During our in Calgary, I would quite often drop Kerri off at work and just drive out into the prairies animal spotting. Today was probably my last chance to do exactly that. I slid off the Trans-Canada out past Cochrane with the hope that I might catch a couple of photos of a big moose or something. No moose but plenty of deer in full antler and no shortage of raptors.
Above are a couple of white tailed deer. The white tails are very skittish, so the best way to take a photo is to creep up on them and take the shot as quickly as possible before they bolt. I'm guessing they get harassed by predators and particularly hunters quite a bit.
You can't go too far out in the farmland around Calgary without seeing mule deer. I found this doe and a buck (below) just going about their business in a field. After a summer of plenty, the deer were all in great condition.
Oddly enough, after 18 months in Canada, this was the first time I'd seen a mule deer in full antler. He's not the biggest one I saw today, but the others were being difficult about being photographed.
Hawks (and harriers) seem to be the dominant type of raptor on the prairies and I rarely saw anything else. The big eagles we saw were predominantly close to the cost and the smaller falcons and kites that we see lots of in Australia, seem to be non existent. So I thought.
I was quietly wrapped to spot a small falcon this morning. I would guess that this little guy wouldn't be any bigger than a small parrot (about budgie size to those Aussie readers).
I thought I'd seen most of the resident hawks from around Calgary, but yet again, a pleasant surprise. Having done some research, I think it's a Swainson's Hawk with winter plumage, but not being much of an expert, I can't confirm that. I'm going to have to go hunting (with the lens) the smaller raptors back in Australia. There are some big eagles out west if you get lucky.
