Images of Riding Mountain

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July 24, 2010

Bergamots and Nodding Onions ablaze

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain | Tags: , , , |
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Fire in natural systems is a renewal agent. It’s like having a glass of fresh carrot, beet, ginger and spinach juice. Nutrients are released. The grasslands of Riding Mountain National Park are being carefully restored through the use of fire as an agent of renewal. One of the best places to experience this rejuvenation right now are the Lake Audy grasslands.

Bergamots

Yesterday, as I traveled through the Lake Audy grasslands, getting ready for a family group who will be biking with me next week, I took a few photos of the burst of bergamots, nodding wild onion, and brown-eyed susans that are the more brilliantly coloured representatives that have burst out from this spring’s prescribed burn.

I feel awed when in the presence of this “nature bloom”.  It’s like being up in the Yukon where fireweed glows across hundreds of acres of burned lands. Or, perhaps in Namibia where spring rains bring out the wildflowers. While this bloom is on a smaller scale, it is nevertheless awe-inspring. Perhaps, not the least, because this beautiful shade of bergamot pink is one of my photographing colours. I have been photographing the Riding Mountain area for over 30 years. We provide photo safaris in 4-seasons for travelers to learn to use their digital “point and shoots”, or for seasoned photographers to discover unique locations to photograph nature and wildlife.

Call Celes at Earth Rhythms for a tailor made photo safari at 1.888.301.0030 or email him at celes.davar at earthrhythms.ca

Please take a moment to see the five slides below advance automatically as a slideshow, and revel in the colour pink from the fescue prairies.  

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May 3, 2010

This colour is sensual

Posted by celesdavar08 under Images of Riding Mountain, Things you should know | Tags: , , |
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There are certain colours that absolutely turn me on! Magenta (like when we have the first light of day and we have that beautiful colour for only a few minutes as reflections in a still boreal lake) and lime green (as in fresh aspen leaves) are two of my favorites.

Aspen leaves_Riding Mountain National Park

Today, I was out checking logistics for a customized GPS Adventure Quest in the townsite of Wasagaming, as well as meeting Lydia Sarna from the Clear Lake Golf Course restaurant, as we all prepare to welcome and provide unique Riding Mountain experiences for one of Rendez-vous Canada’s pre-conference outings in Manitoba. The new experience we will be delivering is called Riding Mountain Natural Wonders & Prairie Roots.

As I was heading home from my sojourns, I noticed the beautiful and subtle colours of fresh aspen leaves just beginning to emerge. I love this colour – there is something poetic and lovely about them. The smell of fresh aspen sap is heady; and, the resilience of these young leaves in the face of the snow showers that were coming down, made me realize how hardy these young leaves are. It’s a bit of a metaphor for Canadians who welcome spring – heady, slightly under-stated, hardy, and ready for a new adventure. We are looking forward to welcoming the world to  Riding Mountain.

 

April 5, 2010

Fisher investigates bird feeder

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain, Riding Mountain Experiences | Tags: , , |
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A neighbour – Venton Beatty – from north and east of Erickson, Manitoba recently sent me some photos of a fisher (a member of the weasel family) investigating his bird feeder early this spring.

Fisher climbs poplar

Fisher climbs poplar to get seed from feeder

Fishers are increasingly common in the Riding Mountain National Park area. We have heard about several recent observations including a fisher that boldly came out of the aspen forests and snatched a sleeping elderly cat from its perch on the house deck. Neither the cat nor the fisher live to tell the tale..now, that’s another story!

In communication with Venton, he said ” we noticed it around noon on Friday, March 26 – it seemed to be mainly relaxing and looking around. And spent some time eating sunflower seeds. It stayed for about 20 – 30 minutes…”

As you can tell, it is a tree climber, and is a large cousin to the pine marten. Males are 90 – 120 cm in length (35 – 47 inches). A large, small mammal. They are omnivores and generalists, as this Fisher Wikipedia post will detail.

Thanks Venton, for passing on these images.

Fisher_riding mountain national park

Fisher on top of winter bird feeder

Riding Mountain Photo Safaris: During all seasons of the year, our Earth Rhythms guides will take you out into Riding Mountain National Park for short driving and walking photo safaris, gentle bike photo safaris, and snowshoeing to look for Riding Mountain’s birds, mammals, and evidence of their activities. Do join us!

 

February 23, 2010

Tracks in the snow

Posted by celesdavar08 under Experiential Travel, Images of Riding Mountain, Inspiring Stories & Ideas, Riding Mountain Experiences, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , |
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When we follow our passions, we leave good tracks!!

We are a group of tourism professionals from Nova Scotia, on a mid-winter Best Practices Mission to Manitoba. While flying in to Winnipeg, we got our first glimpse of the Canadian prairies.

We were welcomed by Celes Davar, from Earth Rhythms, our leader and facilitator for the week. Our first surprise stop was at Constance Popps’ chocolate factory and shop. Constance Popp ChocolatierThere we got to experience Chocolatier Constance’s wonderful chocolate creations, as well as her stories and passions. It was interesting to hear her story on how she left her lucrative job to follow her passion leaving her own footprint.

Imagine wakening all your senses to the cold and sunny Manitoba morning with a fresh layer of snow. After meeting our guide and strapping on our snowshoes, we headed out into Riding Mountain National Park – the only tracks ahead of us were those of elk, rabbits (snowshoe hares) and martens. Our mission was to bring a natural restorative tea to Dale, who was studying the effects of Park Maintenance on local wildlife!  As we experienced making our trails along Moon Lake we could hear the crunch of the snow under our feet as we created new tracks in the fresh snow.

We crossed the bridge where the stream entered the lake, paused for a magical moment to close our eyes and listen to the silence.  Following the stream we soon found a Quinzhee (snow hut). As we were wondering what we were looking at, Dale’s head popped out! Riding Mountain National Park, quinzhee, quinzeeDale is studying the impact of his Park Maintenance job on the Park wildlife. As Dale enjoyed his tea, we crawled in and out of his Quinzhee, truly surprised by the room and the warmth inside! Feeling more comfortable on our snowshoes, we were able to allow ourselves to notice the warmth of the sun and the cute little bunny that ran along side of our tracks!

Blog Post by Sam de Ruyter, Stephen Workman, and Trudi Curley

Participants from the Nova Scotia Best Practices Mission to Manitoba, February 2010

 

February 9, 2010

Waking up to a world of magic crystals

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain | Tags: , , , |
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Hoarfrost sunrise backlit

This morning, I woke up to a Riding Mountain world that was magically transformed. The aspen trees were thick with hoarfrost, almost like “winter leaves”. Instead of being able to see through the forest at this time of the year, we were looking at a magical forest of snow crystals. A combination of weather conditions (In an earlier post, I explained the origin of hoarfrost).

There are several online sources that offer an explanation of Hoar Frost (or radiation frost). Hoarfrost refers to white ice crystals, loosely deposited on exposed objects or the ground, that form on cold, clear nights when heat losses (infrared radiation) into the open skies cause objects to cool to a temperature which is colder than the dewpoint of the air next to the surface. Frost is frozen water that has condensed from some of the water vapour contained in the air.

The birds at the feeder, the trees themselves and the entire landscape was transformed. I am going snowshoeing today into this forest of hoarfrost. It’s kind of like a real-world pocket of some part of Lord of The Rings.

Hoarfrost and blue sky Manitoba

 

February 9, 2010

The things we don’t see in the woods

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain | Tags: , , |
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Black bear cub in aspen tree

Black bear cub eats aspen buds in spring

I love being in the right place at the right time when it comes to photographing natural phenomena, including wildlife.  This image of a black-bear cub emerging in spring to eat aspen budes is one of my favorite images of all time that I took in Riding Mountain National Park. It illustrates how amazingly honed black bears are to their food supply. Wherever the right food source is available, they will find it. Blue sky, white aspens, black bear. A photographer’s dream.

Then today, I received a link to a whimsically produced YouTube video of a bear scratching itself on a tree.  The video image was terrific because we become witness to the ordinary behaviour of a grizzly bear ( I believe that it was a grizzly bear given that it was identified as the Northern Divide Bear Project).  If you can turn down the music and just watch the bear scratching, it is quite remarkable.

What I am realizing is that today’s technology – remote or motion sensing and digital video – enables us to see things in the woods that we would not normally be privileged to see.  This helps us to communicate the remarkable bio-diversity of life here in Manitoba and elsewhere on our planet.

 

January 31, 2010

Grosbeaks at my feeder

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain | Tags: , , , |
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Evening grosbeak

Evening grosbeakEvening grosbeak

Two of the most common birds at our winter feeder are evening grosbeaks and pine grosbeaks.  The males are particularly striking in colour.  Evening grosbeaks males are yellow, black and white.  Pine grosbeaks are red, grey and white.  My interpretation of their behaviour is that the evening grosbeaks are the brash ones, whereas the pine grosbeaks are the stately ones – gentle and firm.  When they move in, every other bird moves away.  No pushing, no shoving – they just land.

Pine grosbeak Riding Mountain National Park

Male pine grosbeak

I enjoy watching both bird species at the feeder. A cup of coffee in one hand, my binoculars at the ready, and my camera with its smooth focusing 100 – 400 image stabilizing lens in the other.  Each day has its unique moments.

 

January 7, 2010

The bird feeder – daily insights

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain, Inspiring Stories & Ideas | Tags: , |
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I’d like to take you inside a daily practice that I have.  I live on the south side of Riding Mountain National Park.  We have several bird feeders hung from aspen trees in our south-facing yard.  I grab a coffee early in the morning….

8:15 the first black-capped chickadees arrive.  Each one has a separate little perch.  They grab a seed and pound it between their little feet with a tiny bill and take the powerful package of protein inside themselves, puffing out their feathers with success and return to gather another one.

Blue jay adult fees juvenile sunflower seed

Blue jay adult fees juvenile sunflower seed

8:40 the first blue jay arrives; then three more.  They are smart.  One gathers suet droppings under the suet feeder; another uses its bill like a shovel to sweep away snow and reveal particles of seeds; another one feeds a shelled seed to a juvenile.  Smashingly colourful, strikingly loud, they arrive with flair and depart quickly.  Insight: These colourful birds must be recorded.  Grab my camera with 100 – 400mm IS lens and take photo.  Backlighting creates a halo around the adult feeding the juvenile.  Stunning image!  Reminder:  I am doing this from my living room.  Post photo to my online photo gallery and share with the world. I live in beautiful part of this province, and yet am connected to the world via the Internet.  Isn’t that called, “having your cake and eating it too?”  Access to the Internet and its communication highway has levelled the playing field.  It’s not where you live; it’s how you live life daily.

8:45 a large flock of evening grosbeaks descends at the top of the aspen trees.  They descend through the trees kind of like leaves in the fall touched with frost and flutter off the tree in a light wind.  They gather around each hanging feeder, squawking, tussling and engorging on sunflower seeds.

8:47 a white-breasted nuthatch arrives. Now, here’s a striking bird.  It’s kind of like a guy in a tux arriving for breakfast.  He stands out.  He quickly darts in, grabs a seed and flies close by to consume it.  Insight: I like rebels; I like people who advocate; I like Manitoba as a place that celebrates diversity, where we can be different and by and large we are not ostracized for being different.  We may not be well understood by others, but we are not rejected.

This feeder observation daily practice is good for me.  It connects me to life outside myself.  It connects me to winter.  These birds have all kinds of neat adaptations for not just surviving winter, but for thriving in winter.


 

December 16, 2009

Wolf and bison relax at -40C in Manitoba

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain | Tags: , , |
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Sometimes, things happen to be perfectly aligned.   Today, it was absolutely beautiful out with no hint of the surprise wildlife sighting that you often wish for – seeing a wolf in the park.  We had bright intense sunshine with azure blue skies that is so typical of a day in Manitoba between December and February.  I was out looking for wildlife with colleagues Jennifer Gustafson and Brett Smith from Riding Mountain National Park.  Parked and in conversation, Brett gestured towards an animal in the distance.

As we watched, it became obvious that this was a sighting that is all too rare in the park.  A grey or timber wolf loping along on the frozen surface of a pond, alert, looking around, stopping as nearby ravens called and then sniffing the surface of the snow for quite some time.  Finally, he moved out across the lake in front of us, as we stayed motionless in our vehicle slightly hidden behind cattails.

Tips for identifying a wolf, based on what you notice in this video:

  • The slow, loping gait
  • The long legs in proportion to the body mass
  • The overall grey colour on the back in contrast to the white legs
  • The grey face
  • The large paws – noticeable as it walks
Wolf and Bison Lake Audy Dec 09

Wolf and Bison Lake Audy Dec 09

This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback.

When it is -40C, everything is noticeably different.  From the breath that freezes into moisture on my beard, to the bright sunlight reflected off the snow surface, to the squeaky sound of snow underfoot from the bison that leaves our presence.

I think that this is one of the reasons that our Earth Rhythms team loves to provide short outdoor experiences in the winter months – they are so amazingly full of sunlight, or beautiful night skies; we hear things that are so different; you know that you are alive, and when you return to the spa or your dinner meal, you feel very comfortable and somehow, “right with the world”.

More stories and current content……

 

December 14, 2009

Riding Mountain Christmas Bird Count December 22

Posted by celesdavar08 under Birds, Mammals, Wild Nature, Images of Riding Mountain, Riding Mountain Experiences, Things you should know | Tags: , |
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One of the traditions that we have come to enjoy at this time of the year involves outdoor walking or snowshoeing and driving, while participating in a North American event to count birds.  This will be the 110th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC).  The Audubon CBC website describes this unique event in the following manner:

“From December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas take part in an adventure that has become a family tradition among generations. Families and students, birders and scientists, armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists go out on an annual mission – often before dawn. For over one hundred years, the desire to both make a difference and to experience the beauty of nature has driven dedicated people to leave the comfort of a warm house during the Holiday season.

Each of the citizen scientists who annually braves snow, wind, or rain, to take part in the Christmas Bird Count makes an enormous contribution to conservation. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations – and to help guide conservation action.

From feeder-watchers and field observers to count compilers and regional editors, everyone who takes part in the Christmas Bird Count does it for love of birds and the excitement of friendly competition — and with the knowledge that their efforts are making a difference for science and bird conservation.”

Pileated woodpecker - often seen on the Christmas Bird Count

Ken Kingdon, at Riding Mountain National Park, coordinates the count. He has sent out his annual note to traditional “counters” and invited others to participate.  If anyone is interested, please contact Ken Kingdon at Riding Mountain National Park.  The park is also providing a pre-bird count orientation session for new birders. You can contact Jennifer Gustafson, park interpreter.  She just sent out a note this morning..”

“Hello Everyone,……For all of you who are not  regular birders or want a refresher on the birds we will be seeing take part in our pre-count orientation session.  The Christmas Bird Count Orientation Session will be held at Friends of  Riding Mountain Learning Centre before we head out at 9:00 AM.  Feel free to join us.  Call me at 848-7226 for more information.  We would love to get as many  people out as possible.” – Jen

We spend most of the day walking, hiking, driving, snowshoeing and/or skiing and counting birds by hearing their calls or seeing them.

This citizen science contributes to one of the most important annual snapshots of bird populations and provides important trend information about bird populations in North America.  Ken Kingdon provides a good overview about the Christmas Bird Count in this short video after we had finished last year’s count.

The day is finished off with a great potluck supper and a collaborative addition of all counted species.  A great way to celebrate the spirit of family, a celebration of wild nature, and a reminder to cherish this planet in every action we take.

 

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