I have taken many trips with the expectation of getting to photograph wildlife, the operative word being EXPECTATION.  Despite expert guides, well researched mapping of best sites where wildlife lingers, all camera equipment at the ready with replacement batteries in hand, often I have had to deal with defeat.  A whale watching cruise coming up zero.   Looking for tigers in a reserve (only managed to see pawprints). Sitting for hours in a jungle in Peru with nary a hummingbird in sight.  Happily, this was not such a trip.

Even before we got to Bow River, I had gleefully caught this little lady walking alongside our cabin:

There were loads of little critters:

And of course, birds:

In fact Alberta, Canada was so generous that even while in a moving van, I was able, with the help of my zoom lens to get a few shots of a mother moose and babies off in the distance:

 

 

Previous to this my only other moose photo has been this one, taken on a reserve in Alaska. I am including it as it is one of my fav photos – the moose’s  sitting angle made it appear to have no body:

Getting back to the Bow River, the bliss of the day, with sunny skies sprinkled with white fluffy clouds, warm but with a cooling breeze off the glacial waters of the river, was accentuated by spying an entire “gang” of elk (that is what a group of elk is called).  Males with impressive antlers, females gracefully reaching for the best vegetation and even babies to my glee watched us rather impassively as we slowly flowed past them, allowing me to capture these photos:

 

As a bonus, we were even afforded a close up view of this handsome elk as we made our way back to the hotel.

How lucky am I – so grateful..

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