Pine Martin, Moose, Elk (20140122) A second outing with Grayson

I was very please when Grayson got in touch on Tuesday saying he wanted to get out on Wednesday. I prefer mid week as traffic is generally so much lighter and the weather was going to be much better as well. We agreed to meet in Banff so the driving on Grayson's part would be lightened somewhat.  Fresh snow had put him an hour behind schedule but I was ready for him when he arrived. I had spotted a herd of 200 cow and juvenile bull elk, so we headed over to improve on his evidence shots from Sunday.

Here is a shot with the a bull and several cows, the recent snow is evidenced on the backs of the animals.

On our first pass through our favoured road we saw very little, but on the return trip we found a "carnivore" which is what Grayson was looking for. Here for the first time on the blog are a couple of shots of a Pine Marten.

These beauties are usually only active at night so to find one out in the middle of the day was great. They move these pine trees with such ease it is very impressive. This little fella climbed to a spot where he was comfortable and let us get some shots. Love the claws!

We discussed where to head next and decided on one of my favourite summer routes. While Grayson was over shooting some dog sled scenes, I grabbed this Grey Jay with a small speck of snow on his beak.

There were also a group of three Pine Grosbeaks, the deep valley shadow light does not do these birds justice for their colours!

Just up the road we found this large cow moose with her young son. I believe that Grayson really enjoyed how close we were able to get to the large mammals.

Here is Junior stretching his neck to get the tender shoots a the top of the bush. You can see the bumps where his antlers will begin to grow in a couple of months.

So it had been a fabulous day with some great photo opportunities, and we weren't done yet. Grayson spotte 6 mature bull elk on the drive back to pick up his truck. These big fellas are Park elk so they allowed us to get closer than normal to them.

Here are two more of these monsters!  They are big healthy looking males that are enjoying the protections afforded by living in a park.

This a super wrap up to a great day. Once again Grayson was grinning when he left as he realize the type of experience he had all day long. Maybe I can get you your own grin, come on out to Calgary a see me.
Turbo