I made this shot moments after yesterday's post of the bare trees: turned around, walked a few steps, looked at the fence, figured out what to do.

After this I walked around the block... but my hands were getting cold, in fingerless gloves over thin liner gloves. On longer winter walks or hikes I also carry heavy wool mitts lined with bison hair. This was just a stroll around the neighbourhood, and I didn't last long.

Tomorrow, a prairie town north and east of us, from last winter.

This shot is from Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   fence house trees winter white snow snowy prairie village Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024

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Another shot from my garden fence. This White-throated Sparrow in fall migration played peekaboo with me, popping up repeatedly between the fence slats, allowing me two or three quick shots each time. I only found one worth processing - and that's fine. It doesn't matter how many misses there are if you hit at least one (not necessarily out of the park - I'll settle for a solid single to left field).

Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2021 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis wildlife bird passerine songbird perching bird autumn fall garden fence backyard wild prairie vertical village Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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In all my recent raptor photos, the bird has been in flight against the sky. Here's a hawk in context. Two Ferruginous Hawks have set up housekeeping, so to speak, in a tree not far from this fence post. It is the only tree in sight, in any direction - a plains cottonwood.

At a superficial glance, one might wonder how a place such as this could possibly support a healthy wildlife population. But it does. Hawks and eagles cruise overhead and alight on fence posts. The ground below, where it has not been cultivated for crops or turned into cow pasture, teems with countless rodents: prairie voles, deer mice, ground squirrels. Drive the backroads, like I was doing here, and you may round a bend and surprise pronghorn (antelope) or deer, or see a coyote dashing across the road to escape. A badger may burst from the grass, hustling to reach a safer place, or a red fox may pause to give you a quizzical look, or you may spot a long-tailed weasel, garter snake, rattlesnake, bullsnake, grouse, partridge, or pheasant. Roadside sloughs and ponds provide habitat for muskrats, waterfowl, blackbirds, terns, and shorebirds, and prairie passerines have adapted to the grasslands by building woven nests, often on the ground, using natural cover for concealment. Needless to say, this abundance is far richer in wild lands than cultivated ones; hence the urgency to create a national park in the area back in the 1970s and '80s.

I grew up elsewhere. I had no idea. Most Canadians still have no idea. Prairie is written off as "flat and boring", and its human residents as conservative, or ignorant, or naive, or somehow backward. These generalizations are too facile. If prairie folks tend to resist change, it must be understood that change in this place usually manifests as unwanted weather that can be enormously destructive for ranchers and farmers. An old friend back East once remarked to me, "I just couldn't live in a place without trees." Another sweeping generalization. The village in which I live is full of tall trees. Almost all were planted by previous generations (and at least nine by me). It's just that trees aren't everywhere. Anyone who comes to southwestern Saskatchewan, and sees a land that's "flat and boring", probably has not set foot outside of their car, or is tragically devoid of imagination. This is a vast, magical, and hauntingly beautiful land. Its openness, uncluttered appearance, inherent graphic qualities, and often stunning light regularly offer up photo ops that keep me interested and engaged season after season after season.

Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Ferruginous Hawk Buteo regalis wildlife bird raptor hawk perched perching fence fence post barbwire barbed wire springtime sprimg wild prairie snow patches rolling hills pasture vast beautiful near Val Marie SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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On the way home from Swift Current (see yesterday's post), I braked for these horses. Some days they are present, other times not. I hope they have a warm stable to retreat to when the temperature drops even further; that day it was about -25°C but it can get down into the minus forties (although we have not seen that this winter). Six months from now they'll be swishing their tails in the heat, trying to keep the flies off. Meanwhile those corral fences serve as a windbreak.

When I slowed down for this photo - shot from my car - I was looking at not only the horses but the background. I do the same thing with birds on fences. No only am I judging how close I can come without spooking them into flight, but I'm also lining up the background elements and trying to stop at the very best spot for a decent composition. Backgrounds are as important as subject matter. In fact, everything in the frame must count: each element must work to support the overall composition, and if it doesn't contribute this way, it detracts.

Some adjustments can be made in post processing, of course. I cropped most of the white sky out, because there was too much of it. I thought about cropping out the blue shed at the upper left, to maintain the original proportions, but in the end decided I liked it in. It suggests a sheltered place for the horses, and panoramic crops do work well in this place of boundless horizons.

Photographed south of Cadillac, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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First, I want to make it clear: spring has arrived in my part of the world. No, really. It's warm outside and this morning the full moon is hanging brilliantly in the inky sky, sharp as a tack. I'm heading out - need to look at the world through a lens again. I've been running around for a few days now.

This photo is from two years ago; April can look like this. This is the view from my front porch. We are always mortified when a fierce icy spring storm barrels through, because after being released from a long winter, we want to see green things and happy birds singing. Usually the system is gone in a day or two and warm weather returns. This storm was particularly severe, as many of the trees were budding at the time; as a result some tree species didn't do well that summer.

This spring has been much gentler.

Photographed in Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2019 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

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