Tim and I were speaking and decided a short run was in order. We only had a couple of hours so I thought we would do a little exploring. I had taken out the map and was looking at an area that I had been ignoring but wanting to get a little more familiar with. So we headed out early and were anxious for the sun to come up as we got into our country a little earlier than we thought we would. We just barely caught this pair out in the open before they "retired" for the day. This would be the largest bull moose we would see all day.
He was not allowing his little gem out of his sight for the time being, and she seemed to be very happy to follow him anywhere:)
Our next sighting was this long distance bull. We watched as he made his way to the edge of the woods. we headed over to head him off and I decided to see if he could be enticed out to the road.
Tim and I waited for a bit and watched as he came down off the hill at a pace I hadn't anticipated. I stopped him up short and managed to get this shot.
He spun around and headed back up the hill as quickly as he came down. We walked back to the truck and Tim was wondering when he might try to cross the road again. I thought it might take an hour or two. As we backed the truck up, there he went looking for that moaning cow! So we backed up and grabbed a couple more images of him in the morning with his breath creating the cloud around him.
We spotted one more bull moose but didn't get any images. So it was turning into a great morning for a specie that I had been missing through much of the summer. Just up the road from this bull number three we spied a large bird heading across the road. As we got nearer we confirmed it was a Great Grey Owl. We pulled up and stopped and found it back in the trees. I got out and got prepared to take a shot when it decided to investigate us.
It was great to review these shots and watch how the youngster first ensures that it lands on the branch. Then it starts its investigation of this white truck.
Then this juvenile got really serious in trying to discern that Clicking noise. With full head rolls and bobbing included.
Finally it decided to take an up-close look. Here is its launch.
This bird swooped across the road, over the hood of the truck, almost within touching distance of Tim. Unfortunately he was setting up his tripod and didn't get any images. The bird must have been satisfied with the investigation and decided it wouldn't be able to swallow either of us in one gulp like the voles it is used to:)
We gained a pile of knowledge of the area we covered. A lot of it we won't go back to, but the early section is now on the list of possible tracks. We found one more bull moose, but again missed out on photos. We later learned his name is Elliot. I am trying to obtain approval to be able to walk that property.
Hope you had a great Saturday morning:)
Turbo
Very cool pics!!!
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