Flickr: ImageInnovation Photography's Photostream

Golden-mantled ground squirrel

This is Callospermophilus lateralis. Big name for a little guy.

Uploaded on Jan 24, 2012 | Map

21 comments

Don't even think about it, fish-thief

The setting sun gave this osprey a lovely mellow glow, which was not matched by his demeanor. There wasn't actually anything around that looked likely to try stealing his fish, but from the fierce look on his face, I guess he wasn't taking any chances.

ETA: can you skateboard on a fish? :-)

Uploaded on Jan 19, 2012

24 comments

Someone's in trouble

Looks like one of these mergansers has a beef with the other. Check out the expression on her face (see closeup below) as she bears down on her oblivious prey. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that beak.

Can't beat these birds for the hairdo. :-)

Uploaded on Jan 10, 2012

25 comments

Not too close

I got this shot during a photo workshop run by Ray Barlow at the Muskoka Wildlife Centre. The Centre is a rehab and educational facility and the animals are used to humans, so we were able to get inside most of the enclosures to shoot wolves, foxes and lynx. This cougar was the one exception -- we stayed outside the fence, for reasons that I think are abundantly clear in this shot. :-)

Last February, I went to the Centre to shoot images at a second workshop for an article I was writing for Muskoka Magazine. Below, you can see a thumbnail of the article, which has just been published. I had mixed feelings when I saw it. It was during this second shoot that I slipped on ice and fell, breaking my shoulder. I spent most of 2011 trying to get it back to normal and I still have a way to go. Shoulder breaks are the pits. But at least I got all the shots before falling. :-(

Uploaded on Jan 2, 2012 | Map

38 comments

Now you see him...

This is the red-tailed hawk I got on my last visit to Presqu'ile Provincial Park. He taught me a lesson I shouldn't have had to learn. After getting a lot of good close-up portrait shots, I was standing there waiting for him to do something interesting, like flying off the branch.

I know he KNEW what I was waiting for (they always do), so he just sat there. Finally, I took a few more shots and made the mistake of checking them on my camera screen. When I looked up again -- 2 seconds, I swear -- he was gone. I never even heard him go.

I have a theory. These critters sit down to a meeting every morning to discuss new and exciting ways to frustrate me today. Not paranoid much. No.

Happy new year to all of you. I hope 2012 brings good things.

Uploaded on Dec 29, 2011 | Map

37 comments