Please.
This is a great site to visit to get a “guest eye view” of a trip to our lodge. Be sure that you do the whole five days that Rob has set up for his trip.
Click on this link
http://www.masey.com.au/2010/08/dream-grizzly-trip-day-one/
We offer fantastic bear and whale watching opportunities at Sailcone’s Grizzly Bear Lodge, your guests’ photos prove it!
Do you have your own photos to add from your stay with us? Please click here to email us!
http://www.masey.com.au/2010/08/dream-grizzly-trip-day-one/
Just to keep the cameras working there is an abundance of harbour seals in the area and Steller sea lions that migrate between California and Alaska stop in the spring and fall. Looking back over the past twenty days of blogging I would say that Peder, Ann and family have had a busy three days and managed to reduce the size of their “bucket list”. Thanks again for the many great photos.
It was a small island about two hectares in size. We could not see any grass but there was lots of moss and lichens. The deer came down a steep rock face to eat the seaweed on the shore. Over the summer I saw several different deer on this little island and was never able to determine the attraction as they had to swim from a larger island that was over a mile long that had lots opportunity for grazing.
As a guide I am always looking for seagull and duck activity to help locate a herring ball because herring balls attract whales and eagles. For this photo the ducks were feeding on herring and forcing them into a ball and near the surface providing a perfect opportunity for the bald eagle to feed. Experience and luck will put the guests in the right position but is is the skill of the photographer that produces the photo.
Another good photo of a bald eagle overhead surveying the area looking for “the catch of the day”. It is common to see thirty of forty eagles sitting in trees or flying overhead but what is hard to do is to get tomorrows photo….
Lobtailing is when a whale lifts its fluke (tail fin) out of the water and brings it down forcefully to slap the surface of the water with a big splash and loud report. Lobtailing is most likely a form of non-verbal communication, like breaching or pectoral fin slapping, and can be used to call attention to an individual, to impress a potential mate or intimidate a foe. This whale behaviour is becoming more common as more humpbacks spend their summers in our area feeding on the abundance of herring. But it is still hard to get a good photo.
Humpback whales can be identified using photos of the underside of the flukes. Each whale has unique features, including the overall shape of the flukes, the shape of the trailing edge, any scars, and natural pigmentation. This whales is “Guardian” and it spends much of the summer in our viewing area of the Johnstone Straits adjacent to Vancouver Island..
The number of humpback whales in our viewing area has been increasing over the past ten years from one or two on a whale watching trip to more than a dozen each trip. It is still not easy to get an excellent sequence of photos showing a whale diving however Peder and Ann succeeded again. Even the ducks in the water seem to be enjoying the site. Additional photos tomorrow…
There are grizzly bears on Rick’s river and we do view them on a regular basis. The trails we use to travel along the river are also used by the grizzlies as this photo shows. And if you look under Ricks left arm holding the salmon he is not carrying a camera in a shoulder holster.
Special effects make photography interesting. And it nice to be on a trip that allows the interest to be fulfilled. The schedules trips from Grizzly Bear Lodge are flexible. We like to be away from the lodge by 8:00 and back in time for rest before dinner. What happens in between those two times depends on the wildlife we find and the interest of the guests. Our boats a limited to four guests so it is not hard to achieve agreement to modify the days activities.
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.
Visit our Blog