Fisherman paddling Lake Victoria

With the boat only a few inches above water, two fisherman attempt to catch Nile perch and tilapia in Lake Victoria.

Armored acacia

With thorns up to 4-5cm in length, the leaves of the acacia tree are somewhat protected from grazing herbivores. By using a slow shutter speed I was able to get the raindrops streaking through the photo during a downpour in Lake Mburu National Park.

Happy dance

With an audience of one, a young girl puts on a dance show in a small village adjacent to Queen Elizabeth National Park.

Queen Elizabeth National Park and Rwenzori mountain range

I’m not a big fan of Mitsubishi vehicles but I took this SUV  through everything and it never once got stuck. This photo was taken from Pelican Point in Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is very infrequently visited and so the ‘road’ had grown in with grasses and acacia thorn trees,  but the view was well worth the trip. In the distance is the Rwenzori mountain range which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and still on my list of places to visit in Uganda.

Protective matriarch

Even from a 50 meters away, this matriarch of the herd was not satisfied and made it known with her ear flapping and trunk waving.  I moved further up the dirt road to give her more space to safely cross with her baby and the rest of the  herd.

Lightning strike, Queen Elizabeth National Park

All afternoon the skies were threatening to put a damper on my game drive but thankfully they held off until I was under a patio at Mweya Safari Lodge overlooking the gorge and peninsula.  The lodge was much too expensive for my budget but they served an excellent 4 course meal for a reasonable price to anyone that wondered in. The place I was staying was just down the road and the food was not nearly as good, nor was the view anything to marvel at so the lodge was perfect. I didn’t have room to bring my tripod on this trip so when the storm hit I used the dinner table to set the camera on and set the shutter speed to 20 seconds. The first few tries I was unsuccessful, but eventually I got lucky. At least seven different bolts of lightning can be seen in this photo.

Five guys and a motorbike

One of my favorites…four men and a boy sped past me on a motorbike along a narrow dirt road in the western tip of Queen Elizabeth National Park near Pelican Point. It is doubtful that they were late for an appointment as there never really are exact times for anything in Africa!  The two long sticks carried by the guys are used to herd cattle and so maybe they were heading out to herd their livestock. As I snapped off a few photos the man on the back and the little boy turned to have another look at me, causing the driver to firmly grasp the handlebars and try to keep the bike on track. Thankfully the delicate balance was maintained and they continued on up the road.   It never ceases to amuse me to see the various means of transporting people and possessions in Africa, and likewise Ugandans never cease to be amused by seeing a “mazungu” (Swahili for European).

Returning to Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Lake Victoria, Uganda

It is hard for me to believe that it has been 10 years since my first trip to East Africa and Uganda in particular. At the time I was contemplating going back to school to become a veterinarian and my time at Ngamba Island solidified this for me. To come back to Uganda as such and to help teach fellow veterinarians about great ape medicine was a very rewarding and reflective experience for me.  Over the next few weeks I will post some of my photos and experiences from my most recent trip.  I took this photo of the captain of our boat heading back across Lake Victoria after a day at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

“Baluku” at approximately twelve years of age

First a disclaimer…this photo was taken in captivity unlike the rest of my wildlife photographs. Baluku was about two years of age when I met him at the headquarters for the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Entebbe, Uganda.  Like almost all of the chimpanzees at this sanctuary, Baluku was orphaned due to illegal poaching. His family was shot and killed for bushmeat and Baluku was taken into a town in the southeastern tip of the Democratic Republic of Congo where he was to be sold as a pet. Thankfully, he was confiscated and brought to Ngamba Island where he now lives. The sanctuary is on a 100 acre island, with about 97% of the tropical rainforest for the chimpanzees. The sanctuary has done an incredible job at not only improving the welfare of the chimpanzees, but also helping the local communities by providing them with various resources to improve their livelihoods.  Outreach programs throughout Uganda educate the public about the threats to chimpanzees and other native wildlife and the need to conserve this endangered species. The sanctuary is a member of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA), which is dedicated to animal welfare, including all aspects of primate conservation and health.  PASA holds an annual veterinary healthcare workshop, which I have been assisting with for several years. The purpose of this workshop is to train national veterinarians in all aspects of primate health, including veterinary aspects related to reintroductions of great apes back into native habitats. Both of these organizations have done a tremendous amount for great apes in Africa and I encourage you to visit their websites to learn more about what they do and to make a donation.

Swimming grizzly

My luck at finding bears swimming or cooling off in lakes and streams around Alberta continued this fall. I hiked I short distance to a wildlife corridor passing under the Trans Canada Highway adjacent to the Bow river and couldn’t believe my luck. Just across the river was a big male grizzly walking along the bank. I fumbled with my camera which must have made enough noise and movement that he spotted me and took a few brief quick steps before deciding I wasn’t anything too intimidating. I figured he was going to continue along the bank around the corner and disappear into the thick bushes. I lost sight of him for a few moments and started walking back to my car thrilled that I had seen even just a brief glimpse of him. When I came around the corner I couldn’t believe that he had jumped into the river and was swimming across it!  I ran down the bank to try and get some decent photos but I was too high up on the opposite bank and the sun was directly in front of me so I didn’t get very good pictures. This one was taken as he hauled out of the freezing water and made his way into the thicket.

Hanging on by a hoof

A  rock crumbled away under the foot of this lamb, which for most people would have resulted in them plummeting to the ground. The lamb pivoted it’s weight onto the other feet, regaining it’s balance before jumping down the cliff to rejoin the rest of the herd.

Bighorn lamb cliff jumping

I came across a group of bighorn sheep ewes and lambs next to another rock face. While the ewes were feeding the young lambs played around on the cliff. Apparently a fun game for them was to climb a steep section of the rock and then careen down it as fast as possible!  It amazing how quickly they can literally run down a mountain side without injuring or killing themselves.

 

Bighorn rams, Jasper National Park

This group of 11 bighorn rams has one of the most beautiful views in all of Jasper. Rolling grass hills surrounded by mountains in the distance and the turquoise waters in the surrounding lakes.  I spent an afternoon photographing these big rams along one of the rocky cliffs adjacent to a lake. By late afternoon the rams made there way down the cliff to get a drink.  Always on lookout for any danger, two remained up on the cliff and surveyed the landscape while the rest headed down into the valley.

Rock, rock, moose!

My favourite photo from my recent trip up to Jasper. During the trip I saw numerous moose, but usually they were hiding amongst the trees which made getting good photos rather difficult. On the last day, I spotted this female along the shores of Medicine Lake at sunrise.  The lake was at the lowest I have seen with the deepest part of the lake only a few feet deep. This allowed the moose to get to vegetation at the bottom of the lake that it wouldn’t normally have access to.  I spent a few hours photographing this female as she moved along the shore and into the lake. However, it wasn’t until I climbed up and was heading back to my car that I turned around and noticed this great angle and back-lighting.  A few cars drove by as I waited for the moose to turned a bit to allow me to get a profile shot. I figured the other people either had seen a lot of moose before and weren’t interested in stopping, or they thought it was just another rock partly submerged in the lake!   With that in mind I included the foreground rocks in the photo which I think makes it a much more interesting image.

When you go out in the woods today…

I purposely stay away from Banff National Park in the summer as it is just too busy for my liking. However, fall is spectacular and usually only a few people are around. I got to the park before sunrise but the sunrise wasn’t noteworthy and I didn’t see any wildlife in the early morning. After a nap, I travelled up the Bow Valley Parkway searching between the trees and in the meadows looking for wildlife. I slowed down while driving past a meadow and scanned both sides of the road looking for wolves. It had been about a year since I had seen any wolves in this meadow and I was hoping my luck would change. As I was coming to the end of the meadow I scanned up a small clearing between some trees and spotted some darker objects that I didn’t remember being there in the past. As I continued up the road the shapes took form in my head…they were wolves!  I back up and sure enough there were wolves moving in an out of the trees and tall grass.  Initially I thought that there were only a few, but within a few minutes there were five wolves crossing in front and behind my parked car. I fumbled for my camera equipment and cursed my car for taking so long to open the windows. With so many wolves I was scrabbling to not miss any of the glorious photo opportunities. They slowly moved across the road into the large meadow on the opposite side and temporarily disappeared into a thicket of pine and aspen trees. They soon emerged on the side of the thicket and laid down for a nap. The other people in vehicles that had watched the wolves pass by, moved off up the road. I parked my car well out of sight from the wolves, got my gear together and quickly hiked up the opposite side of the meadow using the trees as cover. I reached the edge of the forest opposite to where the wolves were resting across. For anyone that has tried to track wolves it is very challenging as they almost always know you are coming and disappear into the forest. Yes, they almost always turn and run!  They don’t view people as prey items and generally have had a bad experience at the hands of people and so they want nothing to do with them. When I got into position to scan across the meadow with my binoculars the wolves were staring right back at me! I hadn’t realized that the wind had changed direction and they must have picked up my scent. However, instead of running off they slowly moved up the meadow. One grew curious and from a distance circled around to try to get a better look at me. I moved out into a clearing for her to see it was a person and not a tasty deer or elk. Satisfied that it was just a human, she relaxed and wandered back to the pack.  However, that was short lived as someone else must have spotted them in the meadow and was walking directly towards them with a large dog on a leash!  Obviously this person had no clue on how to observe wildlife and I cursed them under my breath as the pack got up and moved farther up the meadow. Thankfully, the person either satisfied that he had seen the wolves or scared them off, turned around and went back to his car.  The pack settled down again and flopped down in the tall grass for an afternoon siesta. Occasionally, one or two of the pups would get up and stretch and pester the adults to try to get them up. The adults were having none of it and continued sleeping. This went on for several hours with me watching from a safe distance through my binoculars. At about 4pm the alpha male and female got up and stretched. The pups jumped up and started playing together, excited for the next adventure. I guessed that they would circle around the meadow and head back across the road to the river so I backtracked to my car and waited at a spot I thought they would come out of the trees at. About 5 minutes later the pack appeared and crossed the road about 50 feet from where I was.  Once they were safely on the other side of the road I drove ahead of where I thought they would come out into another clearing used by Canadian Pacific to service the train tracks. I found a spot to set up and within a few minutes the pack trotted past the clearing and up into the forest.  Below you will find photos from the six hours I spent with the pack. Enjoy!

Leader of the pack

To some this wolf is know as “Spirit”.  He is the alpha male of the Pipestone wolf pack in Banff National Park. A testament to his abilities to adapt to the ever increasing numbers of trains and cars that travel through his territory is that he is still alive!  You have likely seen one of the wolves that used to use this meadow a few years ago, as she was featured on the cover of the December 2009 issue of Canadian Geographic.  She was killed on the Trans Canada Highway (TCH) when she got under a portion of the fence and wandered into traffic.  Overall wildlife deaths due to vehicles on the TCH have been significantly reduced (80% reduction) due to placement of fences and over/underpasses for wildlife.  However,  periodically the fences get knocked down and occasionally animals  get underneath them in search of food. Therefore, drive the speed limit and be on the lookout, if your lucky you may catch a glimpse of a wolf!

Wolf crossing

A 2011 pup cautiously crosses the road in front of several vehicles. While the TCH is fenced, the Bow Valley Parkway is not and as a result the speed limit is reduced to 60km/hr. However, lots of people don’t follow the posted limits even with warnings about wildlife being on the roads. Shortly before I took this photo someone raced past me at over 80km/hr. If they had know that they were speeding past a pack of wolves they likely would have kicked themselves.  So if you are lucky enough to travel this road, please follow the speed limits and keep your eyes peeled for wildlife. You may end up seeing something you have never seen before.

Radio collared wolf

This wolf is sporting the latest in wolf accessories, a GPS necklace!  Joking aside, these GPS collars let researchers discover important information about wolf habitat use, distribution, and a lot of other variables.  Recently I attended a talk by a volunteer working on a wolverine project in Glacier National Park in Montana. They put GPS devices on wolverines and discovered some remarkable things, such as their unbelievable climbing abilities. One wolverine was documented to climb literally straight up an icy 5000 foot mountain in 90 minutes! They also discovered that wolverines are very social and males take care of their offspring. While much is know about wolf social structure and habitat use, with this pack living in such close proximity to people it will be interesting to track how their use of the habitat is influenced by the over 3 million annual visitors to Banff National Park.

Update: Unfortunately this wolf died last week (Dec. 30th, 2011)  when it wandered out of the park. It was about 2 years of age and likely in search of new territory when it was hit on the highway near Lac Des Arc.

Wolf pup and adult on the Bow Valley Parkway

A wolf pup from this year and a radio collared adult wait on the side of the Bow Valley Parkway for the rest of the pack to arrive.

Wolves travelling alongside the train tracks

The last photo of the pack before they disappeared into the forest.  This dirt road is used by Canadian Pacific Railways (CPR) to service the train tracks that run adjacent to the Bow river. When the river isn’t frozen over the wolves and other wildlife use the train tracks to travel quickly throughout their territory.  However, this can be extremely dangerous for them and other wildlife. The cars that carry grain to the coast periodically spill grain on the tracks which attracts lots of wildlife.  Deer and elk routinely get hit while eating the grain. This leads to the wolves coming down to the tracks to feed on the carcasses and bears coming down for both the grain and carcasses. This wouldn’t be a problem if the trains were moving slowly. However, often the trains are speeding along and the animals don’t have enough time to get out of the way. Every year trains kill numerous wildlife species along this portion of the park. In fact, it is the number one cause of death to the already threatened grizzly bear population in Banff National Park. To date CPR has promised a lot but done little to minimize spillage of grain on the tracks or to limit the speed of the trains through this portion of the park.  If you would like to put pressure on CPR and Banff National Park to make changes to help minimize train related wildlife deaths, write e-mails to the following people. Thanks!

E-mail the Community Connect Department of CPR at community_connect@cpr.ca and ask them to forward your email directly to the CEO, Mr. Green expressing your concerns. Also, e-mails can be sent to the acting superintendent of the Lake Louise-Yoho-Kootenay Field Unit for Parks Canada, Dave McDonough (Dave.McDonough@pc.gc.ca), the superintendent for the Banff field unit, Pam Veinotte (Pam.Veinotte@pc.gc.ca), the Minister of Parliament for the Banff-Canmore-Lake Louise riding, Blake Richards (blake@blakerichards.ca), and the federal Minister of the Environment, Peter Kent (kentp@parl.gc.ca).

Black bear cooling off in a creek

This past weekend in Waterton was unseasonably warm with Saturday above 30 degrees Celsius and little to know wind. Excellent weather for enjoying the park, but I knew that the black bears would be suffering from the high heat and lack of wind and would likely be searching out water to cool off. When I first came across this big male black bear he was busy feeding on berries.  However, after about an hour of being in the direct sunlight he was panting heavily and he kept looking over a small ridge in the direction of a  creek. Within a few minutes he lumbered through the Saskatoon berry bushes, through a small cluster of aspen trees before heading  down the rocky shoreline.  I quickly went to the opposite side of the creek and got into position as he descended the bank.  Without hesitation he walked into the creek and laid down, first on one side and then the other making sure to get as much of his body covered in the cool fast running water.  His panting quickly stopped and for several minutes he just laid in the water…the human equivalent of lounging in the pool with a cold drink in hand!  But a bear in the fall has an insatiable hunger.  They need to eat almost constantly to put on enough weight to survive the winter and so I’m sure his hunger for food quickly overrode his temporary relief from the heat.

Creek crossing black bear

Sufficiently cooled off, he makes his way across the creek in search of more food.

Black bear, grasslands and Mt Vimy

Having made his way through the grasslands, his powerful sense of smell lead him to a cluster of berry bushes shaded by the the aspen and poplar forests. The large mountain in the background is Mt. Vimy.

Swimming black bear

About ten minutes after leaving the big male bear at the base of Mt. Vimy I decided to try my luck at another lake that I have seen black bears swimming in before. Literally within a few minutes of walking along the lake I spotted something swimming on the other side.  From a distance I initially thought it was a beaver because of the distance it was away from the shore and only its head was above the water, but as I got closer and zoomed in with my telephoto lens I realized it was a black bear swimming around the lake!  I couldn’t believe my luck!  It had been 5 years since I last saw a bear in this lake.  I started fumbling with my camera gear hoping that I could capture a few decent photos before she got out of the water. She swam for about 50 meters before she looked in my direction but if she spotted me, she did not care that I was there as she continued along until she reached a shallow point at the tip of the lake.  This photo was taken just prior to that. The dark areas in the water are the shadows cast by the huge pine trees surrounding the lake.

The wet bear head shake

Once she reached the shallow tip of the lake she splashed and rolled around getting her head and ears wet.  I guessed that she would begin to shake her head and so I quickly selected a shutter speed that I hoped would capture the motion of her head shaking and radiating water droplets while keeping her eye in focus. I have been trying for years to get photos of wildlife doing this behaviour but each time I have been a bit off with the shutter speed and aperture with the image either too blurry or too static. This time I got lucky! She turned and faced me before shaking her head back and forth to get the water off her face and ears.  For sure, one of my favourite photos to date.

Bathing black bear

Still not caring that I was nearby, she rolled around in the shallow water playing with sunken sticks like they were bath toys.  She then lifted up her back feet, laid back and surveyed the lake.  A few moments passed before she decided bath time was over. She casually waded over to the shore, walked up the bank and instead of shaking the water off she just drip dried as she disappeared into the pine forest in search of more berries to eat.  Certainly the best few hours of black bear photography that I have had to date and an experience I won’t forget.

White tailed fawn

I almost stepped on this day old fawn as I made my way along the shoreline of a small pond in Waterton.  It didn’t make a noise or move a muscle even when I was a few feet away. I quickly took a few pictures and continued up the shoreline. I wasn’t more than about 20 feet away when I heard the mother coming back to check on it. I hid in the brush but she must have caught my scent and let out a warning call to make sure the fawn stayed hidden.  When deer and elk fawns are this small they can’t keep up with the adults and so the mother’s routinely leave them for several hours to go feed before coming back to nurse them.  Therefore, if you come across a fawn in the grass don’t assume that it is orphaned. Just leave it be and the mother will return within a few hours.

Synchronized landing, Harlequin ducks

This spring I saw numerous Harlequin ducks which are one of my favourites. These birds fly over the Rocky Mountains each spring to spend a few months in Alberta surfing the fast flowing waters for food and to nest before migrating back to the coast in the fall to spend the winter in the ocean.

Grizzly bear, Hillsdale meadow, Banff

This grizzly wandered through the meadow, periodically eating dandelions and digging for tubers. I saw it about an hour later as it strolled through Johnston campground. Thankfully the campground had just opened and so it wasn’t that busy.  However, I was surprised that park staff didn’t go around and alert the campers of the bear walking through the campground so I made a quick loop and let everyone I came across know what was going on. Some just nodded and said thanks, others panic and jumped into their cars .   Luckily the bear just skirted the outside portion of the campground and showed no interest in the occupants or their food.

Exhaling fin whale

With no other boats around and a quiet, calm morning on the water we were able to slowly drift in the current beside this fin whale while she swam along.  I can still clearly remember the sound of her breaking through the water’s surface and forcibly exhaling before taking another breath and slipping back beneath the water.