I don't know how this happened. Four White-tailed Deer, four ducks in front of them, four Sandhill Cranes in the sky, even four trees in the background. No deer, ducks, cranes, or trees were added or removed for this photo.
The morning was chilly as we set up blinds in the dark, listening for the murmur of cranes in the marsh across the water. They would fly out shortly after dawn. The deer were an unexpected bonus, creating a scene we could not have imagined. George shot video. I wasn't tempted. Still photography has fascinated me since I was 12 years old, and still does.
As for this image... these deer emerged from the misty marsh, briefly walked on water, had a drink, and melted back into the tall grasses. The photo op lasted four minutes; I shot 90 frames, of which this is the one I like best.
Photographed at Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan (Canada). Photographed at Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: White-tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus wildlife animal mammal ungulate does fawns dawn marsh wetland lake water ducks Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis flight flying four 4 mist ethereal wow nature wild prairie Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Refuge NWA Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page Explored
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The White-throated Sparrow is an infrequent visitor to the prairie, stopping occasionally at feeders during its migratory journey. At Last Mountain Lake, I saw my first ever of this species NOT at a feeder. This is a tan-striped morph: the stripe behind the yellow supraloral spot isn't white, as in all the others I've seen. To this, add the somewhat faded fall plumage that had me wondering if this might be a juvenile. But no, I don't think so. And it doesn't matter. I was happy with the close photo op. I had just spent two hours in a blind, and was packing my gear away when I noticed that I was being watched from a nearby branch - an unexpected bonus on a chilly morning!
This species is primarily a woodland dweller, its western breeding range starting where the prairie grades into boreal forest north of Saskatoon. Any sighting on the prairie is noteworthy. Photographed at Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis wildlife bird songbird passerine tan-striped morph perched perching bird migratory fall migration autumn tree branch wild prairie Last Mountain Lake NWA National Wildlife Area SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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This year, the cranes were not where I've found them previously; that section of the marsh has dried up. In a morning of driving the back roads, watching and listening, we found the fields where they were feeding during the day and the marshes where they rested at night. These birds have completed their nesting cycle in the north and are now bound for New Mexico and Texas, where they will overwinter.
It was a difficult shoot. We didn't find any cranes in close, other than overhead flybys. Several years of drought have resulted in birds abandoning formerly excellent photo spots. Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area still provides refuge for millions of migratory birds on their long journeys, but wildlife photography there is currently more challenging than just a few years ago. Things change. So it goes. I had fun anyway. Stay tuned...
Photographed near Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis wildlife bird wader long-legged wading birds field feeding spilled grain after harvest migration migratory heading south pano panorama fall autumn Last Mountain Lake SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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It's time for some black and white. My recent uploads have been more about quality of light than a specific subject, and this applies equally to monochrome interpretations.
Here's a shot I made last month, on a brief trip to photograph sandhill cranes and other migratory birds. It was midday, and I reconnoitred with my accomplice, George, at a lookout tower (he videoed me ascending and said he got a good clip - always happy to help out). The sky was a riot of shadows and highlights. I used the Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens, levelled at the horizon line to minimize curvature, then cropped square during processing.
This is the northern part of Last Mountain Lake, where the 93 km long body of water fragments into marshy wetlands that provide ideal habitat for many bird species. The area includes North America's oldest bird sanctuary, established in 1887. But this image is about the sky and the prairie light. Sometimes that's all a person needs...
Photographed at Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: landscape black and white B & W monochrome square clouds sky prairie sky living sky flat horizon drama dramatic vast small beneath the sky wetland wild prairie Last Mountain Lake national wildlife area SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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Coming home from my trip to the northern prairie and boreal forest, I got south of the snow belt: the snow turned to light rain, on and off for the remainder of the day. The dull conditions prompted me to scrap one plan and detour instead to Canada's oldest National Wildlife Area, at Last Mountain Lake. There I spotted a few birds, including this handsome American Avocet in non-breeding plumage.
I sat at the edge of a marshy lake, partially concealed by tall grasses, for about 45 minutes, and several avocets eventually ventured within range.
There are no mountains anywhere near this place, by the way; the name comes from a Cree Legend that the Great Spirit shovelled dirt out of the lake basin to create some nearby hills. Considering that the prairie was gouged by Ice Age glaciers that removed dirt from some places and deposited it elsewhere, the legend appears to be fairly accurate. Every glacier I've walked on has felt alive to me: "great spirit" does not seem far-fetched.
Photographed at Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2018 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: American Avocet Recurvirostra americana wildlife bird shorebird non-breeding plumage water wetland marshy wading beauty beautiful wild prairie Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area SK Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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