Alaska’s fascinating wild creatures
In my observations and photography in nature, I consider the polar bear to be one of the most amazing animals, exhibiting tremendous adaptation which has made them fit for survival in a harsh climate. They are generally a solitary animal, with a tremendous range of up to 1000 miles. Much of their life on the…
Polar bears congregate along Alaska’s north coast when the scent of the bowhead whale carcasses show up from the autumn indigenous whale hunts. Barter Island, located just off the Alaska mainland, is bordered by the Beaufort Sea to the north. It is growing in popularity as a destination to view polar bears, an amazing experience…
This is shot is mostly luck mixed with a little bit of perseverance. First of all the mountain often clouds over as the day progresses and if it does not, it tends to be very hazy by this time of day. It was noon when I shot the frame, and thanks to the amazing clarity…
On my late August trip to Denali Park, I decided to focus primarily on landscapes, since I was getting around on a bike and on foot. However, I did spend one cloudy afternoon in the pursuit of caribou. I spotted this bull some distance away and started trekking up the tundra hillside with my new…
In late August the salmon streams of Prince William Sound are filled with pink salmon. To these streams comes a frequent visitor, hungry for abundant meals of fish-the black bear. I watched this bear fish in the stream for about an hour or so. It was obvious he was near satiation, since the only parts…
A band of Dall sheep ewes and lambs are commonly seen along the Atigun pass corridor, the continental divide of Northern Alaska’s Brooks range. I’ve viewed them nearly every visit, in all seasons. Over time, they have grown familiar with vehicular traffic, and are often observed on or very near the road. These two lambs…
This image of a brown bear catching a red salmon at Brooks falls in Katmai National Park is comprised of three independent images, stitched together to generate a panorama or 3:1 format image. This offers a high resolution file that embodies a wider format more suitable for some reproduction uses, for example, a billboard. In…
Rain, moist air, and wind direction have given Fairbanks residents some reprieve from the forest fire smoke that has in the past few weeks made air quility very bad. Since I have not photographed much recently due to this, I thought I’d make a post from a previous trip to Katmai National Park. This frame…
On a recent trip to Katmai National Park to photograph the brown bears, I grabbed this shot of an Osprey flying by with a fish in its talons. I had just removed my 1.4x converter, which dropped my focal length from 700 to 500. I could have used that extra length but it all happened…
For the coastal brown bears of Katmai national park, salmon is a vital part of their diet. How they capture these fish varies: some catch them with their mouth as the fish jump the falls, as noted in the previous blog photo; some steal fish that other bears catch; some sit nearly submerged in the…