In the last few months I've discovered that one of the joys of wildlife photography is that you never know what you're going to see when you leave the house. Even if it is the same path you've walked a dozen times, there's always that chance for a great photo, and sometimes, there are amazing animals right beside you, if only you take the time to look a little closer.
This lesson became apparent the other week while out for a short walk near the reservoir outside of town. Only 5 minutes from the truck, I rounded a corner and across the small valley saw a patch of brown amongst the grass. It was only the vibrance of the brown which stopped me from continuing on. All of a sudden the brown patch moved and I realized that it was a bear I had been looking at. Moments later two little cubs rushed out beside their mother and now I had the pleasure of photographing all three as they wandered the grassy field.
I was lucky enough to get 10-15 minutes with the bears before they trundled off behind a copse of trees. Not wanting to lose any more photo opportunities should they re-appear, I waited near the reservoir and my attention was drawn to a few tiny swallows performing acrobatics over the water. Watching them for a few minutes I noticed that one had landed on a small pole. If nothing else, I knew I'd be able to get a nice out of focus background so I started creeping my way closer, taking pictures as I went. I became so focused on this bird, and the beautiful colours on its back that I completely missed that opportunity with the bears; by the time I looked up they had already left the trees.
This bird which captured my attention, is a Violet-green Swallow. Aside from the magnificent colours, this little 4-5 inch tall bird migrates annually from Mexico, north for breeding. That's over 2600km from the northern edge of its year-round habitat in Mexico to the Kootenays, and it does that twice per year! It's something you'd hear on a podcast or watch on a documentary narrated by David Attenborough.
So this little walk after work one day turned into a nice contrast which exhibited why I love getting out with the camera. There was the obvious win in seeing a bear and two cubs, but the entire time I was clicking away these little swallows were flying all around me, over 2,500km from home. I was just lucky enough to stop and look.
Wow! How cool! Great photos!