Owl Picture as Promised

Wildlife in the North

Hello all!  As it turns out, maintaining a blog during field season was a bit ambitious.  Perhaps I'll catch up on posts this fall.  I'm currently at Points North Landing and the weather is cold and rainy.  This has been a long trip, but hopefully a few more days and I'll be making my way south to my cozy little home in the city.  I've been seeing wonderful wildlife here, but unfortunately my camera has not been handy.  Yesterday I saw the chubbiest and most adorable porcupine waddling his way across the highway.  I suppose he must have been fattening up for winter as of late.  I've also been seeing wolf prints around the area and the other day saw my very first wolf!  It was a beautiful sandy colour and was running down the road towards my truck.  I didn't get very close before it ran into the trees, but it was exciting nonetheless.  Today a very large cow moose ran across the trail ahead of the side-by-side UTV in which I was a passenger.  Her sheer size was breathtaking.  I can't believe something so large can move through the closely-packed young jackpine forests around here.

I have some photos that I really want to share once I can get them off the camera and on to the computer.  Last week in the bush I met an inquisitive little owl.  He perched on a tree branch and let me get as close as I wanted for photos while he cocked his head to the side and watched me.  He was such a beautiful little guy!  Maybe from this year's hatch? I could have watched him all day, and he seemed pretty entertained by watching me.  I also enjoy the company of the whiskey jacks around here. They are exceptionally tame and have no qualms about stealing your lunch.  I ended up sharing a bit of rice krispie square with one the other day, and the next time he flew overhead he dropped a mushroom piece beside me.  Likely it was just an accident, but I like to think he was sharing :)

-JR