Canadian Rockies – wildlife

The only animal on my camera’s “wanted” list was the bighorn sheep, which was soon to be found, but wildlife was so abundant and easily seen that I ended up taking pictures with animals as the main subject every day. I got all the small critters common in the area, some big mammals and a lot of birds (not flying, remember my lack of skills?). While I can easily distinguish the firsts, birding was a first for me, so I don’t even know the names of most of my subjects except for my favourite: the Steller’s Jay. I’ll try to update the images’ description with the proper name in the future, but I’m no expert and will do it only if I’m 100% sure about it.

Before I start with animals and pictures, let me remind something that’s too often forgotten and harmful for the animals. Never feed or approach wildlife, keep them wild and remember you’re not in a zoo but in a national park, their home…you’re the guest. I know that they will get close for many reasons, especially the small and cute ones, but let them be, take your picture and move on, they are not pets. And if you spot a bear, wolf, bull moose and the like, always stay at a safe distance or even better stay in your car, you never know how they’re going to react and all are stronger and faster than you, period. Years ago in Yellowstone I’ve seen with my own eyes what happens when you try to take a selfie with a bison behind you…I was laughing at the result, the selfie maniac not so much I suppose.

Your best friends for taking pictures of wildlife are long tele lenses and cropping (add skill if you want something good too). Most of the shots below were taken at 200mm, usually not enough, on an APS-C sensor and always cropped to get the subject at a proper dimension, so do not expect miracles. The grizzly was taken from a parking lot, at a very safe distance, with the car right behind me just in case; the result is bad, but I enjoyed every moment, I was there, that’s what will be in my memories, the picture is just a plus.

Little critters

The easiest animals to spot and get close to in the area are the small ones; there’s plenty everywhere and the little critters are usually not even shy. The most common are the ground squirrels (both the golden-mantled and the columbian versions) and the chipmunks, followed by the red squirrels in the forests; rocky areas instead are usually home of the little pikas and the hoary marmots.

They are always fun and cute to watch, sometimes it seems they are even posing for you, so I’ve got more than a couple of nice shots of them all, but I’m adding just a selection here. Maybe I’ll add larger galleries as a separate section on the site later.

Bigger catches

Apart from the bighorn, it is not that hard to see different deers, elks and moose. I’m not an expert and I often take one for another, especially young ones and females. On the mountains it is also possible to spot the mountain goat, but those are usually a rare find. I think I have seen them all, the problem is that most of the times they were literally on the road, so I had to pay attention to avoid them and not to take pictures… safety first! I still managed to take home a couple of decent shots though.

Then there’s the one usually on everybody’s wish list: the bear. It’s not difficult to see one in the area, even if your not looking for a close encounter; it is called bear country for a good reason. Both black bears and grizzlies roam this national parks during Summer, mostly eating berries, and usually are not a threat as long as people behave correctly and avoid well known areas. I had my share and probably the best were the grizzly with her cubs at the Sunshine Meadows near Banff (thanks to the warden for lending her binoculars for a “closer” look since it was too far for my camera) and the one in the picture below, at Edith Cavell in Jasper NP.

Birds and butterflies

Crows and magpies are everywhere, it is impossible not to spot one every day also in town. Another common one near pine forests is the nutcracker, easy to spot on the trees given the light grey color; then there are countless others I cannot even name. There were so many on the trails I did that I ended up trying my luck to take home as many shots as possible. Now I have something to show, but I don’t know what I have in my frame sometimes since I haven’t a name for all. Until I do, I’ll leave an unknown tag for those still to be fully recognized.

Another pleasure for the eyes are the colorful butterflies wandering the meadows in full blossom during July and August, so I’ve added a couple at the end.