Shortly after sunrise Nikki and I saw a dark shape moving rapidly across the ice in Gravelly Bay. At first sight, at such distance, I thought it was a common water-based critter like an otter. Nikki thought it was bigger, so we broke out the binoculars. She was right. The creature was a coyote. Not something you expect to see on lake Erie ice.
It was gone before we could do more than marvel at seeing such a thing. We enjoyed the rest of our sunrise over the bay, and then moved on.
Further along the coast road we stopped to watch the sun coming over the trees at Reebs Bay in Wainfleet. While there… guess what we saw padding toward us along the ice? That coyote had trotted at least two kilometres around the coast.
I grabbed the long lens from the backpack and shoot off a few images at maximum range. The coyote showed no inclination to return to shore. There is open water in this shot, but not along the whole coastline. It just did not want to leave the ice. Shortly after taking this very shot it turned away from shore completely and headed into those moguls. Presumably hoping to find breakfast in those icy hills. Something easier to catch than the birds which were blissfully secure in that sub-zero water. The coyote was not going to jump in to get them there, and I don’t blame it. I do hope it gets back to shore OK.
