Spruce Grouse, Falcipennis canadensis
One of my favorite trails at Algonquin Park is the Spruce Bog Trail. There is a boardwalk over typical northern bog after passing through a stand of Black Spruce. It is a great place for birds such as Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Alder Flycatcher and Black-backed Woodpecker.
I was walking through the stand of Black Spruce when something large wizzed past my head, settled on the ground and gave me a beady eye. It was a male Spruce Grouse who had apparently considered me an intruder. It looked fabulous with the bright red on its head gleaming in the dark forest floor.
The picture below is a female with three chicks which was taken in Quebec.
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Blue Jay
One very cold morning on a deserted Algonquin sideroad. I put some shelled peanuts out in the hopes of attracting some Gray Jays. They did come along for a few minutes but were soon forced out by a dozen aggressive Blue Jays.
While sitting in my car, I tried to get photos of them as they dove from the tree branches to the pile of peanuts below. My success rate was very low, 1 or 2 in a hundred, but I was pleased to get a few I liked.
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Bull Moose
Algonquin Park is a wonderful place to see wildlife and one of the most spectacular animals to be found there is the Moose.
One of the surprises on first seeing this animal is its sheer size, it is truly awe inspiring.
They can be seen at any season in Algonquin.
 Moose Female |
 Moose calf |
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Some details from Maine
They are somewhere between the grand landscape vistas of the Grand Canyon, and the tiny macros showing the pollen grains of a flower. I call them midscapes, small scenes showing some of the interesting things that are all around us.
As is often the case with photography, they are done by deciding what best to leave out rather than include.
The images below were taken in Algonquin.
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Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria var. guessowii
Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria, is the typical colorful toadstool seen in children’s books. It has some interesting chemical properties as it is both a poison and a hallucinogen. The latter properties were said to give it religous significance to the Koryaks people of eastern Siberia.
This image was taken in Algonquin N.P., a great place to find interesting fungus.
Fly Agaric, Amanita muscaria var. guessowii
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