The viewing stands in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River are used after August 25th. The grizzly are in the spawning channel feeding on salmon however somedays the viewing in the estuary is not bad, this appears to be one of those days. These are “lunchtime photos” our lunchtime and it appears the bears also. This mother with last season’s cubs is eating sedge grass and later trying for a free meal. Photos by
Peter Palstring 1-6
Many herring balls form off Bold Head which is a land mass not far from Telegraph Cove a tourist destination on Vancouver Island north of Campbell River. The ideal photo will be one like the one taken byGary Wilson, it is what you hope to have in your picture, a humpback lunge feeding. The plan is to sit near a herring ball and wait until the gulls shoot into the air and be ready.
The rivers along the BC coast, in the area of Knight Inlet are subject to extreme water level changes, which may wash out a bridge. This was not the case with Rick’s river rather it was an engineer who had a section of a bridge removed. After the fact no other official agrees with the decision but it takes time to have an error corrected. Until then we use a boat. Photos byBruce & Carole Cripps 10-11
On the extra day in camp we cross Knight Inlet through Thompson Sound to the Kakweikan River and spend a day with Trapper Rick. This river is located on the BC mainland and we travel by road to Rick’s cabin. On the way to Rick’s we occasionally view Grizzly Bears on the road. We followed this grizzly bear down the road for five or six minutes and he stayed on the road until we reached the river. He made no attempt to head for the bush rather we were ignored until he got to HIS destination which also happened to be ours. If time permits and you have the interest river fishing can be enjoyed and in August catching is almost a sure thing. Photos byBruce & Carole Cripps 9-11
The morning grizzly bear viewing tour up Knight Inlet is always more memorable after an encounter with a Big grizzly. Guests like to compare the size of the bears they view on their day trips however a truly big grizzly bear will tend to keep other bears away until they have had a good feed. So maybe size is not a good thing. Is this one eating grass it is possible even though this picture was taken in September bears are still eating grass and berries along with salmon. Salmon along the BC coast and notably Knight Inlet arrive at the rivers in mid August and remain until late October.Bruce comments “Although prior to our visit we had read about the thousands of salmon that congregated up river at the end of “The Salmon Run”, the wall-to-wall density of the fish was an amazing sight.”Photos by Bruce & Carole Cripps 8-11
The grizzly bears we view on Knight Inlet are different than the Alaskan grizzly, as they are well fed and or not competing for food. It is estimated that there are over forty bears on the Glendale and enough food that serious fights are rare. Unlike their northern cousins Knight Inlet grizzly bears do not have open wounds or scares from previous years fights. Because of this it viewing “play fighting” on a regular bases is quite common.“We felt so privileged to be able to experience the bears up close in their own environment and Grizzly Bear Lodge’s exclusive use of the viewing stands at Glendale Cove enabled everyone in our group to get fantastic sightings.”Photos by Bruce & Carole Cripps 7-11
Your grizzly bear tour day up Knight Inlet to the viewing stands in the fall allows you an opportunity to view a variety of bear activity and behaviour. In this case this grizzly has eaten the head first, as it is high in mineral content. It appears that a better view is necessary to look for more food, possibly competition is near, or if you stand up it shows how big one is and you keep your fishing area. In this case Bruce provides the answer in his comment.“We had been watching this female grizzly bear catching the salmon on the weir for quite some time then it suddenly stood up to its full height when it picked up the scent of an approaching male!” Photos by Bruce & Carole Cripps 6-11
Knight Inlet runs approximately 100 kilometers into the BC mainland and is located off the East Coast of Vancouver Island about 100 kilometers north of Campbell River. There are seven rivers running into Knight Inlet but only the Glendale River has a “man made” spawning channel which means many more salmon than some of the other rivers and therefore grizzly bears come from the surrounding area to feed on the Glendale at the base of the viewing stands we use. Even though there are lots of salmon the first step is to catch the salmon. These grizzly bears seem to have that part of their job completed. Photos byBruce & Carole Cripps 5-11
Bald Eagles are frequently sighted in our area. At times they can be seen in large numbers. This is usually where food supplies are high. For example this could be in areas with high concentrations of baitfish or along the rivers in the fall when the salmon are spawning. They are not migratory, but do move around with the food supply. As mentioned earlier when the salmon are spawning we often see many along the rivers, while there will be fewer along the coastline. With little need for camouflage their white head and tail feathers can be spotted easily. The female is slightly larger and her white head extends down a bit farther onto the body, but it is subtle. It takes these birds 4.5 – 5 years to acquire this unique plumage. As juveniles they are a brown colour. With exceptional eyesight and the ability to view 270 degrees they are understandably often seen in high perches and in trees near points and passageways.
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