then outings are possible (and I've gone out in -45C, but in cold like that the main concern isn't art, it's survival). Lately, night time temperatures are hitting about -12C, and warming to 0 during the day. To a prairie dweller, this barely qualifies as winter weather.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape panorama late autumn late fall frost frosty cool beautiful wild prairie Wow! dawn dawn light morning warm-cool contrast solitude beauty Broken Hills Frenchman River Valley Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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Things take the time they take. Don't worry.
How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?
- Mary Oliver
The Land, continued. This land has lessons to teach, providing we have ears to hear, eyes to see, hands for touching and feeling. Be careful with those hands, though: fingers can freeze in winter, and you don't want to go sticking them into dark holes under rocks in summer (where rattlers and black widows hide).
I remember this morning well. November. There was some snow, and lots of hoarfrost. The morning light was exquisite. I was learning how to look at prairie, how to photograph it, grasping for the essence, knowing I would fall short.
I still am.
But as the poet said, things take the time they take.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2011 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape winter the hills snow snowy hoarfrost cold beauty Wow! the land wild prairie Broken Hills Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2011
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Among the few bird species that overwinter in southern Saskatchewan is the Sharp-tailed Grouse. Note the feathered legs and feet: insulation against the coming cold. Two of them were resting and feeding near the top of a buffaloberry thicket, safe from land predators (coyote, badger), the dense, thorny branches presumably offering some protection from local raptors.
These thickets line the Frenchman River banks and adjacent wetlands, offering food and shelter for many species. In this one thicket, over the years I have photographed Short-eared Owl, Grey Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, and Yellow-rumped Warbler; and near its base, in and around a marshy depression in the land, Sora, Solitary Sandpiper, Killdeer, Wilson's Phalarope, and several kinds of duck. Needless to say, I always slow down when I approach this spot. That's what I did when I saw the two grouse, and this shot - made from my car - came at the tail end of a five minute sequence, when they'd had enough of me.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2016 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Sharp-tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus wildlife bird chicken-like game bird galliform galliformes wings flight takeoff feathered feet buffaloberry thicket safety food shelter wetland wild prairie Frenchman River Valley Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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A purposeful Badger strides through a snowy prairie dog town in today's instalment of "Wildlife in Winter". This is an older image, shot with the Nikon D300 and recently reprocessed.
I photographed this Badger on multiple occasions in November, 2011, as it hunted in the dogtown. I didn't see it catch anything, but it was a well-fed Badger. They are born to dig. Short, powerful legs, huge claws, and a nasty temperament: you don't want to tangle with this large mustelid. (Mustelids are carnivores and include species such as mink, otters, weasels, martens, and wolverines.)
I had a couple of sessions with this individual during which I was able to get out into the dogtown while it was digging, lie flat, and shoot hundreds of close ups. On this day, however, I shot sequences from my rolling blind - not the current red Corolla, but a silver 2004 Echo, one of Toyota's not-so-well-known vehicles but possibly my favourite car of all time. Maybe I should do a "Cars in Winter" series next...
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2011 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: American Badger Taxidea taxus Badger wildlife animal mammal carnivore mustelid digger on the move running snow snowy cold winter wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted 2011 James R. Page
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