Show us your bears...

[Rick Cope]

We did a day trip from Homer Alaska to Katmai . We hiked the streams for about 5 miles over 5 hours. Extremely lucky to be up close with around 30-35 Coastal Brown bears.An experience of a lifetime. I will attempt to add a video taken with a cell phone. After the bear left I stepped it out.....12 steps away.

[offshorebirder]

Of course the most cooperative of the 4 Polar Bears we saw on June 18 was the grubby looking one - from wallowing in mud and whale guts...

 

The bears were feeding on whale carcasses (left by Inupiat whalers) at Point Barrow, Alaska - northernmost point in the USA.  The fog was a challenge for photography, but it did little to temper our joy and amazement at the sightings.

 

My friend Roger and I were taken out to the point by an Inupiat hunter and guide in his 4x4 pickup.  He was a wealth of fascinating info and fieldcraft.

 

June 18, 2023 was one of the best days in the field I have ever had - I will never forget it!

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by offshorebirder

[Miss Biscuit]

Since I'm still fairly new, I have some photos from before I joined to share. I spent 3 nights at Brooks last July 15-18. It was my first time camping and it rained almost the whole time. Never saw the sun. Even though I didn't fall in love with camping, me and my friend had a great time. The bears and the experience was awesome! I know these bears are famous and everyone has seen a "the catch" shot. I have my own though not as iconic as some. I won't post all my pictures, just a few that I think are special or unique.

 

 

First, the famous Otis! 

 

I just like his ears.

 

These next 3 aren't super in focus but they are unique so I like them. This bear was diving for salmon scraps and then shaking off the water as he came up. I watched him from the bridge. He looks like a dog in this first photo.

But these claws definitely tell you he's not a dog. I rotated it to portrait.

 

This mama had quads. Later that summer, one of them died. :(

They started coming down the beach and we had to jump on one of the float planes to be a safe distance and still observe. 

 

I like this next 3 photo series, especially the symmetry of the 3 fish in this photo.

 

It looks like he's going to catch the middle one.

 

But he really catches the top one.

 

The Grazerettes! Grazer is a famous sow that is very good at fishing the lip. She didn't emancipate her cubs until this spring when they were over 2 years old.

 

High grading -  They eat the skin, the brains and eggs and will discard the parts we would normally eat, leaving plenty of food for younger, less experienced bears, mamas and cubs and also birds.

 

 

This is my favorite "catch" shot even though it's not the classic angle. I like it because you can see the blood on his mouth.

 

This one is a bit clunky but it counts.

 

 

This fish is jumping straight into Grazer's mouth.

 

[offshorebirder]

Very nice photos @Miss Biscuit!     I have enjoyed watching Otis and Grazer for years.

[pault]

Great bear action @Miss BiscuitExcellent choice of shots for us. Love the ones from the bridge - such a nice idea and very interesting results. 

[Csaba]

The shots with them shaking the water off are fantastic. What focal length are you using? Looks like you were close?

Edited August 5, 2023 by Csaba

[Miss Biscuit]

On 8/5/2023 at 11:58 AM, Csaba said:

The shots with them shaking the water off are fantastic. What focal length are you using? Looks like you were close?

He was pretty close. He went right under the bridge at one point and so was right underneath me. I was using my 70-200, two were shot at 105 mm and one was at 130. I was just kind of lucky, right place at right time and realized I what I might be able to get. No one else was watching him. 

[Peter Connan]

Beautiful!

[Dave Williams]

One of my very favourite wildlife moments I have experienced. The size of the Brown Bear when stood upright is quite a shock! Awesome even!

Only just got the bear in the 500mm frame it was so close.

 

 

Brown Bear.   Estonia 2018 by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Atdahl]

Awesome!

[Botswanadreams]

@Dave Williams A beautiful bear. Unfortunately we were unlucky in there hide. No bear for us but we got later on our trip a lynx only 10 meters away. 

[Dave Williams]

18 hours ago, Botswanadreams said:

@Dave Williams A beautiful bear. Unfortunately we were unlucky in there hide. No bear for us but we got later on our trip a lynx only 10 meters away. 

 

I presume this was Estonia too? When did you go? I'm surprised there were no Bears as we spent several nights in the hides in two different places and saw bears every time.

I'd love to see a Lynx but they were not even mentioned when we went.

[Botswanadreams]

@Dave Williams  After two weeks traveling from Vilnius to Tallinn we went with NaTourEst on there Big Predator Tour this October. We had only one night in there newer Bear hide in Alutaguse area. Maybe it was because of a big storm a few days before or it was only bad luck.  

 

For Lynx I can highly recommend  Martin Piispea www.gran.ee (martin@gran.ee). You need 4 to 5 days or let better say nights to find Lynx in Lahemaa National Park.