Liron Gertsman
Vancouver,
Member since January 9, 2018
Most Viewed
Mountain Chicken
Throughout the mountains of western North America lives a rare and elusive mountain chicken: the White-tailed Ptarmigan. These birds are perfectly adapted to the harsh alpine conditions. They spend most of their time foraging on small plant matter in the tundra, insulated from the wind and cold by their warm layers of feathers. Ptarmigan are also famous for changing their feathers to match their snowy surroundings in the winter, and their rocky surroundings in the Summer. This mastery of camouflage makes them very difficult to find. It’s always a thrill to stumble across a group of ptarmigan, and they are often just a few metres away when you notice their movement among the rocks. I used a wide angle lens for this image, to capture the landscape where this remarkable bird resides year-round.
Sandhill in the Spotlight
Taking advantage of some beautiful evening light, I photographed some closeups of this preening Sandhill Crane. The plumage and eye colour of this bird has always mesmerized me! By moving my position to align this preening Sandhill Crane with a background that was in the shade, I was able to get a virtual black background effect in the image. The sun lighting the frame slightly from the side also helped to cast shadows within the bird’s plumage, creating greater depth to the image than what could be achieved with direct front light.
Great Grey
The sight of a 65,000 pound Humpback Whale leaping out of the water is nothing short of breathtaking. It was an incredible gift to watch and photograph this whale known as Mathematician leap out of the water in the Salish Sea feeding grounds.
Bear meets Bison
Northern British Columbia is so incredibly wildlife-rich. In certain areas, it’s not uncommon to see a plethora of large mammals in a single day, including bears and Wood Bison. However, this was my first time ever seeing those two species cross paths. As the “cinnamon” Black Bear made its way towards a resting Bison herd, the bison one-by-one stood up and began to walk towards the bear. The bear kept walking until the Bison were about 15 metres away, at which point it turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. Wood Bison are the largest land mammals in North America, and a big male can grow to be up to 10 feet long, 6 feet tall, and weigh over 2000 pounds. Even the calves of the year were roughly the size of the Black Bear, so this encounter was definitely not in favour of the bear. Despite their reputation, Black Bears are primarily herbivores that tend to run away from any trouble they think they can get away from.
Bear meets Bison
Northern British Columbia is so incredibly wildlife-rich. In certain areas, it’s not uncommon to see a plethora of large mammals in a single day, including bears and Wood Bison. However, this was my first time ever seeing those two species cross paths. As the “cinnamon” Black Bear made its way towards a resting Bison herd, the bison one-by-one stood up and began to walk towards the bear. The bear kept walking until the Bison were about 15 metres away, at which point it turned around and sprinted in the opposite direction. Wood Bison are the largest land mammals in North America, and a big male can grow to be up to 10 feet long, 6 feet tall, and weigh over 2000 pounds. Even the calves of the year were roughly the size of the Black Bear, so this encounter was definitely not in favour of the bear. Despite their reputation, Black Bears are primarily herbivores that tend to run away from any trouble they think they can get away from.