Your Wildlife Sightings!

Been living in Banff Canada for the last two years, see elk and deer daily, Bears are common in the summer, think Ive seen 11 this summer and a few coyotes, main sighting for me this summer has been a lynx which just ran across the road in front of us on the highway. About 2 weeks ago two wolfs brought down a deer just of the main street which was crazy. Seen bison here as well. Wolfs, cougars, caribou, mountain goats and moose are all around but never seen any of them. Lots of little critters as well, marmots, pine martins, gophers, pika, chipmunks ect see them quite often, oh and lots of mountain sheep.

 

That must be amazing mate, although i definitely would not like to see a bear in the wild, especially a grizzly.I wouldnt ever go out in woods or wilderness in a place like that unless i had a high powered rifle! Not to hunt, but purely for protection.

Why did you move there? Is it not incredibly cold in winter?

 

Yeah best thing I ever did, never appreciated nature as much as I do now. Bears are fine, I can understand a fear of grizzlys but black bears you rarely hear of attacking somebody in regards to the high amount encounters with humans. If they hear you coming they just ignore you, more if you sneak up on them and startle them they will be more aggressive. If your walking in those areas you'll be carrying bear spray and most likely have bear bells on you, if you take the proper precautions they are fine, just don't get to close as you never know though. Parks Canada are on top of aggressive bears with trail closures and restrictions. I'm more worried about cougars if I see one a them its more than likely been stalking me for a while.

Yeah it can get to -40 here, Dec to late Feb will rarely be above -15, but you adapt to it, temperature change through the year can be from -40 to over 30. Moved mostly for snowboarding but I just couldn't live in Scotland anymore while its part of the UK, I feel its state controlled and my freedoms where slowly being stripped, so I wanted out.

 

PortBhoy87 you are very lucky where you live,the quality of Wildlife you see is simply superb! What are the best species of birds you have come across?

 

Saw 5 geese along the promenade in Newcastle (Northern Ireland)

 

Im not an avid bird watcher, probably seen some really rare ones without knowing or noticing to be honest. ones that come to mind are:

Osprey, Canadian goose, bald eagle, woodpecker, blue jay, warblers, sparrows robins, ptarmigans. pretty sure there are over 300 species in the Rockies though. Elk island National Park near Edmonton is probably best for Bird sightings I think.

 

Just back from Aberlady Bay. As usual, didn't disappoint. Only there 2 mins when we saw a Little Egret. Lots of Lesser black back, Black Headed & Herring Gulls. There must have been about 500 Lapwings. We also saw Redshank, Greenshank, Curlew, Black Tailed Godwits, Shelducks, and our first ever Spotted Redshank. It makes our day if we see a first for our life list. Hopefully next week we're going to Cardross and Ardmore Point ,near Saltcoats. A great wee place for Slavonian Grebes and Red Breasted Merganser, also good for Linnets, various Birds of Prey, and Wheatear. I'll let you know how we get on.

 

Im not a birder or twitcher, but someone who keeps an eye out so to speak, but ive only ever seen a wheatear once in Central Scotland.

I seen a group of about 10-12 Mergansers, or Goosanders this spring in W.Yorkshire while travelling through.Not sure which as they were about 100 yards away and i couldnt tell the difference.
Strange though, as neither species appears to inhabit Yorkshire according to RSPB manual.

 

I'm in Canmore now, going to Banff and lake Louise tomorrow. Hope to see some wildlife.

 

I actually work in Canmore, a few weeks ago a bear was wondering around main st in Canmore eating somebody's fruit tree, The best bet for wildlife is the bow valley parkway at the moment or the Lake Minnewanka area, The Sunshine access road is a good bet for bears especially as its getting colder they are all heading down from the mountains. Good luck finding some wildlife

 

I used to go hunting in the woods and on several occasions I saw wild boar,wolves,lynx,fox,jackal,bear,deer etc.

 

Hunting for food is kind of acceptable to most in here mate, but if you hunt for fun, i wont be communicating with you anymore......except to call you a *!

 

I used to do it only bird hunting but it was for a few years,then I gave it up.You callin me a *?İn another thread,I found out it meant ''friend''.

Thank you *!:icon_mrgreen:

 

There's good * and * *. If you hunt then you're a * *.

 

I was obviously a * * before but now ,you can be sure I am a good *!

Btw,any of you guys are socialists or greenists?

Anyway! Once a *,always a *!:icon_mrgreen:

 

Hmmm, ok, it takes some longer than others to realise how wrong hunting for fun is.......and if you got there eventually, i suppose i could be a forgiving *!


I think most people in here are some kind of combination of both Greens and Socialists politically.......with a few exceptions.

 

Good man! I no longer hunt!Thank you ever so much as a forgiving *!Never heard of * before like giving,forgiving,accusing etc etc.There must be so many * in the World!.Although no longer hunting,still not a dreaming socialist or a greenist, a pure retired capitalist!.I hope I am forgiven!:icon_mrgreen:

 

I am definitely not anti capitalist like some.I think there has to be a middle ground somewhere, but unfortunately we havent been able to find an economic system that keeps everyone happy.

I like capitalism to a degree, but it is out of control.

 

I agree that it is out of control but unless some solve this problem,it will go the same way.Controlling too much is not good as it will lead to less investment!Life has been like this upto now!People have tried different regimes with no success!No matter how hard you try you just can't control capitalism fully!Life is all about it!.No need to dream too much.We come and go and whatever we do,we do!That is it!

 

Here is an Anatolian wolf in the wild.

http://i.hizliresim.com/6kpEQW.jpg


Their numbers are so great nowadays that they attack small villages in the countryside,eat dogs and even people.For those WHO oppose hunting,how would you suggest their numbers can be controlled?