Advent Calendar - December 16th

Every winter hundreds of Bald Eagles come to poach salmon on the Skagit River in Western Washington. The Skagit River runs from a mountaintop of the Cascades to the Puget Sound. The Skagit floodplain is one of the richest agricultural areas in the world. Tideflats, estuaries and farm fields draw tens of thousands of Wrangel Island (Siberia) Snow Geese (tomorrow's post) each winter, as well as trumpeter swans and countless shorebirds on their great migrations. What brings people, though, are the Bald Eagles. Last year's count on December 15th was 285 Bald Eagles. The highest count last year was 410 on December 22nd. On January 7, 2009 there were 859 counted. (The count includes only eagles that are actually seen by experienced personnel & include those seen in areas inaccessible to the general public.)  What brings the Bald Eagles are the Salmon, mostly Kings (also called Chinook) which come up the Skagit each winter. Here's a Bald Eagle standing on what appears to be a 25-30 pound salmon:

Bald Eagle with King Salmon

Advent Calendar - December 15th

I love my winter trips to Canada. It is partly because the setting is so different and the white of the snow provides wonderful contrasts. Here a lone Bighorn Ram stood on a mountainside pushing the snow away with his horns and nose to get to some grass below. He gave me "the look" every now and then. But in most of these wildlife photo ops, I try to be very still with no big hand motions to let the animal know I mean no harm. That allows them to continue to eat without fear. Photo taken along the Columbia Icefields:

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Ram in Snowy Alberta, Canada

Advent Calendar - December 14th

It was a snowy day in December of 1998. I spent the afternoon and the following morning looking for Bison in Western Montana in and around the National Bison Range (National Wildlife Refuge). They don't get a lot of visitors there. In fact, I was the only one for several days. In the afternoon I saw a small herd on the side of a mountain but had no way of getting close to them. Late the following morning as I was coming around a corner and up over a small hill, there he stood -- all 2000 pounds. Just him, all by himself near a creek.  With the snow falling, I slowly, carefully walked toward him to get a good photo. He looked at me and then, snap. I have the photo I wanted:

American Bison

Advent Calendar - Well, not Quite

Wish I had thought to start this December 1st. Oh, well, here's December 13th:

Anna's Hummingbird -  And, yes this was taken at The Azure Gate, a very rare snowstorm.

A couple more babies

Most wild animal mothers keep their young as far from civilization and danger as possible. In some cases, though they realize it's hardly necessary. In fact, quite the opposite. This Elk figured the safest place for her fawn was in the middle of the little town of Mammoth in Yellowstone National Park.  

Elk and Fawn

In most cases, however, mothers must rely on mother nature who has given the young some advantage. In the case of Pronghorn for example it is eyesight and speed. Young fawns learn to run almost at birth. They can detect movement from 4 miles away. And, Pronghorn can reach speeds of up to 70 miles an hour. They are the fastest land animal in North America. --- Although not faster than a speeding bullet. Pronghorn once roamed the west -- and in huge numbers. Now, their distribution is essentially Eastern Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. While their numbers are way down, there are reliable "pockets of opportunity" to view them. Western Wyoming is the exception. If you drive on US 191 through Western Wyoming you can't help but see pronghorn every couple of miles feeding on ranch lands.

Pronghorn Fawn

Babies come in all shapes and sizes

Continuing with wild animal babies.

This Bison Calf probably weighed about 30 pounds, a far cry from the 2,200 pounds when he reaches maturity.

Bison Calf

 This Coatimundi youngster will weigh about 13 pounds as an adult.

Coatimundi Youngster

 And, this Javelina Piglet, which probably weighed about one pound, will grow to weigh 60 to 80 pounds as an adult.

Newborn Javelina Piglet

More Babies

The increase in the Deer population throughout North America, among other things, means more frequent sightings of young fawns. I wrote in September about the newborn Coues White Tail Deer I came across in the Chiricahua Mountains. This little guy I mistook for a Jackrabbit at first  -- until I realized he was too small to be a Jackrabbit. He wasn't much bigger than a house cat. The Mule Deer photo was taken in Yellowstone Park and the White Tail Deer photo was taken in Glacier National Park.  In all three cases there were two fawns with their mother.

Coues White Tail Deer Fawn

Mule Deer

White Tail Deer