Back from my gallivanting in Europe, it was a good time to go out and hit the Alberta back roads, not too far from Edmonton. A nice quiet drive, until we stepped outside of the vehicle to try to take a photo. The moment the door opened, my wife and me, were swarmed by mosquitoes... hoards of them.
Of snow and animals
This weekend was a perfect time to visit my favorite park. Those of you who have been reading this blog, know that this is Elk Island National Park. I left home early, around 7am. I was hoping to get there before the sunrise. Fresh few centimeters of snow fell during the night, and the park was silent and it seemed deserted. I was slowly moving along the park road, when I spotted this owl perched on a tree. Quickly I grabbed my long 200mm +2x extender, and as quietly as I could got out of the car. The moment I did that he spread his wings and it seemed I have lost a great opportunity. Lucky for me he just got bored of one tree and decided to try another one few feet away. Slowly I started creeping after him. He just sat there spinning his head. First shots I realized to my horror that there wasn't enough light. At 1/15 shutter speed with out a tripod it is really hard to stay still. So I immediately upped my ISO. I got maybe 5-6 frames before the owl got bored, and flew away for good. At this moment I realized that I was in about 4ft of snow. I was a little cold, but happy.
After the owl incident I finally got to the largest lake in the park. The scenery was spectacular, and absolutely no people. It's a stark contrast with summer time, where this area is teaming with people. While I was admiring the silence, I noticed a little spec moving across the frozen lake. Once I trained my lens on him, it became apparent that it was a coyote. I was following him, when there was a yelp from across the lake. The coyote stopped, and seconds later he started running at full speed in the direction of the yelp.
I missed these guys crossing the road by few minutes. Once I got to a good spot, they already crossed and were running away. I managed to get a couple of shots of this hear, but they were already pretty far away. Maybe next time I'll be able to get a little closer :)