With the glow of the morning sun cresting over the horizon, a soft warm light is cast over the frosty winter prairies. Perched on a fencepost, a male snowy owl scans the surrounding fields for its next meal.
In the middle of the seemingly endless grasslands of Alberta, the ground gives way to pockets of badlands formed by nearby river systems after generations of erosion. The badlands of Dinosoar Provincial Park near Brooks is one of the most impressibe this province has to offer. The strange geography of these badlands is not the only unique characteristic of this region either. Rattlesnakes and scorpions also call these areas home. Typically prefering warmer climates throughout the United States and into Mexico, the Alberta Badlands mark the most northern established reaches of both species. The Canadian badlands are also have one of the world’s best known deposits of dinosaur fossils. Routinely scientists discover new fossils of prehistoric creatures.
A young buck scans the open meadow on the lookout for predators in California's Point Reyes National Seashore.
