JDW Photos and Life

This is the last of the bear photos from our FIRST morning in Kodiak. The luck of finding both sets of sow/cubs in the two rivers at nearly the same time was great. The light was not great and the photography angles are not going to win any contests but it was fun watching them in their habitat. I took about 500 photos in just under an hour. I hope you enjoyed a few of them the past two weeks. Having just eaten a fresh salmon, mom decided to give hunting another shot. She spied a gathering of salmon, moved closer, and stared them down in the first two photos. You can see some of the fish disturbing the water surface right where she is looking. She then makes a try at them. You see that she moves a LOT of water when diving after salmon! Unfortunately, she came up empty while I had my camera ready - typical.... After the miss, she and the cubs headed out towards the mouth of the river and the bear photo opportunity for the morning left with them. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blo...

We were watching the cubs and heard a massive splash off to the side. The sow caught a fresh salmon. All I was able to photo was a butt shot of her taking her catch to the bank. Obviously, fresh salmon is preferred over carrion but it is a balance of effort, luck, and needs. One cub was particularly excited about the catch and quickly joined mom to get some fresh meat. I'm sure that is another one of those balance things learned over the year! You don't want to take food before mom is ready let you have some of her meal! Only one of the cubs ate some of this fish but they all gathered around the event. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Eating is a full-time job at this time of year for the bears. Though over a year old, these cubs are still not adept at catching live salmon so they look for leftovers. Salmon naturally die as part of their life cycle and there are morsels around for the cubs. The cubs were working the shore very near the bridge so these shots are bit more of a top-view that desired but I still like them. Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

OK, I know some of you don't like to look nature in the face but I do. If you like looking at bear, you have to realize that they must eat enough calories to survive the winter. The Kodiak bears don't go into deep hibernation as winter temperatures are moderated by the surrounding ocean. Regardless, winter is still a tough season. The cub that was swimming with his stick dropped it because he found something better - a snack of salmon. You even see the dropped stick in the first photo. I include three photos just to see the bear mechanics (pun intended) of how to eat in the middle of a river with massive paws. There is not much left of this salmon after he is done. Nature's cycle continues. Of course you could always watch a large dog do something similar chewing on a bone or a large treat in your living room but it still would not be as cool as watching this! Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

A stick! A stick! A BETTER stick! You can see the stick from the previous photo left behind at the top of this photo and the new prize awaiting just in front of the cub! Look at that GREAT stick!!! Perfect fit in my jaws! I can show my teeth and look scary! Come on, brother! Look at my stick!!! Don't just go walking away from me! See my stick! Well, I'll just drop it then. Brother was looking to pose for the crew on the bridge! And this is a tighter crop of the previous photo. I think if I looked hard enough, I could probably see myself in the reflection in his eyes! I was using very close to the minimum zoom of the lens on this shot. We were close (but high). Thanks, Doug White https://jdwarchive.blogspot.com/

Unlike the Sargent Creek bears, these bears were putting on quite the display as they explored and roamed near the Russian River bridge. The mom swam even closer to us without anything obvious on her mind. I think she knew she was making the day for about a dozen people watching. This photo again highlights the crystal clarity of the mountain river. The water is probably 4 feet deep here and you see all of the rock detail. I think she was letting the cubs explore and have a little play time. One cub chose the bank to explore and you see him inspect every detail. I don't know what caught his eye here but he kept moving after giving it a glance. More claws...! Another cub was in the water. Like a retriever dog, he found a branch that he swam around with in his mouth for a couple of minutes. With the attention span of a toddler, something else caught his eye and he dropped the branch. What do you think it might me? The answer will be revealed tomorrow! The cub's reflection is knoc...

The sow worked her way closer to us after she ate a little (yesterday's photo) and just sat in a hole near the bank for a few minutes. The water flowing past her must have been refreshing judging by her satisfied look. Of course, that look might just be a momentary break from handling three cubs for the past year. She decided to move a little further towards us (mouth of the river). These photos are not cropped and I'm using about 1/2 the zoom of my lens - the bears are close but we are high! Two of the cubs decided to explore a short tree that overhung the river. I only got photos of one of them as the other was so deep in the foliage that prevented a clear view. We could hear limbs crack as these cubs moved around. I was all prepared to capture a great fall into the river but it didn't happen - probably just as well as my shutter speed was too slow with the poor light. The first photo includes a view of this "baby's" claws. They look so huggable until you se...