This morning I brought Nigel with me to explore the wilder side of Colonel Sam Smith Park. Our goal today was to find the snowy owl that apparently likes to hang out here. As we wandered into the harbour area we came across this mute swan out for its morning swim.
Morning Swim
In the distance we could see that a white blob was chilling on one of the posts at the end of a dock. The only way to get the best shot was to continue our hike past the marina and up to the point. From there we still had to use our long lenses (I had to borrow Nigel’s Canon with 100-400mm lens because I ended up bringing my short 18-200mm lens).
Nap Time
But I got the shot; albeit the darn thing was sleeping and couldn’t give one iota of interest in our direction. Next time I’ll be better prepared and hopefully we’ll catch him/her in a slightly more active state. As I sat on the rocky shoreline out of the corner of my eye I saw something brown ducking behind some rocks.
Mink
This poor little mink couldn’t figure out if it was safe enough to get past me. When he finally got the courage someone else further down the shoreline stopped his progress and he ran right back in front of me and off to his little hide-hole. It ended up being quite the active day for wildlife at the park.
