First shot: A bull Elk, trotting across an open field to put some distance between himself and the rolling red Toyota blind, gets an idea.
Second shot: It looks like one of his front hooves grazed the top strand of barbwire. Look at how it is now curving downward. Will he make it?
Third shot: Of course he made it! The big guy knows exactly how much energy to expend. See the top strand now bowing upward. And then... he was gone.
Of note: I have never seen an elk in this area, so what a shock to spot this one on an early morning supply run to Swift Current (120 km north of my home). He gave me a brief look, but was on the move before I could lock focus, and all I could photograph was his hindquarters. It worked because he decided to jump the fence - otherwise I would have butt shots of a large animal trotting away from me, not too exciting or memorable.
To my Flickr friends: my pal George the filmmaker is in town so I've been up early (pre-dawn) and out shooting with him; consequently no time or energy to spend online. I'm normally not found drinking coffee and hammering away at the keyboard at 5 a.m. As we move through fall, the sun isn't up until after 7, and the light is good all day. It's a sweet time of year, maybe bittersweet, too, as we lose our migratory birds until next spring and the summer foliage gives us the last bursts of colour we'll see for months (aside from blue skies and blazing red sunrises and sunsets).
Photographed north of Beaver Valley and south of Cadillac, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Elk Cervus canadensis wildlife animal mammal ungulate male bull Wapiti jumping leaping fence wild prairie Beaver Valley SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page triptych three 2023
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I mentioned recently that I've been noticing round shapes in nature this year - noticing them more, I suppose. They are the primary shape in our universe, from every atom to every star, so I don't hesitate to use the description "sacred circle", even though it may cause some to draw incorrect assumptions as to what I may believe in.
In my first attempt at making this triptych I had a frog's eye as the third shot (and the sun in the middle). But it was too busy, so I swapped it out for a shot of a "Blood Moon" from 2017. The other two are more recent. I photographed the sun, including sunspots, on a smoky day last month when the sky was grey and filled with the taste of distant, charred wood. The sunflower, its ray florets fallen and lost, is from a week ago and seemed to fit nicely between the two celestial bodies. When in doubt, I tend to go for the graphics.
Photographed from my backyard (the sun) and Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: triptych three sun moon Prairie Sunflower round circles sky copyrighted James R. Page 2023
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Chaplin Lake is a large saline body of water on the Canadian prairie, covering about 20 sq km but only a few inches deep. When the shallow water warms in spring, billions of brine shrimp hatch and provide a feast for thousands of shorebirds on their northward migratory journey. Usually this occurs in late April and early May.
But I don't think there is a "usual" or "normal" anymore. Many, many people have remarked on the strange, abnormal spring we're having, here and elsewhere. For example, I planted spinach in my garden on March 19. That's more than a month early; most years the earth remains frozen until late April. I covered it with a plastic sheet. The seeds germinated and I now have a healthy bed of baby spinach.
However, following the unseasonal warm spell came an unseasonal cold spell, and some terrible weather that swept through Montana, the Dakotas, Manitoba and western Ontario, bringing blizzard conditions and stopping the bird migration for many days. When my friend Lori took me on a guided tour of the restricted area of Chaplin Lake, there were no birds. She said the dykes and mounds should be covered with shorebirds at this time.
Likewise, she told me she had never seen ice wedged and piled on the lake shore like this so late in the season. The top left photo, however, isn't snow; it's sodium sulphate! Chaplin Lake is a huge producer of this mineral salt, an inorganic compound used in the production of pulp and paper, detergents, and in glass making.
Saskatchewan Mining and Minerals, the company that works this rich resource, manages water levels in the lake to ensure habitat protection for the migratory shorebirds while mining a world-class quality product. They work closely with government and environmental groups. A refreshing atmosphere of co-operation not always present with mining operations.
More than half the world's population of Sanderlings stop at Chaplin Lake, along with significant numbers of Stilt Sandpipers, Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Piping Plovers, and many other species.
I'm planning to head back up there in mid-May, expecting a pretty good show!
Photographed at Chaplin Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape triptych Sodium Sulphate mine mining extraction saline lake water industry industrial habitat shorebirds IBA Important Birding Area biodiversity spring ice before the migration cold Chaplin Lake Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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None of these frames work especially well as a stand-alone shot, but I think that viewed together they give a good impression of what occurs on a lek. A lek is often described as a dancing ground; it's also a fighting stage. Males vie for dominance. It gets vicious.
Much of their time is spent staring each other down: two males, face to face. Then, a feint, a dodge, a flurry, and for a few seconds it is a blur of wingbeats and talons. That's what fast shutter speeds are for. (At some point I should try some intentional blur via slow shutter speeds, but I've never felt I had enough good ones in the file to get too artsy around these guys. I have sold thousands of photos over the years but very few "creative blur" wildlife images. Detail is usually more compelling and it's what my clients want.)
The grouse dance, too; their displays are elaborate and finely choreographed, designed to attract a mate. Only early risers get to photograph the ritual - and this applies to other species of grouse, too, including prairie chickens. Often you have to enter a blind before dawn and wait. I've done that (without much luck). Fortunately, the sharptails are much less skittish and have allowed me to shoot in this one location from my vehicle. By 8:00 a.m. the show is over, or nearing the end. Suddenly a flurry of action as they all fly off the lek. And then they're gone.
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: Sharp-tailed Grouse Tympanuchus phasianellus wildlife bird game bird galliformes gallinaceous chicken-like fight fighting triptych dominance males impressing the ladies breeding rights combat wingbeats talons spring springtime lek ritual wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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