Valentines Day In the Wild

I don't believe that the human race has the exclusive rights to the euphoric feelings of love. I have seen many examples of true love, suggestive love, companionship and the true devotion that a mother has for her young in the wild too.

Here are two shots of a pair of grizzly bear mates. I think that this is very recognizable body language, even between species about what is going on here. Pretty Boy is enamoured by Lenore, he is in love. He is trying to explain how much he loves her by whispering in her ear, that loving gaze and his gentle nip and tug. Lenore is playing coy, she needs a bit more convincing and sweet talk. She is not about to be swept off her feet by just any good looking rogue.

All of us have seen the love and devotion that our pets or farm animals show for their babies. I have seen it often in the wilderness using bears, birds and many other animals as examples. Mothers will give their lives to protect their babies. This young cub was sleeping in the grass nearby while his mom was grazing nearby. When Mom was finally full, she found a nice comfortable rock to spread out over for her siesta. It only took less than a minute before the cub got up and sleepily, flopped down over Mom's foot. The reassuring comfort of that big pillow quickly lulled the cub back to sleep.


I see very strong love and devotion for the family life in birds too. Many birds such as eagles mate for life. Here we see how dependant the baby tree swallows are for their parents. They would not survive long without the hard work of Mom and Dad working from can see to can't see catching insects to feed their hungry little charges. It must seem a daunting chore to keep these bottomless maws filled.

When we get to see the giants of the deep, Orca whales, they are often travelling in tight family groups called pods. They are most often composed of a few females, calves and a large male. The male is not the leader of the pod, they are matriarchal, led by a female. It is definitely a sight to see when they are demonstrating their power, exuberance for life and maybe even showing off for a potential mate.

Love and companionship requires hard work and commitment for wildlife as well as for humans. The wild animals provide all of us great examples of what it takes to thrive in the wilderness, for the benefit and survival of each of their species.

http://www.seasonsofthegrizzly.com/

Snowy Owl Irruption

It had been a dark and foggy, early morning ferry ride to Tsawwassen where we hoped to find and photograph a snowy owl. From the ferry terminal, it was a short drive to where numerous other vehicles had parked and a short walk before we spotted our first owl, sitting on a driftwood log. It was respectfully surrounded by scores of people who used this dry day to wander down for a rare sighting of our traditionally, northern residents. The news casts have been talking about this irruptive event that happens about every 5 or 6 years. The Snowy Owls, generally younger ones, migrate southwards because their traditional northern food source, the lemmings, have died off. The birds fly south as far as the central USA looking for small mammals or ducks which they hunt, both day and at night time. How do the young birds find their way when they have never made this journey before? Why do they choose certain spots over others? In our case, why do they choose just this section of Boundary Bay instead of half a mile away? I guess we saw at least 15 different owls off the end of 72 street. There were probably more hidden amongst the driftwood, concealed by the fog.

The Boundary Bay Regional Park is located on the Pacific coastal flyway migration route for millions of birds. It is a very productive mix of shoreline, tidal marshes, inter-tidal mud flats, upland and woodland areas where hungry migratory birds can stop over to refuel and rest before continuing their migrations, both northward and south. For bird watchers and nature lovers, it is a wilderness oasis of of peace, nestled on the edge of a human population of over 2 million people. Here is a quiet place where you can walk, run, bike, wheel chair or push baby strollers along well groomed dykes, watching natures miracles while getting your own nature fix and exercise. Keep your dogs on a leash please.

I would say there were several hundred people wandering along the dyke looking at the owls, harriers and eagles. There were many thousands of dollars worth of camera gear deployed in the hopes of getting a great shot of this rare visitor. I did not wander out to the mud flats but could see it crawling with thousands of shore birds.

Today, it was all about the owls. The snowy owl is a large, white bird, standing about 24 inches tall, with sleepy, yellow eyes. They have a variable amount of dark spots and barring, depending upon sex and age. Young owls are heavily barred and adult females are more barred than the almost pure white color of the adult male. They eat mainly small rodents, hares, birds and carrion. They will lay 3 or 4, up to 10 eggs in a shallow, moss, feather lined depression on the tundra. They take about 35 days to hatch and another 3 to 4 weeks to fledge.

I enjoyed the day, in the company of the snowy owl. There is a quiet, regal look about the snowy owl, a look of wisdom, confidence and strength, beyond their young years. Safe journey home.

www.seasonsofthegrizzly.com