While you can't always get what you want, some times you get what is pretty darn interesting in its own right. Two nights ago, we headed over to Victor Bay to see if we could get another look at the bears, but there was none to be found. They are still around though, and we got to see them again last night. There is, apparently, another of trio of Polar Bears in the area, a sow with a couple of smaller cubs.
But as we were motoring along, we did get an excellent look at another of our mammals. Travis (of course) saw it first, shouting that there was an avinga (lemming) under an old water truck tank that is used as a water tank for the campers of Victor Bay. It was instantly clear that it wasn't a lemming, but one of their biggest predators the weasel. I believe this is a Least Weasel, but my guide books are still somewhere in boxes.
This was one of our best looks yet of these quick, sleek hunters and I managed to get a couple of decent shots of it, despite the low light and high ISOs. The weasel slipped easily in and out from under the tank, checking us out when ever I'd squeak – looking for the strange wounded rabbit making all the racket. It had enough when I got out to try and get another photo, but they are quick and it was difficult to get a shot of it in the open, it rarely paused.
Luckily everyone had a long close look at the handsome beast.
With no Polar Bears in sight, and Travis clambering to go to the water lake to look for Char fry, we left Victor Bay and headed out there. After a short stop to confirm that the Pacific Loon was still incubating what must be a long dead egg, we went a little farther up the road to the inflow of the lake.
As we pulled off the main road two large birds were at the water's edge, feeding. After my initial shout that they were geese I quickly realized that they were actually a pair of Sandhill Cranes, a bird that no one in the truck but I had seen before. They were nervous at the appearance of the truck but settled quickly and resumed their foraging.
Foiled again by the lateness of the day and the lack of light, I managed only record shots of them. Grainy and shaky. As soon as we tried to roll quietly closer to them they took to the air. What was surprising, apart from their appearance, was that there was no chick with them. It seems as though the Pacific Loons aren't the only ones having trouble raising a brood this year.
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8 responses
Oh, what fun! Weasels are so curious, aren’t they? Sandhill Cranes were a spectacular find. Are they unusual for your area? ~karen
LOL… both of those are common to Baker Lake. I’m inclined to agree that its a least weasel – they are the most photogenic ones.
According to my mammal guide, the main difference between Least Weasel and Ermine is that the Ermine has a black tail tip while the Least Weasel’s tail is the same color for the whole length. In the first photo, the weasel seems to have a bicolored tail, but it’s hard to be sure since the tail is partially in shadow. Perhaps your other photos would confirm the ID.
I got to see my first Sandhills this summer in Utah and then again in Wyoming. They are so cool! Weasels and all their kin are such appealing little things. So cute.
Weasels are funny little critters–as long as they stay out of my hen house. Sometimes they stay out to stare at humans and I can really get a chance to look at them. But 90% of the time they disappear like greased lightning the instant I see them.
Carolyn H.
Those are great photos of an extremely difficult-to-photograph animal. Well done, Clare!
It looks very much like our stoat (ermine, but no one calls them that in New Zealand). I agree with John about the likely identification. We have weasels (Least weasel, Mustela nivalis) as well as stoats (Mustela erminea here, and the tails on weasels are distinctly shorter and lack the black tip.
I’ve only once managed to photograph a stoat. I know how rare an opportunity it is, and how difficult they are to photograph. Great work, Clare.
Least weasel went through my mind to when I saw your photos there. I recall seeing one down on the bank of a fiord near Qikiqtarjuaq. I tried to get a picture but those little guys sure are mighty fast! We get Sandhill Cranes here too. At least I’m pretty sure that’s what I saw on the edge of the river here a couple weeks back because even though it was at some distance I’m hard pressed to think of anything else they could have been.
Sandhill Cranes aren’t common here Karen, but they are a breeding bird from up here and are in the area every year.
Jennith, it appears the other commenters are correct, it is a Ermine.
The other photos show a definite black tail to it (including one that pretty much just shows the tail – they are fast) John so you are right it is an Ermine not a Least Weasel.
The mustelids are cool animals aren’t they Liza?
You’re right Carolyn. They have this dichotomy of curiousity and caution. I’ve had them walk right up my boot to have a closer look at me back in my bow hunting days.
Thanks Pete, you and John are right. It has the black tip (actually almost half of the tail is black).
Sandhills are pretty cosmopolitan nesting birds across the north Darcy, nesting in the boreal as well as all the way up here. At Providence they often would be seen with their chicks just in the ditches, as many times they nested near borrow pits off the road.