Three White-tailed Deer, poised to run - which they did a moment later. Not seen in this shot is buck number four, closer and to the left of this trio. He had already turned back and was out of focus; I cropped this from the horizontal original.
They are going into the rut right about now, along with the Mule Deer, although the latter are more numerous here and much easier to find. I'm hoping for some decent behavioural shots over the next three weeks or so - of the mule deer if not the whitetails.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: White-tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus wildlife animal mammal ungulate male bucks antlers alert wary vertical three 3 wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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The ever-hopeful Pronghorn buck has his eye on the doe - and his tongue is visible, too, if you look closely - but she's not interested. They look like a family group, but ungulates do not function that way. Herd animals belong to the herd, not family units, although the females do guard their young, as this doe is doing here.
Aside from a few very brief stare-downs, this buck generally left the fawn in peace as he followed the doe through a prairie dog town. No other pronghorn were present. I duck-walked and then crawled under sagebrush cover to get close enough for this shot, and the low POV allowed me to include the background foothills and give a sense of the vastness and wide open spaces of their habitat.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Pronghorn Antilocapra americana Antelope not a true antelope its closest relative is the giraffe speedy ungulate three wildlife mammal fast wild prairie dogtown Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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Three juvenile Burrowing Owls give me the death stare while providing some comedy from their burrow entrance - an abandoned prairie dog mound. Too much fun, watching their antics!
I made this shot from the rolling red Toyota blind. It's a low-slung Corolla, and that's what I like about it. Larger, more expensive vehicles would not allow me to shoot close to eye level, like this.
More wildlife shots coming. Fall is a great season for wildlife photography in my area. The colder nights must create a sense of urgency in many species. These owls were gone a few days after I made this shot, among the first migratory birds to leave their breeding territory. Since then, ie. during the past two months, all the migrants that breed here have departed, although some more northerly breeders continue to pass through.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia wildlife bird owl juvenile three burrow mound wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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The owl from yesterday's upload flew over to an old cottonwood tree and joined its two siblings. I found a clear shooting window and made this family portrait in perfect portrait light. I've no idea where the adults were.
GHO nestlings in my zone fledge by late April or early May, so by late June these juveniles were ready to individuate. The next time I visited, they were gone.
Must admit I was a little surprised at missing the nest in a location I know well. All winter and into the spring, whenever I checked - dependent on the access road being passable - a single GHO was present. I figured it had lost its mate. Wrong! It was a male standing watch. The female was on their nest - in February and March - incubating the eggs! It can be very cold here during those months; these are tough birds, and those that survive to adulthood are among the most fearsome predators of the northern grasslands.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus wildlife bird raptor owl three 3 Plains Cottonwood tree juveniles wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024
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Three handsome Mule Deer bucks in early morning light. Antlers in velvet, and they're still growing! And they all looked back at once, which was the moment I hoped for when focusing and composing this shot.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2024 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Mule Deer Odocoileus hemionus wildlife animal mammal ungulate bucks three 3 magic number antlers velvet dawn light beautiful wild prairie Frenchman River Valley Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page 2024 Explored
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