Album Wildlife

[Nick]

Hi everyone. I'm back in the lower 48 after a summer in Katmai National Park in Alaska. I'm sifting through pictures, trying to think what makes sense to share. TR? Photo album? We'll see how things work. In the meantime, I have a lot of pictures of a certain wildlife that make as much sense as anything to simply put on here.

Ursus arctos- The Brown Bear
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WOW! Welcome back, Scott! I'm sure however you decide to post it, we will be very happy! Great stuff!

 

[Artemus]

Cool!

x3, @SwimsWithTrout !

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

A few recent shots of something a "little" different. At first I thought this was going to be impossible, but it's actually just slightly harder than my bat photos.

 

[slc_dan]

Oh man, @Artemus is going to love these. Odonata are one of his favorites.

Killer shots.

 

[Absarokanaut]

Wow.

 

[Scott Chandler]

One of the first experiences I had of a bear outside my house at Brooks Camp.

 

[Artemus]

A few recent shots of something a "little" different. At first I thought this was going to be impossible, but it's actually just slightly harder than my bat photos.

Odonata! I DO love it! Looks like this one is smiling

 

[Artemus]

One of the first experiences I had of a bear outside my house at Brooks Camp.
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Oh man, that cub is cool!

 

[Scott Chandler]

Oh man, that cub is cool!

Hehe that one in particular is a crowd favorite. This is bear 273 and her cub, who fans refer to as "Velcro". They were our camp bears, commonly pushing the bounds of where we wanted them. They also had a special pension for playing and napping in such a way as to grind the whole Brooks Camp operation to a halt. There are videos on Youtube of these two playing for hours by the bridge.

 

[chandlerwest]

Hehe that one in particular is a crowd favorite. This is bear 273 and her cub, who fans refer to as "Velcro". They were our camp bears, commonly pushing the bounds of where we wanted them. They also had a special pension for playing and napping in such a way as to grind the whole Brooks Camp operation to a halt. There are videos on Youtube of these two playing for hours by the bridge.

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To share the experience with Scott I became what I hope was a passive bear webcam viewer. You try not to infer human emotions on these wild creatures but when you see their behavoir daily it is really really hard. The Love 273 and Velcro displayed for each other was undeniable. (Surely it wasn't something as mundane and cold as a mom training her cub to survive.)

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

Odonata! I DO love it!

If you're not too picky on seeing in flight dragons, I had a bumper crop this year for static shots using the macro lens for the less skittish.

 

[Artemus]

If you're not too picky on seeing in flight dragons, I had a bumper crop this year for static shots using the macro lens for the less skittish.

Bluet Damselflies. Nice! Thanks.

 

[Brendan S]

Gray fox in Bowdie earlier this summer...

Coffee fox by Brendan Swihart, on Flickr

 

[Scott Chandler]

One of my favorite things to talk about as a ranger is how without the small processes we don't actively think of the bigger things we value in natural areas wouldn't exist.

Like how the ancient instinct of salmon returning to the waters that their ancestors were born in to spawn, dying in the process, fuels the entire Katmai ecosystem. Salmon are truly as amazing as bears.


Bristol Bay has the most prolific and healthy natural salmon run in North America. Maybe the world, I didn't claim that when I talked about salmon. We're talking millions of Sockeye Salmon, one of five species. It is estimated that 280,000 sockeye salmon entered the Brooks River system this year.

Salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean to grow for a couple years and return to the stream beds they were born in to spawn. They cannot adapt their bodies to handle fresh water after the salt water though, and thus survive off their own bodies throughout the spawn process, eventually dying when they can't take digest any more of themselves. Sockeye salmon turn red because they absorb their scales and you can see their flesh underneath.

Salmon nutrients entering the ecosystem fuel the large growth of "coastal" brown bears compared to "grizzlies," are a major part of other predatory animals and are even found in trees near streams.

 

[Scott Chandler]

Some favorites from the past couple weeks in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Lesser Goldfinches drinking at Quitobaquito Spring


A Black Phobe. I've seen Say's before, but never a Black


Gila Woodpecker.


A Greater Roadrunner that amazingly didn't dart into oblivion before I got my camera out.


A Coyote that I believe is hopping the border to eat trash.


What was once a Red Tailed Hawk


And maybe the most amazing thing here: MEXICAN LEAF CUTTER ANTS!

 

[Artemus]

One of my favorite things to talk about as a ranger is how without the small processes we don't actively think of the bigger things we value in natural areas wouldn't exist.

Like how the ancient instinct of salmon returning to the waters that their ancestors were born in to spawn, dying in the process, fuels the entire Katmai ecosystem. Salmon are truly as amazing as bears.

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Bristol Bay has the most prolific and healthy natural salmon run in North America. Maybe the world, I didn't claim that when I talked about salmon. We're talking millions of Sockeye Salmon, one of five species. It is estimated that 280,000 sockeye salmon entered the Brooks River system this year.
View attachment 49348 View attachment 49349 View attachment 49350 View attachment 49351
Salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean to grow for a couple years and return to the stream beds they were born in to spawn. They cannot adapt their bodies to handle fresh water after the salt water though, and thus survive off their own bodies throughout the spawn process, eventually dying when they can't take digest any more of themselves. Sockeye salmon turn red because they absorb their scales and you can see their flesh underneath.
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Salmon nutrients entering the ecosystem fuel the large growth of "coastal" brown bears compared to "grizzlies," are a major part of other predatory animals and are even found in trees near streams.
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Well said! And well filmed! You should be an educator of the uninformed public. Wait, you are!

Are you teaching them about the stars and the value of a real and dark sky in this new gig?

 

[Artemus]

Some favorites from the past couple weeks in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Lesser Goldfinches drinking at Quitobaquito Spring
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A Black Phobe. I've seen Say's before, but never a Black
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Gila Woodpecker.
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A Greater Roadrunner that amazingly didn't dart into oblivion before I got my camera out.
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A Coyote that I believe is hopping the border to eat trash.
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What was once a Red Tailed Hawk
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And maybe the most amazing thing here: MEXICAN LEAF CUTTER ANTS!
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Great Scott, making me look forward to my trip to your latitude this holiday. No snakes yet?

Are the pass-through migraters still there? We are walking Madeira canyon next Monday if you want to join us. World class birding, I hear.

 

[Scott Chandler]

Great Scott, making me look forward to my trip to your latitude this holiday. No snakes yet?

Are the pass-through migraters still there? We are walking Madeira canyon next Monday if you want to join us. World class birding, I hear.

No snakes yet. Not much reptile life at all, couple quick lizards. It's not really the season right now.

Not as many migraters as I expected. I saw a large group of black colored birds today that I didn't know but aside from that it's mostly been resident species. A kestrel was a cool sight, saw it from above. Alas I was too slow with the camera.

Yep, night skying down here. I get to acquaint with my telescopes over the next couple evenings

 

[Nick]

A bobcat fishing in Olympic National park. Wild!

 

[kimbur96]

Herds of elk at RMNP. I only have a 18-55 lens for my hand me down T1i rebel. Would have loved to have a bigger lens to get some close ups. Still it was amazing to see herds of elk.