Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Viewing Blog: Monthly Archives: December 2015

Guest comfort zone

Grizzly Bear charge

Not much of a close up but the story is great.  The guests are in a 5.5 meter (yard) skiff we use to watch grizzly bears on the Glendale River.  We were moving slowly up the river (slowly because the motor is off and you are being towed by your guide) and had stopped watch a bear that moved around the point behind the bear in the photo. To the right of the guest’s head is another channel off to the right and this bear came out of the channel chasing a salmon. In all the splashing water the bear lost the salmon about 15 meters (yards) from the boat. It stopped, looked at us and then walked over to the point and continued to fish. No one got a good photo but I learned about the guests “comfort zone” and backed a little ways down the river and thus the photo.

 

 

 

Spring Grizzly Bear Bonus

Four Grizzly Bear cubsNot bad for a pocket camera Pentax – Optio Wpi 6MP and 3X Optical Zoom. This posting is to let your imagination go and think of the photos with a “good lens” camera. We were close enough that my guests got some great photos, which were shared back at the lodge during the “bragging session”. This is when guests share the day’s photos and exchange email addresses so they can all get the photo they missed.

 

 

 

Bald eagle rescue 3 of 3

Bald Eagle freedomBald eagle

 Once the eagle was as dry as we could get it without doing damage we proceeded to the nearest beach. Once out of the boat with the eagle we placed it on the shore above the high tide mark. It was interesting because the eagle did not fight our care. Even once it was unwrapped on the shore it did not try to claw or bite likely because it was to exhausted and only wanted to be dry and out of the water.  The good news is that I returned to the area several days later and there was no sign of the eagle, eagle feathers or carcass on the beach which tells me it recovered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bald eagle rescue 1 of 3

Bald EagleBald Eagle

George and family from Hampshire England visited us in July this year and provided this series of photos. We were on a whale watching trip and had an excellent day but were still trying to find an eagle feeding. In the back of Parsons Bay a commercial crab fishing boat flagged us down and said that there was an eagle in the water that they could not reach because their boat was to high. Eagles often swim so we went to take a look and this one was in trouble. We came along side and used a towel to reach down and wrap the eagle before lifting it in to the boat. Having never done this I took advice from all on board and we dried the eagle with towels and paper towels…

 

 

 

 

Grizzly Bear cubs finding

Grizzly cubs and mother

From our position in the viewing stands it was not hard to determine why the cubs were searching. Mother was the goal but more important is the food that they hope she will share. Often the mothers will fish in the deep water because they can pick up dead salmon off the bottom with little effort or waste of calories and also it is harder for the cubs to fight for the salmon while they are swimming.

 

 

 

Grizzly Bear cubs searching

Grizzly cubs looking

Below the viewing stands (after August 24th ) we have two grizzly bear cubs swimming in the morning sun. The stands overlook the natural river as well as the entrance to the man-made spawning channel. These two cubs are not lost but rather on a mission. See tomorrow…

 

 

 

What is the Grizzly looking at? 1 of 2

Grizzly in sedge grass

Prior to August 25th the grizzly bear tours from the lodge view bears in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River estuary. The viewing is from a 5.5 meter (yard) flat bottom skiff, which allows use to move up the river as the tide rises (see Nov. 27th posting). The advantage of the early season tours is that you are at eye level with the grizzlies as this photo shows. What you must realize is the sedge grass this bear is eating is at least a meter (three feet) high so this is not a cub. What is it looking at? See tomorrow’s post….

 

 

 

Also Whale Watching 2 of 3

Humpback whale feeding

Clearer, same ducks in the water and a mouth full. Humpbacks will feed on krill and various kinds of small, shoaling fish such as herring (check out the mouth) and mackerel. They may eat up to 1,400 kg (3,000 lbs.) of food a day. As the mouth closes the whale will press down with its tongue forcing all water out through baleen plates. These baleen plates hang in row from each side of the upper jaw. This traps the herring / lunch inside.