CHEWING THE FAT

The weather this week looks pretty good! Got out today & went up into Fortune Channel looking for bears. It was high tide however. Most of the bears go have a nap & wait for the low tide,but many still have spots where they can go eat fresh grass shoots.
I haven’t determined if this bear is a female or male? So do not know what to call it yet?
It seems to like this spot & hangs around. I like a predictable Bruin!

THE DAREDEVIL

MAGGIE’S REAR

JULIETTE

THE “TANTRAMAR”

The wind was up & so were her sails!

ROMEO

THE “TALOFA”

“SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIENDS”!!

It was really windy today,so going out in the boat wasn’t in the cards!
Decided to take a few shots of my little feathered friends! Funny how my two favorite birds are the largest & smallest! Eagles & Hummers!
It’s very hard to get good shots of them both! They’re just so dam fast!!
Tomorrow looks better for being able to get out.

LAZY BOY LAZIN AROUND

WARMING UP

THE DAREDEVIL

MY BOY ROMEO

LAZY BOY

I’ve seen this bear several times so far & it has a habit of sitting! It hangs around in the same area up in Fortune Channel. Alice & Allie hang there too but I suspect Lazy Boy must of spooked them today? I couldn’t find them anywhere tonight? To get these shots I had to get out of my boat & “try” to sneak up! He heard me right away & just stared at me to see what I was going to do & than bolted into the bush!
It appears Lazy Boy is shy as well!

TOO NOISY!

I saw this bear & took a few shots but it was too far from the shore line. I saw that there was a forest corner near it & decided to go back around the corner. I tied the boat up & went up on shore to try & sneak up on it. I was upwind & knew there was a good chance it would hear me & take off. Walking along the shore is a very noisy affair!
Sure enough when I got to the corner & peaked around,there was no Bruin! It heard me long before it smelled me & said something is coming my way,so I’m getting out of Dodge!

DAD,MUM & BABY!

As I approached slowly,the baby kept looking at the older Seals! They do that for instruction. It knew there was a danger but couldn’t decide what to do?
I do drive bys & this way they don’t feel they need to flee. If I were to head straight towards them or stop,they’d spook & slip into the water right away!

BETTY & THE TWINS

<a href=”https://tofinophotography.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/20130424-img_0360.jpg”&gt;First time I’ve seen old Betty this year. She has such a relaxed disposition! Her cubs looked at me & slowly on there own walked up into the forest! Smart bears but that makes it hard for me to take their picture?

THE DAREDEVIL

THE “TALOFA”

STRAWBERRY ISLAND FERRY WITH FULL MOON RISING

ERNIE & ETHEL’S FULL MOON

It was very tricky getting into the “sweet spot” for this shot! I had to line them up & cut the motor at the right moment, compose,focus & shoot!
Than if one of them was looking elsewhere & not giving me a profile,I had to do it all over again!

Rod Palm told me they are building a nest of the north side of Strawberry Island! He said it’s very hard to see right now but I will keep a eye out for them there!

ROMEO & JULIETTE’S SUNSET

NO ROMEO!!! GO BACK!!!

If anyone had been around me they would of either thought I was crazy or died laughing!
When Romeo perched on top of the tree,I realized I could line him up with the moon! I had to go further away from him to this however. When I had the exposure & stood up to take the shot,he decided to fly over to me & say hi!! RATS! He flew straight to me & slowly glided around me all the while I was yelling at him to go back!…………………& he did! I was waiting for him to perch back in the same spot!
I’ve been trying to get a Moon/perching sequence for a long time! So it turned out better than I thought!
I later thanked him.

ROMEO’S MOON

THE “TANTRAMAR”

I saw the white sails at a distance & zoomed over to try & shoot them with the sunset in behind. The sunset had diminished a lot unfortunately.
I’m not sure of the name either?

ALICE & ALLIE

I went up into Fortune Channel looking for bears. I did find several but Bear watching boats were already on top of them. I prefer to be alone with my subjects! The fewer distractions around the better!
I searched up & down but could not find one free & clear,so I went over into Gunner Inlet. Yes I did find one there but it was in the shade! Once again I had to by pass,so I went back into Fortune Channel & found “Alice & Allie” by themselves.
I knew that by going all the way back into Fortune that it was going to make me late for sunset back in the harbour…………& it did!

Looks like little “Allie” has a small case of “mange” happening!

OUT OF THE BLUE!

The Daredevil “almost” caught me off guard!
I looked around for him,but could only find Delilah. After a minute or so,I happened to look to my right & he was coming in at mach one! I was only able to get off two shots!
He does this to me oh so many times & all I can do is curse!

ROMEO’S MOON

Notice how the moon is too bright!
When the moon rises it’s always pale & than gets brighter & brighter until it’s as bright as it’s going to get! During this transition it passes through a half hour time window when the brightness has a perfect exposure. In this series of shots you can see I arrived too late! The moon had already passed this “Goldilocks’s” zone. It’s always a very tricky affair trying to get these shots! I’m usually late because I was in transit. I hate when this happens!! I can see the moon is perfect but can only curse while traveling as fast as possible all the while looking for a eagle!
Even if I do find a eagle & the moon is in that perfect exposure,the eagle is usually not at the top of a tree! It’s normally in a tree where the moon cannot be seen behind it! It has to be at the very top free & clear.

SUNSET PROFILE

ROMEO’S SUNSET

LENNARD ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

COMING IN

BEACH SCENES

BEARLY FRIENDLY!

ALICE & ALLIE

BEARBOW

MEARES ISLAND RAYS

DARKNESS & THE DAREDEVIL

MOE STRETCHING HIS LEGS

MY GIRLFRIEND “MAGGIE”!

ROMEO COMING OVER TO GREET ME!

JULIETTE NESTING

ROMEO’S ATTACK POSE

ROMEO’S MOON

SUNSET COMINGS & GOINGS OF MY FRIEND ROMEO

A CORMORANT SUNSET

TIED UP

The weather was great today so I got out & headed up into Fortune Channel for bears. It was high tide,so I wasn’t exactly expecting a huge number of bears,& I was right. Found only one tonight.
I recognized this guy from last year. He has a scar above his right eye! Very gentle creature. Glad I ran into him or I would of struck out!
He wandered into the bush after a while & I started to head back for sunset. When I got to Tsapee narrows I could see thin clouds to the west & new that the sunset was going to be muted at best!
At Tsapee the light was great! The Daredevil was up to his old tricks once again! He came in so close to me that you can see my shadow on him! When was the last time you saw a wild eagle do that?
Continued on to Deadman Island to visit with Romeo & Juliette. She even got off her egg(s) to come over & say hi! The light was so muted that I couldn’t get too excited about it.
Wasn’t a outstanding shoot but still way better than what most people did I’m sure!

TOURING

THE “TAMANAWAS”

I saw the “Tamanawas” heading back into town when I first entered Fortune Channel. It had just harvested salmon at the Creative Salmon Dawley Pass site.

SCAR FACE

I only found one bear tonight. I recognized this bear from the scar it had near it’s right eye. I think he recognized me as well & knew I was no threat. We spent about half a hour together before he slowly walked into the forest.

CLOSE UP OF “SCAR FACE”

You can see his scar above his right eye. No doubt from another bear swiping at him!