Arctic Hare [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Talk about a cooperative subject! This Arctic Hare (my first ever!) was browsing willows on the tundra near Hudson Bay. She’d eat a while, then sit and rest and look about. I like this wider shot as it shows a bit of habitat and I love the translucent orange eyeball that contrasts nicely with the vegetation. The hare’s curly pelage also blends with the curvy stems of the foreground flora.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 371mm; 1/500 sec at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

Beaver [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Beaver are rarely seen out and about in winter, but this guy must have run out of food and had to risk coming out of the safety of the lodge to eat. I took video of him plowing through the snow to get fresh willows. Because I shot few stills, this is actually a single frame extracted from a video clip, and that is why the shutter speed is a very slow 1/60 second. Fortunately the Beaver was still for a split second and the photo is sharp.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/60 sec. at f14; ISO 200; tripod]

Grizzly cub [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Kids will be kids! “Coming through Mom!”

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Yellow-bellied Marmot [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

I just like the blue and green background…and its a nice photo of a marmot.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Grizzly cub [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

What can I say? CUTE! Like a cuddly 200 pound teddy bear.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f5.6; ISO 200; tripod]

Cottontail [Carlton County, Minnesota]

This photo was taken about as close to home as possible…Only about 20 feet from my front door! I laid down on the gravel of our driveway and slowly crawled closer. Always good to get eye level to your subject. Just a cute critter.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/1250 sec. at f5.6; ISO 500; hand-held]

Harbor Seal [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

Every photographer hopes his mammalian subject will yawn. Yawning in a still image can look like a ferocious growl. Not sure what this Harbor Seal was doing but the open pink mouth contrasts nicely with the blue water of Hudson Bay.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/2500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; tripod]

Moose [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

This photo was taken on the last day of February but I believe it is the same young cow Moose that I found a couple miles away in early November. She was a very tolerant critter…especially for a Moose! Several of us were able to shoot quite close to her as she browsed willows. She would mostly ignore us, but occasionally steal a glance to make sure we didn’t get too close. I like how the shaded woods turned a pleasing purple and the red willows were beginning to pop.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/500 sec. at f5.6; ISO 500; -0.33 ev; tripod]

Pine Marten [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

Marten are cute as a button, but also ferocious hunters. They are able to hunt down Red Squirrels in the trees! Clinton Nienhaus and I were watching a roadside bird feeding station when this guy came from the bog and started feasting on peanut butter left out for the Boreal Chickadees. He paused to lick his lips. Hey buddy, you missed a spot!

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens with Metabones adapter; 1/800 sec. at f7.1; ISO 200; hand-held]

White-tailed Deer bucks [Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota]

I was on my way home from doing some work on our Welcome Center in Sax-Zim Bog when I spotted these two bucks browsing in a hayfield along the road. Unlike most bucks, they did not bolt the minute I slowed the car. In fact, they came closer and closer even after I got out of the car! Maybe it was the many deer flies that made them crazy that day.

[Canon 7D with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; 1/1600 sec. at f5.6; ISO 320; -0.33 ev; hand-held]

Grizzly and cub  [Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming]

Ryan and I had a chance this spring to spend much time with a sow Grizzly and her yearling cub. They played and dug grubs and roots, and the cub would even nurse, all the time, ignoring the photographers. I like the eye-level perspective and the fact that they seem to be gazing at the same thing.

[Sony A6500 with Canon 400mm f5.6 lens; Metabones adapter; 1/1600 sec. at f5.6; ISO 640; tripod]

Arctic Hare  [Churchill, Manitoba, Canada]

How can you not love a face like this? Like in the other Arctic Hare photo in this post, I love the translucent orange eyes and the oversized black and white ears. He seems to be eyeing me up…wondering if I’m a threat or just a harmless crawling photographer.

[Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-f5.6L IS II USM lens at 321mm; 1/320 sec at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand-held]

This Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) was a lifer mammal for me! [A “lifer” is the first sighting of a species that you’ve never seen before.] I found this cooperative critter on June 19th near the Northern Studies Center in a patch of willows and I spent a fair amount of time getting close.

I first got some “insurance shots” out the window of the truck. Then I slowly opened the door and dropped slowly to the ground. I got some eye-level shots. I crawled closer and closer (not too much fun on the hard gravel). Eventually I realized that this Hare cared little about me, realizing, I suppose, that I wasn’t a threat.

He/she is obviously molting from the winter white pelage to the summer browns but I like the patchy color and especially the black and white oversized ears. Willow was on today’s lunch menu and the Arctic Hare kept on browsing while I kept on snapping!

**All photos taken with Canon 7D with Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS II USM lens…Most at 400mm (some wider shots at 120mm); 1/320 at f5.6; ISO 320; +0.66 ev; hand held] All processed in Lightroom

Arctic Hare near Churchill Manitoba

Arctic Hares are not the only lagomorph living around Churchill; Snowshoe Hares also live here, but mainly in the boreal spruce forests. I saw 2 Snowshoe Hares in the understory along Twin Lakes Road.

Arctic Hares have long legs like jackrabbits (another kind of hare). They can run at speeds close to 40 mph! And they may need a burst of speed when being chased by Arctic Fox, Red Fox, Wolf, Lynx or Snowy Owl.

This range map of Arctic Hare by the Canadian Geographic is inaccurate; It doesn’t show that the population does indeed extend into Manitoba at least as far south as Churchill.

Hares differ from rabbits in having longer hind legs, living in open habitats (tundra, prairie, desert), not building a burrow or nest, having furred young that are born with eyes open.

Note the long hind legs of the Arctic Hare that allow them to run at speeds up to 40 mph.

Favorite Food! Willows comprise 95% of an Arctic hare’s diet, one study found.

“Southern” Arctic Hares, the ones that live around Churchill and in Labrador and Newfoundland, molt from winter white to gray/brown summer pelage. Those that inhabit the Far North where summer is even shorter, remain white year round.

The Arctic Hare is one of the largest hare species anywhere. They are 17-28 inches long when stretched out, average 6-12 pounds (though some may reach 15 pounds).

Arctic Hare amongst the willows

Churchill is one of the few places where Snowshoe Hares overlap in range with the Arctic Hare.

Molting Arctic Hare

Arctic Hare

Arctic Hare

Arctic Hare

Arctic Hare

Arctic Hare