Canada 2019

[Kiwishooter]

Originally Posted by TinMan

Great pictures and photographic skills. What equipment are you using, if I might ask?

Hi TinMan, most of the photos were taken with a Nikon D90 and Nikon 18-200mm lens. Although for some of the photos of animals I swapped the lens for a Nikon 300 f4 with TC1.7 converter.
All the panorama photos were taken with an iPhone.

We arrived in Banff and checked in to our accommodation, here is the view from our balcony



After we were settled in we headed into town, here is a view looking up the street.
There are a lot of tourist shops, all mostly selling the same products, and a lot of "help wanted" signs



From the main street of Banff we decided to go for a ride in the Gondola

[Kiwishooter]

While there we decided to have dinner, what a fantastic view, btw I'd recommend the buffet



This panorama distorts the view a bit



Here is a good view of Banff

[Kiwishooter]

While walking around looking at the view I noticed some sheep, mum was licking a rock



For the life of me I couldn't see what this young one was eating, it spent a bit of time pawing the ground and eating



Who can tell me what these are

[RareBear]

My first guess is wildlife bridge.

[TinMan]

Thanks, Kiwi, I was just curious. I have been using Nikon equipment since roughly '81, still have two film cameras, a few lenses and a D70. Good gear sure beats using a phone camera any day.

[Bill K]

I believe bridges like this are being used in many areas for wild life to cross major highways. Bill K

[drover]

Sheep Picture -
The sheep are eating dirt. I know it sounds odd but there are minerals (nutrients) in the dirt so they paw and lick the dirt for the mineral content.


Bridge Picture -
Those are wildlife bridges, they put those in 30 or so years ago and the animals quickly adapted, they decreased the number of auto/wildlife accidents greatly.

drover

[Daryl]

What a set of pictures. WOW - it was indeed a pleasure having you both visit, if only for such a short time.
How did the shoot go?

[georgeld]

Daryl:

I told you these were some mighty fine folks years ago
after they spent a day around here. Glad you agree.

Hi guys!! Now Helen's playing blonde?? Cute one too!

[Kiwishooter]

Well life took over and some other priorities took precedence over this thread and other things, this is the first weekend I've had at home in over a month.

Some maybe aware that the NZ government is trying to change the firearms laws in New Zealand, and I along with many others do not approve of the changes as it penalises law abiding New Zealand citizens and doesn't affect the criminals who cause 97% of gun crime in New Zealand, well because of that I've been writing submissions and encouraging others to do likewise. Very disappointed in some "Hunters" who say there's nothing in the changes that say I can't go hunting and use that as an excuse to do nothing, my answer well do you still want to go hunting when you haven't got any firearms?...…….had my rant now back to happier thoughts.

Daryl, it was a pleasure to meet you and just a pity we couldn't have spent more time together. I would have loved to try that set trigger out on a target

George Helen is always cute and I was so lucky to snag her, she also says "Hi"

Drover that is interesting and enlightening information about the sheep.

Yes the bridges are Wildlife bridges, while Helen and I thought they reminded us of "Hobbiton" we did figure out what they were for. It would have been quite a project to put up the animal fences and create the wildlife bridges, but I imagine it would've cut down on accidents and insurance claims.
I've wondered since we saw the animal fences if the Insurance companies contributed toward the cost.

Well lets carry on the tour of Canada, the evening we arrived in Banff we booked a tour to take us out to Lake Louise and some other places, but we had a couple of days to fill in before we did that so first up we took a drive down to Radium Hot Springs through Kootenay National Park.
I had read that it was a good place to see animals, and since I was still looking for a Moose away we went.
The scenery was fantastic, even though it was a bit of a dreary day with the odd shower and bit of mist thrown in.
After a few stops to look at the scenery and for the road works we ended up a Radium Hot springs without seeing any wildlife. After a look around Radium we headed back to Banff only to find some mountain goats had stopped some traffic



It's amazing how quick these animals are on loose steep terrain



On the way back to Banff we stopped at a scenic outlook and took several photos of the scene in front of us



Gorgeous view isn't it??