Jamie Bussey
Calgary, CA
Member since December 29, 2019
Most Viewed
Weathering the Storm
Despite the miserable weather, this Great Gray owl had a lot of success hunting voles in the snow. (As evidenced by the bit of blood on its white "bowtie" near its beak). It was snowing so hard that autofocus wasn't very useful and required manual adjustment to get past all the blowing snowflakes.
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
Despite forgetting snowshoes that day, I was determined to spend all my energy looking for Ptarmigan. I lucked out early enough, however it was sheltered under a tree to protect itself from the wind. After waiting over an hour it got up to feed on some willow branches and wander between trees to find new shelter. I was fortunate that the Ptarmigan walked towards me and into the shadow of a spruce tree to provide just enough shade to separate it from the bright white background.
Happy as a Clam
This subadult Grizzly was successful in digging up clam after clam for lunch. In between bites it paused briefly to look towards our zodiac before returning to its lunch.
Pure Joy
I love hanging out with all animals and observing their behaviours. I was watching a Hoary Marmot eat some grass while a nearby Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel ran around picking eating dandelions. As the two of them became closer the squirrel ran up and perched on the rocks to keep an eye on the marmot. As it sat there enjoying its dandelion another squirrel called from a nearby tree and this squirrel in mid-chew replied back. Absolute luck that I clicked the shutter the exact moment it called out! I was so happy with it up on the rock giving a clear background, but this incredibly unique facial expression was the ultimate icing on the cake for me!
Hang On!
A cold windy day in Kananaskis had not turned up any animals in the few hours I had been driving. As the wind calmed a Northern Hawk Owl was stretching its wings in a sheltered section at the edge of a meadow. A few minutes later it flew to a nearby spruce tree and began hunting in the blowing snow. Unfortunately for the light owl, any time it dove off the tree the crushing winds blew it far from its intended target and it would swoop back and perch to try again. It flew to another tree to try its luck from a different angle, however the winds increased and the poor owl could do nothing except hang on as the the tree top swayed several feet in either direction with the gusting wind. Exhausted and defeated it flew with the wind into the forest. This photo was taken from the 2nd tree in between gusts as the owl looked around while gripping the tree top.