Musk Ox

Late in the afternoon while working on the wood pile, I noticed four Musk Oxen on the island just across the river channel.  These were the first musk oxen seen near our home all summer.  They had most likely been spending the summer more to the east, along the Arctic Ocean, and were now heading for higher terrain inland where the wind keeps more of the ground swept bare during the winter months.  I quickly got my camera gear loaded in the boat and headed across the channel  to get a few pictures of them on this bright sunny day. 

The group was comprised of 2 adults and two sub-adults from last year.  As I was taking pictures, I noticed one of the musk ox kept swinging its head like it was watching something near its feet.  Finally I saw that there  was a short-tailed weasel running around the musk ox.

Weasel can be seen in the foreground between the two animals on the right side of the photo.

He would dash in close then bolt back towards the river bank, where there were tunnels into which he would disappear.  I worked over to that side of the island to get the sun behind me for pictures, and then the weasel started checking me out.  As usual they never stay still very long, which makes it hard to get a good shot.

After I got all the pictures I wanted, I headed home and the Musk oxen continued to feed and rest until evening, when they continued on their way upriver.  At dusk I could see them about 2 miles away,  bedded down for the night on another island closer to the mainland.

Bright Lights

The nights are getting dark enough again that we are able to spend time out at night watching the stars and if lucky even see a display of Aurora Borealis over head. The weather had been raining with a few snow showers mixed in earlier in the day as a strong east wind swept across the prairie. In the late evening we got a slight break in the weather and the low clouds rolled back and the stars came out. After midnight a faint glow of Aurora started to show and by 0130 hr there was active displays that lasted till 0300hr. Some of the stars came out a bit fuzzy even on a tripod the wind gusts were shaking the camera some (30 knots).

Besides the normal bands and curtain formations, there were several aurora bursts straight over head and I was able to capture a couple of them. One other aspect of viewing the northern lights early in the year (August-September) is the sun isn’t that low below the horizon so you still have some of the brilliant blue sky to go with the pale aurora colors.

The picture with the cabin in it has a touch of purple to go with the lime green of the main display.

In the center left you can see the constellation Taurus and the bright star Aldebaran. Just to the left of Taurus is one my favorites, the Pleiades cluster.

The second photo shows a nice Aurora Burst.

Photo three shows another Aurora Burst that has more purple around the edges.

This afternoon I was entertained by the female Short-tailed Weasel that has been living around the house for a couple weeks now. She was catching Tundra Voles in the tall grass and one of the voles was so big she had to drag it in backwards. When she tried going forward under the willow pile where she was hiding them, she would trip on it.

Vole is wet from all the rain and very wet grass.

She is not sure what I’m up to and trying to make up her mind to continue hunting or go hide for awhile.