Calamari to Go

I shot this down at Thornton Creek and it’s an excellent example to illustrate how being at the right place, at the right time is what it’s all about!
I saw something down on the rocks and glassed it,only to discover that it was not one but two Humboldt squid! They had washed ashore! The tide was out and I knew that a bear would be coming along sooner or later and hurried down to get into position ! Sure enough,this guy (Bruno) came by 1/2 hour later and took the squid into the forest for his own private dinner of Calamari.
These interesting creatures have been washing ashore occasionally during the summer. I haven’t heard of a reason as to why,but a local biologist , Josie Osborne has been looking into it.
This may be the first documentation of this occurring in Nature. It may of happened else where folks,but if you don’t have a camera,it doesn’t mean much! You need to carry your camera all the time!

Humboldt Squid

This beautiful creature was still living when I came across it! It was blowing bubbles . You can not only see one to the left of the eye,but you can also see me in the reflection!
While I was watching it ,the bubbles stop and new that it had just passed
These creatures are VERY smart and they can problem solve like us. When they are looking at you,you can feel them not just looking ,but seeing you and figuring you out! They are also an aggressive predator! They feed in frenzies at night near the surface. They go back down deeper during the day to avoid any bigger predator.

I decided that a bear would probably come by fairly soon and looked at the angle of the light and found myself a nice spot to wait for the action to happen.
And it did. A great opportunity to say the least to get a picture of a wild bear grabbing a Humboldt squid !
Fantastic

Prairie Warbler

This little fellow I am told is a very rare bird for the West coast of Vancouver Island!
A friend of mine who is recognized as one of British Colombia’s top birders (Adrian Dorst) had it land in his tree just outside of his office window. I got this shot and a few more. The tree colours make this shot much richer! It was very flighty and hard to shoot as a result.
When word got out that it was here,many birders came from great distances and just hung around waiting to see it for weeks.

“Criuser” Gets A Coho

I call this bear Cruiser because he’s always doing that…..cruising ! He never seems to slow down and is always on the move.
He got a silver Coho at Thornton Creek and was heading to the forest to have a snack.

Hand of God

If you have an imagination,you can see what looks to be a large hand. The pink of the setting sun just adds to it.

Humboldt Squid

You can’t see it,but the young woman in the foreground is checking out a Humboldt Squid that had just washed ashore. She was prodding it with her shoe. The entire beach was littered with them!

Sunset Walk

I waited for this family to come into my already composed shot with the Lighthouse in the background at Sunset.

Almond Islet

This eagle is on a small island called Almond Islet.It’s located down in Tofino Inlet east of Tofino.
This eagle always seems to be restless and is hard to get shots of.
I love the tree & it’s very distinctive shape!

Sunset Heron

This solitary Heron back lite at sunset draws the eye to it immediately.
It was on the sand spit near Deadman Island.

Kayaking at Sunset

These two guys were heading out of the harbour at sunset.
Tofino is a major destination for people with kayaks all over the world.

Atleo Puts Plane Into The Harbour

I came by when Jay was putting his plane back into the ocean after being serviced.
Thats Jay in the boat waving.

Vampire Pose

This shots shows a eagle snatching a fish and striking that “Vampire” pose I’ve talked about before.

Surfing God Rays

This shot works because of the cloud structure. There are holes through the cloud layer and the light is controlled as a beam.

Sunset Search

This military helicopter from Comox was searching for a missing surfer at sunset.
It turned out that the young woman,changed her mind about surfing and went to Port Alberni instead without telling anybody.

Searching

They searched for about a 1/2 hr and than returned to CFB Comox base.
You couldn’t of asked for a more perfect moment for it to happen!
On a beautiful sunset.

Sunset Searching

I waited for a wave to crash in the foreground for what seemed like hours and than I finally got one!

Sunset Walk

Many people head out to the middle of Frank Island for the sunset. The clouds were a little thick and diffused the bright sun nicely.

Delilah

I caught her back lite with the setting sun. You can only get away with this kind of shot when there are clouds to the west to diffuse the sun.
I love the pose and got only one shot off. Better than nothing,which happens more often than you think!

Common Merganser

These birds travel fast and are hard to get a good picture of as a result.

Tail Slap

You can see how the tail acts as a protection device against going into the water at high speed. They hydroplane across the water & bounce off of it.

Sunset Fishing

I found these guys out near Wickaninnish Island at sunset. It’s the island on the left and the one on the right further away is Vargas Island.

Daredevil

It looks like this Crow was hanging around and hoping that the Daredevil would leave it some salmon scraps?

The Daredevil

He’s getting yet another fish and the light was great!

Jumping

This eagle has lost some feathers in it’s right wing.
I came across this eagle and caught him jumping at the last second!

Jumping

When they jump,they basically fall and get lift .
The first wing stroke gives enough for lift off,and than they begin to fall and continue to flap.
This is what the eaglets learn when they start to leave the nest. How to take off and how to land!
I have seen eagles chasing one another and go into thick forest and maneuver like a swallow! I have also heard them crashing through the forest and they have to walk through the bush and come out at the forests edge. They do need alot of room to maneuver! All big birds do.
I’ve seen several of the Monas Island gang hop out at the forests edge after crashing through the forest and then gather their wits and fly off.

Abstract ?

This is another example of what happens when your shutter speed is too slow. It kind of looks neat as a abstract piece!
I think this is either the Daredevil or his mate.

The Nadon Heading Out

I caught the Nadon heading out of Tofino at sunset. This boat looks like it can move!

Lennard Lighthouse

I went out to the Lighthouse for sunset and the clouds were fantastic!
Clouds can really add to a picture and enhance it.

Lennard Island Lighthouse

This is an unusual angle to look at the Lighthouse! The background is Lone Cone on Meares Island.
It gets rough out there in a small boat even in the summer!