This coyote was across the street from our house at lunchtime today. it was lunchtime for him as well I suspect. Seeing him confirmed my suspicions that coyotes were visiting the property in front of our place.

I had seen pawprints where dogs would not have been - on the top of a cairn of rocks where I imagine mice and squirrels live...and Santiago spent a long time sniffing some pawprints more than others...so I was sure coyotes had been on our street.

The yard where he was, is a large piece of property by Banff standards and stretches from the block above us to our street. There is a hill and the houses are on the other street and on the hill and the back of the land - which reaches our street is open and forested...So this is where the coyote was hunting today. Though we scared it up the hill a little way - we obviously did not scare it very much The dog was on a leash and the coyote just sat and looked at us and kept an eye on his dining room - wanting us to leave.

I have to say he did not look like the scrawny starved coyotes I saw in Ontario. He had a beautiful gleaming and full coat and tail...he looked well fed.

In the second picture you might find him to the right of the tree trunk through the branches.

I have to say I was thrilled to get a sequence of photos - including him yawning at us.

ravens and trees

A morning of Ravens, these are only 2 of the pictures I took of all the ravens

we saw this morning on our walk.

More pictures for our walk today...it was a balmy -10 so we could be out for hours at a time...and Santiago was very happy.

Images from our walk today.

A curious sign on the corner of a house in our neighbourhood.    

Our 3 dimensional Christmas tree (if somewhat blurry). The ornaments are hung on the window and the snow=laden fir trees are across the street.

Yesterday there were lots of people skating on the Bow River. I took this particular shot especially for Suzie K. because there is a train in the background...one of the many, many freight trains that go through town 24 hours a day. Trains cross Canada constantly from cost to coast and they all seem to go through Banff - though we are so accustomed to them by now we never hear them (also the windows are closed because it is winter).

Charley and Santiago playing "give Me the Ball" in the park.

I don't know the names of all the mountains but the big peak on the bottom is Mount Rundle and this time of year there is almost always a wind blowing snow off the top as you can see in the photo.

I thought this photo looked like a Group of Seven painting.

No - Charley hasn't taken to drinking on the street - we were on our way to the bear bin recycling box and just having some fun.

Many walks over the Christmas holidays - we have the time together as Charley has 2 weeks off and we are babysitting the dog, Santiago so we have good reasons to go out for several walks a day. I love the way the clouds play over the mountains.

More lights on Christmas Eve

This is the photo I meant to post of downtown Banff and the decorations.

I love the lit Christmas trees above the streetlights.

A blurry shot of downtown Banff lit up.

Christmas Eve in Banff.

The town is decorated with so many lights and displays, it is festive and beautiful.

You know it is MINUS -43 degrees

when there is a quarter of an inch of frost on the inside of your kitchen window.

I thought it looked like a flock of birds rising into the air.

I saw this dog waiting outside the grocery during the last snow storm.

I thought if his owner was a long time the dog would be buried in snow...but he seemed not to mind.

The moon peeking through the trees one evening & the sun breaking through the clouds one morning.

It was MINUS -43 degrees this morning when Charley went to work.

This picture was taken a week ago...but I do wonder what the little deer do when it is this cold.

My friend Jill said that chickadees can lower their body temperatures to endure the cold. I wish we could raise ours.

Yes, you read that correctly

- 43 and that does not have a wind chill factor added to it!

The deer find their way into everything. I wonder if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

Grass? where, Green? what.

All  these photos were taken this morning on our walk to and from the post office.

I always look forward to mail...and not the least because of the walk.

These ravens are for Liza.

They are such huge birds and when they fly past, you can hear the whoosh of their wings. They also have a great many croaks and vocalizations. They are bold and avid scavengers. One day I was out quite early and I saw a group of ravens opening big green garbage bags in the open back of a large pick-up truck in front of a hotel. I thought what a huge mess the owner would find upon waking up and coming out to the truck. 

Then a few weeks later, in a completely different part of town, I saw a gang of ravens doing exactly the same thing in another truck. Then, I realized they have sussed out that bags in the back of trucks are worth opening and they have a modus operandi.

The Bow River - not frozen solid.

Another impossible picture of the dipper bird....grey against grey water.

Go to Kids National Geographic website and search for a video of the Dipper bird and you will see how amazing this little bird truly is.

This is how clear the water in the Bow River is - this is a picture of the river frozen, everything you see in this photo is ice, except for the sand and the silt on the bottom...mind you it is a very shallow spot in the river.

If you see pictures (throughout the blog) of a river - chances are, it is the Bow River which runs right though town and meanders back and forth.