First Magazine Cover - Labrador Life, Fall 2012

Earlier this fall, I received an e-mail from Labrador Life asking if they could use two images from my photo essay, "Arctic Foxes Go To School" (Labrador Life, Vol. 6, No.1; Winter 2012) for an upcoming article about foxes and rabies in Labrador.  I had completely forgotten about the request until I received an e-mail from Robin McGrath, a friend in Goose Bay who is a contributing writer to Labrador Life.  In her note, she indicated that she recognized my images on the recent cover of Labrador Life and as the lead photo image to an article by Dr.Hugh Whitney entitled, "Outbreak". This was an unexpected and pleasant surprise, and a first for me. 

As the In Focus photo-essay indicates (see below), the Arctic Foxes were photographed while we were visiting Battle Harbour during August 2011.  For more details, see my blogs:

Battle Harbour, Labrador (Dec. 1, 2011)

Arctic Foxes in Labrador (Dec. 17, 2011)

 

Cover, Labrador Life, Vol. 6, No. 4, Fall 2012

Lead image to article by Dr. Hugh Whitney (Labrador Life, Vol. 6, No. 4, Fall 2012)

Photo-essay from IN FOCUS, Labrador Life, Winter 2012 (Vol. 6, No. 1)

 

Grizzlies, Chilko Valley, British Columbia

Check out the new slideshow images on Images by Knight.  After almost a year of looking at Arctic foxes from Labrador, I thought that it was time for a change.  The images of Grizzly Bears are from the Chilcotin area, British Columbia.  They were taken during a photo tour with John Marriott last October.  What a great trip!

 

Purple Iris - A "Poor-man's Orchid"

The purple Iris is one my favorite spring flowers.  My father used to refer to them as a "Poor-man's orchid". 

A Promise of Apple Pies in the Fall?

Where there are apple blossoms, there is the possibility of apple pies in the fall, assuming that the bees have done their task of cross-pollination.

 

A Backyard Moment In Spring - Crab Apple Blossoms

When spring arrives, you often don't need to go far to find good photo opportunities.  In this case, how about a crab apple tree in blossom outside the backdoor?  The blossoms only lasted a few days before they were pummeled with heavy rain and wind.  Soon, the ground was covered with pink petals, and that photo opportunity was gone, but not before a few images were captured.

 

What's Under Your Deck? Robins?

Each spring, when the Robins return, they commonly build a nest outside our backdoor under the deck.  During the nest building and sitting on the eggs, the adult Robins were watchful, but amazingly tolerant of our presence as we went about our chores in the backyard.  This changed once their chicks hatched.

With chicks to feed, the adults became nervous when you passed too close to the nest.  When the chicks were alone, they sat quietly and were very still, hoping that you wouldn't notice them.  You could always tell from across the yard when one of the adults arrived with food.  Both the noise and activity level increased dramatically.  However, if you walked by at this point, the Robins froze, not moving a feather.  Stillness implied invisibility.

Another busy time was when the young chicks began their preparations to leave the nest.  The chicks took turns venturing over the side of the nest to flap their wings.  From the noise level, this must have been an exciting time; perhaps as they cheered each other on to the next step, flight.  During this period, both adults became agitated and noisy if you walked by.

And then, within 12-18 hours, the four chicks were gone, one at a time, and the nest was left empty for another season.  Robins come and go in our backyard each day as they forage for food, or just sit on a tall spruce and watch.  We wonder what has become of the four chicks who came into this world from under our deck. 

Parent with chicks.

Four chicks impatiently waiting for next meal.

The last chick to leave the nest.

Winter Driving Along BC's Stewart-Cassiar Highway, March 2012 - More Winter's Madness?

 

On the way home from the Yukon, we came south from Watson Lake along Hwy 37, instead of returning via the Alaska Highway.  To make our journey more challenging, we did the section between Dease Lake and the Yellowhead Highway 16 three times with the hope of getting some sunshine and interesting light to photograph the spectacular snow-capped mountains.

Location Map: BC's Stewart-Cassiar Highway #37, Watson Lake to the Yellowhead Highway.  Source: http://www.stewartcassiar.com/trip-planning/maps/

Although the snow-covered roads were generally plowed and sanded, both the weather and road conditions made driving a challenge at times.  This part of British Columbia receives about 6 m of snow each winter

Large snowbanks with no shoulders to pull off.

We spent 3 days heading south, back north, and finally south with hopes of getting more than overcast skies and snow squalls.  When the sun finally shone for a new moments here and there, the views are fabulous, but tough to capture because:

     -  Hard to get clear vistas without some kind of foreground, so lots of tree silhouettes

     -  Few places to pull off onto the shoulder of the road during winter with the huge snow banks; some up to 2m in height

     -  Lots of logging and mining truck traffic

     -  Off the road, the snow was really deep!!! I went in to my waist several times when I wasn’t expecting to.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that we persevered.  I could have spent a week cruising back and forth along the road, looking for the perfect shot.  We're looking forward to traveling along this road during late August - early September sometime in the future. 

More Winter Madness - Yukon, March 2012

After enjoying our mid-winter get-away to Yellowknife two years ago, we decided to drive north to the Yukon last March.  To many of our friends and family, this was just more 'winter madness' by the Knight's.  Whatever you think, we had a GREAT trip.  We saw another part of our great country that many never get to see, and during a season when many people head south to warm sunny beaches.  While most people do not like winter or snow, we do.  And, winter travel has some other benefits.  There are few other tourists, no line-ups, and definitely no bugs!

Alpine-glow, St. Elias Mountains, Kluane National Park, YT

We traveled in our 2009 Toyota Tacoma and Four Wheel Camper.  The winter roads were generally well maintained.  If the weather forecast was marginal or poor, we stayed put or didn't venture far.  We over-nighted in motels most of the time because it was difficult to find serviced pull-outs or camping areas with running water and toilets during the winter.  Nevertheless, we did camp out half a dozen times and thoroughly enjoyed it, even with temperatures down to -28'C!!! 

Tacoma & Four Wheel Camper, Kathleen Lake, Kluane National Park, YT

Our favorite campsite was at Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park where they keep half a dozen campsites plowed during the winter for the occasional stray visitor, like us. We had 10-15 cm fresh snow each night.  We cross-country skied right from our campsite through the woods, down to and along the shoreline of Kathleen Lake.  The picnic shelter at the lake had a large wood-fired stove.  This was a great place to read and cook supper at the end of the day.  We even managed to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis through a brief gap in the clouds at about 0530 one morning, but alas, not long enough to photograph.

Based on the images, I'll let you decide whether or not we were entirely mad to travel north during the winter.  We don't think that we were 'mad', but then assessments by the mad tend to be unreliable.

Sunrise over the St. Elias Mountains, Kluane National Park, YT