What caught my eye - September 2021

A fairly active month with local visits or day trips.

(Maybe a few more video clips this month)

Another couple of visits to Parc Omega provided several examples of animal behaviour.

The elk were starting their annual rut with several bulls already having rounded up their harems and were bellowing for all to hear. Most of the trumpeting was coming from within the woods out of sight. There was one bull on the road keeping an eye on his harem; any female that moved out of line, was immediately ushered back into the group.

The bellowing bull with his harem standing/sitting in the background:

Short video - some bellowing in the background, cud "action", and then on-screen bellowing.

The alpha female timber wolf suffered a loss of status this spring and is now the omega female. She went from top rung to bottom of the pack as another wolf asserted her dominance.

I don't think I've seen a more forlorn looking wolf as she always holds back from the pack, making sure she offends none.

Obviouosly I don't know the status within the pack of the arctic wolves, but the one on the right/top was certainly showing dominance over the other one.

It was warm, but not as hot as it was during a visit to the Parc last month. One of the cinnamon bears seemed to be having a great time in the water. Playing under a log, then climbed out only to run back in and splash about.

Perhaps not a behaviour, but certainly something to keep in mind when feeding carrots to the juvenile elks, the deer, and most importantly the smaller fallow deer: video clip of the difficulty a young elk was having with a larger carrot.

A few short miscellaneous video clips from Parc Omega

The Sarsaparilla Trail had a nice collection of birds. The red-breasted nuthatches really caught my eye.

Blue jay

Red-breasted nuthatch

Black-capped chickadee

Male cardinal, coming out of moult, and junior

Chipmunk and blue jay cleaning up the left overs

This chickadee seemed to have a damaged foot; he needed his wings to keep his balance.

Can't let a month go by without at least one visit to Mud Lake...

merganser

egret

The wood ducks have finished their moult and looking bright

This year's males wood ducks

juvenile male wood duck

Downy woodpecker looking for a handout

Yellow-rumped warbler

Checking Gwen's camera settings (and looking for a handout)

Peter Cottontail

Chippie filling his cheeks

A fleeting glimpse of a hawk tail flashing by at knee height 10 feet ahead on the trail sure caught my eye. It landed in the bush having caught a mouse, and wanted some privacy to enjoy lunch.

A little interaction between the birds and a squirrel.

My eye (and shutter) was really noticing the birds coming into Gwen's hand for seeds.

Downy woodpecker

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-breasted nuthatch

We went for a walk in, a new to us, Sheila McKee Park. We obviously hit the timing just right.
The cedar trees were showing an "inner glow". The multi-trunked trees and the sun shining through the canopy provided an eerie scene.