August 2009 - Page 2 of 2 - Sean Phillips Photography

Bighorn Sheep at Minnewanka Loop

My family and I recently camped in Banff national park at the Two-Jack main campsite. Banff is an amazingly beautiful place and we are very lucky to have it so close to us. We really try to take advantage of that as often as we can, but it never feels like we get there enough. Two-Jack Lake is our preferred campsite, but unfortunately everyone else prefers it too. Two-Jack Main is much larger and we ended up staying there instead. Although it does not have a lakefront view, it has plenty of campsites and it is a very nice place to stay.

Two-Jack Main is in the middle of the Minnewanka loop and it provides easy access to the town of Banff, Johnson Lake, Lake Minnewanka, and of course Two-Jack Lake. The loop is pretty much a sure-fire location to find Bighorn Sheep; I’ve only driven the loop (or hiked at Lake Minnewanka) once without seeing them, and they usually show up in large groups of a dozen or more.

After finishing a short hike around Johnson Lake without seeing any birds or animals (there were far too many people enjoying the lake), we decided to take the longer drive around around the loop on our way back to the campsite. It was an amazing blue-sky day and the wildflowers were in full bloom. We saw several groups of sheep and a few of them even stopped to pose for us!

Invasive Beauty

Canada Thistle is an invasive weed that spreads rapidly in open grassland and farm fields. It is considered to be a serious pest and it must be managed carefully to prevent major infestations. It is also very beautiful when it flowers, especially in the glowing morning light. I found these beauties on the side of a grain field and they were just asking to have their portrait made. The morning light was amazing and the sparkling dew on the stalks of the thistle and the surrounding grasses made this a powerful sight to see.

Prairie Fence at Sunrise

I drive the prairie roads almost every day and I’m always searching for something new and interesting to make images of. Although I find the prairies extremely beautiful, I have to admit that sometimes it all starts to look the same. Sometimes I really have to look really hard to find something different than all the images I’ve made before. Sometimes that can be extremely difficult. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

But there are other times when the picture just jumps out of the scene and there’s no question about what the final image is going to look like. When I saw the deep golden glow of the sunrise light up the farmland in front of me, I knew that if I just turned toward the sun I would see something magical. And it was.

Bald Eagle at Vermillion Lake

During a recent family camping trip in Banff we rented a canoe and paddled into the first Vermillion lake. It was one of those beautiful blue sky days that we haven’t seen nearly enough of this summer. We were lucky to see a large adult Bald Eagle perched in a tree near the edge of the lake. We were able to paddle all along the shore past the tree and then loop back through a channel to get to the sunny side. The eagle calmly watched us the entire time.

I spotted another Eagle high up in a tree on the far side of the lake so we gradually made our way across to get a better look. We came upon a Belted Kingfisher perched on a log. We didn’t get very close before it launched… We also saw a deer resting under a large evergreen tree, but it was mostly obscured by the long grasses surrounding the lake.

I’m always amazed by how many more birds and animals you can get close to while in a canoe than while hiking. I’m going to have to get one of my own!

Richardsons Ground Squirrel at Pearce Estate Park

There are gophers everywhere and I love to watch them. In fact I could spend all day making images of them. I’ve talked about that a few times on this site before, so I won’t bore you with the details; I’ll just share the images and hope that you like them as much as I do!