We had several wildlife highlights during 2017. Many were close to home, including the opening shot of coyote with a black-tailed prairie dog in Grasslands National Park. Farther afield, a definite highlight was travelling to Mexico to see the phenomenal Monarch butterfly migration. It truly is a spectacular place and surprisingly easy and economical to visit. In case you’re interested in seeing this awesome natural spectacle, we did a posting on how to arrange a visit.
Monarch magic. El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Reserve, near Angangueo, MexicoOrange speckled sky. El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Reserve, near Angangueo, MexicoWhen the weather warms up around noon, the butterflies take to the sky in the thousands. El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Reserve, near Angangueo, Mexico.The trees droop with the weight of butterflies. Since butterflies don’t weigh a lot, you can imagine how many there in order to sag tree branches. El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Reserve, near Angangueo, MexicoPronghorn are a common sight in southern Saskatchewan, but it’s special to find several together.These mule deer seemed to pose for us on top of the hill in Grasslands National Park.An impressive mule deer buck, Grasslands National Park, SaskatchewanThis tiny fawn looks as if it was just recently born, Meadow Lake Provincial Park, Saskatchewan.Are you looking at me? Bison in Grasslands National Park, SaskatchewanRed-tailed hawk nest on our farm in the Thickwood Hills, Saskatchewan. It looked as if these youngsters were close to leaving the nest.The red-tailed hawk adult didn’t seem too pleased that we were near their bush.These two moose were wandering across cropland just south of our farmOn a trip to Lake Athabasca this summer, we camped on a small island on the north shore, with this tree just behind our tent. The eagle must have considered this to be its personal tree, since it would roost here, even when we were close by.Swainson’s Hawks are plentiful in the region.One of our last wildlife images of 2017 – a snowy owl near Sovereign, Saskatchewan.
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