Alaska’s fascinating wild creatures
Pilot Doug Glenn drops a load of salmon fry into Crosswinds lake from his crop duster airplane. About 10 million fry in total get dumped in the lake over a two day period. Mount Drum, of the Wrangell mountains in the distance. My first encounter with the Copper River and fish was in 1982 when…
Great Gray owl in Black spruce trees.Canon 1ds Mark III, 500mm f4L IS with 1.4x converter, 1/500 @ f6.3, 400 ISO It finally happened. While driving along the Richardson highway after a photo assignment, I glanced to my right and saw this owl perched along the roadside spruce trees. It was hunting for voles in…
Northern Shoveler on small tundra pond, Fairbanks, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark III, 400mm f5.6L, cropped There is a small pond alongside the road that I pass on my way to downtown Fairbanks. It is an interesting little index of the season. This time of year, many migrating waterfowl show up for an overnight or two before…
Black bear fishing for salmon in Prince William Sound, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 500mm f4.0L , 1/640 @f5.0, ISO 500 Harbor seal on ice berg in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Canon 1Ds Mark II, Canon 500mm f4.0L with 1.4x converter (700mm), 1/640 @f7.1, ISO 125 The harbor seal and black bear photo were taken…
Ruffed grouse in Quaking aspen tree, Fairbanks, AlaskaCanon 1Ds Mark III, 500mm f4.0L IS with 2x extender (1000mm), 1/400 sec @ f8.0, ISO 640 While working in my office one day I glanced out the window and saw wings fluttering in the surrounding Aspen trees. It turned out to be a Ruffed grouse, feeding in…
Gray Whale spyhopping, Pacific Ocean, Baja California Canon 1ds Mark III, 24-105mm f4.0L, 1/640 @ f8.0, ISO 320 The gray whale population that spends its summers in Alaska’s Bering sea, heads south for the winter where they raise young in the protected regions of the Pacific Ocean along the Baja peninsula. These “nursing grounds” are…
Brown bears at play in the Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark II, 500mm f4.0L IS w/1.4x, 1/250 @ f8.0, ISO 200 The brown bears that inhabit the Brooks river in Katmai National Park share temporary population densities far beyond their preference. They abide together in relative peace due to the extremely abundant…
Over the years, I’ve photographed–or tried to photograph–many bears. The brown and grizzly bear are technically declared the same species, but they vary in appearance based on their dietary distinctives. You can learn more about the bears and access photos on my website from this page “Alaska bear photos“. Interior bears, or grizzlies, are generally…
Sleeping brown bear along the banks of the Brooks river, Katmai National Park, Alaska.Canon 1Ds Mark II, 500mm f4.0L IS, 1/13 sec @ f25, ISO 250 Wildlife photography includes lots of waiting. This is the non-glamorous attribute of the occupation. There are of course plenty of other attributes essential to the career, like persistence, logistics,…
Prince William Sound is home to abundant marine life. And one of the favorites is the sea otter. Once decimated to near extinction for their prized fur, the US west coast population has come back, thanks to protective measures. They are ravenous eaters, and they appear cute and cuddly. In fact they are quite large,…