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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

National Parks

Pronghorn Antelope (Atilocapra americana)

Yesterday I watched three remarkable episodes of a BBC production, "Yellowstone". I was in awe all the way through. The camera work was fantastic capturing the wildlife and their habits and the scenery; breathtaking! I'd never heard of the Pronghorn Antelope, or Prong Buck, nor the Pika, a cousin of the rabbit. The Pronghorn is said to be the fastest land mammal in the world, second only to the cheetah. I loved learning about the bison and the grizzly bears and the way the mothers cared for their young but my favourite was the otter.

American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

Another program that started this week is The National Parks: America's Best Idea. I've watched one episode and look forward to the rest.

13 comments:

Rosaria Williams said...

These are stupendous opportunities for city folks to see wildlife.

alaine@éclectique said...

Lakeviewer, I know! I'll be buying the DVD, as I only have it on video.

Unknown said...

Hi Alaine,

I love the colours of the vegetation behind the Pronghorn and that you have used a cerise/pink colour for your captions and the lilac headings.

Wanda..... said...

The photo of the Pika was precious, reminded me of a child with a gift of picked flowers! I think I might like to own the same DVD.
Thank you for your kind comment at my blog, Alaine!

Tess Kincaid said...

We watched the National Parks series not long ago and it was excellent!

alaine@éclectique said...

Hello Wanda, all of the animals were so clever; of course they had to be to stay alive!!

alaine@éclectique said...

Derrick, thanks. I've gone mad on purple lately!

alaine@éclectique said...

Willow, I loved the diary readings of Margaret Gurkey; her annual trips into the parks with her husband. They were so brave; the roads were dirt tracks and no 4WDs back then!

Lyn said...

The National Parks show is definitely worth watching. My brother is going on trip to Yellowstone next week, still all snowed in, specifically to see the grizzly bears. Lucky guy!

alaine@éclectique said...

Hi Lyn, the second episode is on tonight. The grizzlies would be just about ready to come out of hibernation. I wouldn't want to be too close. I've seen some great docos about them.

Susan said...

Alaine, I do hope that you are able to visit Yellowstone someday. TV pictures just can't begin to do it justice. I have the national parks series on my DVR and we just started watching them a few days ago. Ken Burns does such a lovely job on documentaries. I would love to see that BBC prod. of Yellowstone.

Susan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
alaine@éclectique said...

Susan... I'm just finding out about Ken Burns's documentaries; so glad that our ABC is showing them. The Yellowstone episodes are so beautiful; I could watch it again and again. I doubt if I'll ever get to see the real thing, though!