I’m a spy, an outsider
Armed with telephoto capability
Uninvited I stare
Insulated, from my car

A nine dollar ferry crossing- cash only
Brings me to you
Your all-you-can-eat buffet
And a taste of your wildness

Your golden eyes enchant

Haunt. Stare. Hunt.
Like ghosts you appear out of nowhere
When the sun sinks low in the sky

In the last 90 minutes of daylight
Suddenly your round white forms are everywhere
I lose count
And try not to slide off the road and into the water

Just for now you’re resting here
On this tiny island in the ocean-lake
By the dozens- look at you all!
How can this be?

How do you know to come here
After flying over parking lots, shopping malls, forests
Who whispers of this rural feast
Dinner squeaking and rustling under the grass

How do you know
Do you hear? Do you smell?
Is it passed down from your parents
Or told through screams and flight

You’re on your way home to a place
No human has ever seen
Mysterious, barren, cold
Ellesmere, Ungava, the eternal summer sun

So today I’ll sit with you
Slow my breath
Maybe you’ll habituate to my presence
In other words, forget about me

Maybe I can watch you in your world
For a few moments
Capture it without your permission
And keep it

Hold your image
Captive
In a box of wires and light
Keep you with me forever

The post Wild things appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Where did these mitts and I travel this month and what did we find?

Well, we spent a lot of time down by the north shore of Lake Ontario.   The ice formations there are spectacular!

Paper thin leaves of ice form on calm days.   Over time the ice piles up and the wind and waves build surreal sculptures.

Miraculously, this chilling landscape is home to some very resilient wildlife.

Snow buntings fly overhead in large flocks, chittering softly.   I managed to catch this one by itself for a little photo shoot.

Mute swans feed at the ice edges all winter long.   When it gets really cold, they tuck into a little ball and snuggle into their downy feathers.

I’ve had a couple of encounters with this young female Snowy Owl out on Gull Island.   She is perfectly at home floating around on the chunks of ice on the lake, watching the ducks float by.

Here she is surveying the breakfast menu at Presqu’ile Park.

Foxes can be seen running out on the ice searching for food.   This beauty was seen on Amherst Island, after it came to shore.

I also found this very hungry turkey feeding on sumach berries by the lakeshore.

I spent quite a few afternoons this January chasing sunsets.   I think winter skies are the moodiest and most fascinating skies we get all year.

I have a little glass ball (best $20 I have ever spent) that I have been playing around with to capture the sunsets in a different way.   If you look in the ball upside down, you will see the whole scene captured inside.  A little bit of fun with refraction.

Different day, different sunset.   Softer, cooler colours.   And speaking of cooler- I know my hands would have frozen without my snowy owl mittens this month.

Goodbye January!

Can’t wait to see what miracles February will bring.   Thanks for the mittens, Maria.

The post January Adventures With My Snowy Owl Mittens appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Here’s the ferry.   You can see my little Honda Civic on the left side.   The Frontenac 2 is the only ferry I know where you drive in forward, and have to back up and swing around to drive off.

I had heard reports of numerous Short Eared Owls over on Amherst Island.  As I began to drive the island roads, I looked for any movements or shapes up in trees.   There were 2 Wild Turkeys on the road, 2 Snowy Owls very far away sitting on hydro poles above sheep farms, and this hawk sitting in a tree with some other kind of birds dive bombing it.   I got out of the car, cold forgotten, and watched these birds, hoping they were “shorties.”  I could hear them calling to each other as well.  Here’s what it sounded like.(barking sounds)

I heard a call over to my right, and all of a sudden a shortie flew right over the road past where I was standing, with prey in its talons.

A quick look around with its piercing yellow eyes, and it flew across to eat in a big tree.

Mealtime.   As I was watching this spectacle, a couple of guys came along who told me that they had seen a short eared owl on the north side of the island.   I left this one to have its meal, and carried on.

As I was driving I saw this one flying around a field and then landing on a post.

As fluffed up as it was, this owl did not seem to mind the cold at all.   Did you know that Short Eared Owls live on every continent except Antarctica?   They must be very adaptable!

I have heard a lot about how these owls fly, but had never had a chance to watch until now.    Their small bodies and long wings make them buoyant and beautiful as they fly.

Here’s one of the last views I had of the owl, just as the sun was setting.    And just for a reality check…

Here’s where I fell into the ditch!  The snow was pretty deep.   Nice shot.

On my way back out to the ferry Snowy Owls started popping up where I had never seen them before.   As the sun goes down, these white ghostly owls come out to hunt.    Overall I believe I saw 6 Snowy Owls and 6 Short Eared Owls on my little safari to Amherst Island.

I made it to the 5:00 pm ferry, just as most of the light was going out of the sky.

As I looked back on Amherst Island I could see the shapes of silos, surrounded by the cranes they are using to build a new ferry dock facility.    A couple of dozen wind turbines are being constructed on Amherst over the next few years, and there is construction all over the island.  But that’s another story.

Amherst Island is only a 60 minute drive and a 20 minute boat cruise away from my house.   I sometimes wonder why I don’t go there more often.   It’s amazing.

The post Polar Vortex Car Safari to Amherst Island appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Spectacular!

I got down to Presqu’ile Park as the sun was rising and headed down the beach.   The day was calm and warm, so I knew the crossing to Gull Island would not be too crazy.

The water between Owen Point and Gull Island was still up to my knees, but with little wave action the crossing in chest waders was easy.

Halfway across the water I could see a lone Snowy Owl perched on a post, lit up by the rising sun.   That beautiful bird was only a hint of things to come.

As I walked through the water and drew closer to the island, I noticed two owls flying around on the near shore.   The younger one on the left moved towards the one on the right and made all kinds of bobbing and beak opening movements.

The other owl really wanted little to do with the young one, and flew to a perch nearby.

I really think they look like angels when they are landing.

As I finally stepped onto land on the island, I could see 6 Snowy Owls right from where I was standing.   Some were hidden, like this one who was hunkered down in an old Cormorant’s nest.

Some were right out in the open, bathing in the morning sun.   What a beautiful sight.

Speaking of bathing, I got to see two different owls taking baths in the calm waters of the lake.   The one above was surrounded by Snow Buntings as it flew and landed in the water.

I have never seen this behaviour before!   I watched fascinated as the owl dipped and bathed, perched in the shallow water on a small rock.

Every once in a while it would look around, the continue with its business.   I sat on the shore, as still as I could despite my excitement.

Later that same owl flew up onto one of the duck blinds on the island and began to try to regurgitate a pellet.   It looks like it is yelling or singing, but what it’s really doing is trying to make room for the big pellet to come out.   Since owls eat their prey whole, they have to get rid of the bones and fur and other hard parts of what they are eating in the form of a tightly packed pellet.   Snowy owl pellets I have found are around 10 cm long and 2 cm wide.

Not out yet!

Can you see two owls in this tree?

I was amazed how many of the owls were hanging out together in pairs.   In the past I have almost always seen them by themselves.

It was an absolutely beautiful morning, and the white owls against the blue sky and blue lake looked stunning.

This one flew off to have a bath in the lake.   It came straight up from the shore and begin to shake and preen its wet feathers.

What a privilege to see these beautiful birds from the arctic.  This must have been one of my all time best mornings photographing wildlife.

I don’t know if these snowies will all stick around at Presqu’ile for the winter, but if they do there are plenty of voles and waterfowl for them to feast on.    Here’s hoping!

The post Spectacular Snowy Owl Sunday appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

As I arrived on the beach, stylishly outfitted with ice cleats and 2 pairs of pants, wrapped up from head to toe, I was immediately rewarded with spectacular sunrise light on the ice formations that are starting to form at the shore.

Two mute swans quietly fed in the shallow water.   Swans live just off the ice edge each winter, and I wonder how they can manage such a harsh existence and still look so calm and graceful.

At this point the ice volcanoes that Presqu’ile are famous for are just beginning to form.   It will take successive days of wind and waves to gradually build them up to the spectacular heights they have achieved in previous years.

Looking south from Owen Point, Gull Island lies across an area of rough ice, frozen absolutely solid and pretty easy to cross with the ice cleats.   Often this time of year one can see thick lake effect clouds hanging to the south as well even though it remains sunny in Brighton.

Here’s what some of the ice formations looked like on my crossing to Gull Island.

Same rock, different light.   There was steam coming off the water as it was still much warmer than the air.

Small flocks of waterfowl feed in the shallow waters around the island and fly away instantly when I approach.  Lots of waterfowl means good eating for Snowy Owls.   And of course you know that is why I was really walking out there in the first place.

As I rounded the bend on the island there was the unmistakeable form of a snowy owl, sitting up on a wooden frame of an old duck blind.   This is the first Snowy Owl I have seen this winter.   This year has not been a big year for snowies coming south from the arctic, but some usually do.  I just had to wait a little bit longer than usual this winter.

What a beauty!  This is a young one, based on all the dark barring.   This photo is cropped heavily, as I gave the owl lots of space as not to disturb it.   When I am photographing owls I usually sit down on the ground a distance away from them and stay as still as possible.   Then I get to watch them behave naturally.   This owl barely even looked my way, even when the log I was sitting on started to slip down the little hill I was sitting on, causing me to tumble towards the shore.

Eventually the owl preened its feet a bit, pooped, and then flew off to spend some time on the ice.   Once the lake freezes over more it will be increasingly hard to spot the owls.

Can you believe it, just sitting out on the ice like that?   Well that is where I left this beauty, and I was back in my car by 9:00 AM.   Great start to the morning.

Happy winter!

Thanks for visiting.

The post Good Morning Gull Island appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Family farm

Saskatchewan is bursting with scenes like this.   Huge fields of crops, cattle, barns, hay bales, and fenceposts.

horned cow on a hill

But Saskatchewan has many scenes, including ones you may not expect.

Castle Butte

In the far south lies some really surprising geography, plants and animals.

cacti

Like cacti!  I have no idea how the cacti survive the harsh Saskatchewan winters, but it was growing in many areas we visited.

Western Kingbirds

To my great delight, the ubiquitous fenceposts and hay bales were great perches for birds.

Western Meadowlark on a fencepost

I got to see the western versions of Kingbirds and Meadowlarks.

Squawking hawk

And I have never seen more hawks in my life, except maybe on Amherst Island in the winter.

Coyote pup

We got a really good look at a juvenile coyote just as the sun was setting.   The car acts as a blind, so rolling down the window and quietly putting the camera out works- sometimes.

Burrowing owl

We were in Burrowing Owl territory but they are few and far between in the wild.  We did get a good look at them at a conservation centre in Moose Jaw.   Like so many other animals, habitat destruction and pesticides have been the cause of their decline.

Zach and me

Perhaps the most astonishing animal I saw in Saskatchewan was Zach, my mother in law’s cat.   I just had to share a photo of this 26 pound sweetie with you!

Hope you enjoyed this little side trip to Saskatchewan!   We’ll be back in Ontario next post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Leslie

The post Scenes from Saskatchewan appeared first on Leslie Abram Photography.

Lake Superior.   Now I get it.  For years people have been telling me how gorgeous it is and how much I would love it there.  I listened, but the 12 hour drive always kept me away. Now that I have been there, I understand.

Superior.  This lake is serious stuff.  It’s huge!  Cold. Gorgeous.  Eternally moody.

So, Lake Superior, I finally made your acquaintance.  Walter, Brendon, and I arrived at Rock Island Lodge near Wawa, Ontario in early June.  The lodge is located on a point of land at the mouth of the Michipicoten River, and specializes in paddle sports through Naturally Superior Adventures. The staff, food, and accommodations are superb.   If you ever get a chance, go there!

From June 5 – 9 Brendon organized a paddling and yoga retreat based out of the lodge.

Despite the cold, rainy weather, we had a blast with the 11 wonderful people who came out for this retreat.   We explored the Michipicoten River by kayak,. This area is bursting with history- First Nations, Voyageurs, fur trading posts.    Our guide even found a small piece of blue and white pottery embedded in the constantly shifting bank of the river from the time of the fur trading posts.

Our next big adventure on the water was a trip in a massive 660 pound Voyageur-style canoe to a remote beach for a camping overnight.

The wind was up and the water was pretty choppy, but despite my initial trepidation I found that the canoe was a tank.  There was no stopping us.

With everyone working we made it to the campsite after a couple of hours of hard paddling into the wind.   A bit damp (or soaked, depending on where we were sitting) but safe and sound.

This campsite on the beach was totally worth the effort!

In one direction we had a sheltered sunny beach surrounded by rock outcrops and hidden crevasses to use for a warming rest.

Looking back the other way, there was an absolutely gushing waterfall.   I have never seen such a volume of water coming over a falls.

After a long paddle, yoga on the beach felt great!

Our little campsite was memorable in so many ways, such as how beautiful little plants were growing out of rocks in the harshest conditions.

Even more memorable was when two of the people on our trip came back from an after dinner walk to join us at the campfire and announced they had just gotten engaged!   How cool is that?

Our paddle back to the lodge was much calmer, and we were able to check out some really beautiful groups of islands.

We also visited a beach perfectly suited for rock hunting.

Every rock on the beaches of Lake Superior is beautiful and unique.   I wish I could have taken them all home with me.

Some folks liked to dig right in to feel the rocks with their feet.   I was too chilly to do that, but definitely appreciated the blue nail polish on these toes!

Arriving back at the lodge we had to do quite the team effort with our paddling to get us through the current of the Michipicoten River, which was trying its best to push us back out into the lake!  But we made it, and were treated to a delicious dinner and lots of laughs as we enjoyed each others company on our last night at the lake.

The great thing about being so far north is that the sunsets don’t start until late, and they last forever.   So, before bed many of us headed down to the water for a walk and to watch the sky change.

Pleased to meet you, Lake Superior.   I’ll be back.

Website for Rock Island Lodge here

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