THE DAREDEVIL

MAGGIE GIRL

ROMEO’S SUNSET

ROMEO’S MOON

ERNIE’S MOON

“LEFTY’S” CLOSE UP

Lefty’s right eye was damaged during a fight with another bear.She seems to get along without it just fine.

PEGGY & PIGLET

PIGLET BEING PIGLET

I now believe that this cub is Piglet #2.It’s the same mother but a smaller cub than she had last Fall.Which means Peggy must of not denned with Piglet last winter.This cub was born this year & so explains why it is so small.It even has a thin white chest marking like her older sister Piglet! Peggy also has a bad case of mange on her face.I almost didn’t recognize her.

 

PIGLET HAS A SKITTER

GORD’S SUNSET

I’m dedicating this post to my older brother Gord.He passed away today. I’ll miss him.I wished him well on his journey. A journey we all must take one day

 

MAGGIE GIRL DANCING

THE DAREDEVIL

“BAT BOY”

A friend mentioned that this bear looked like “Bat Boy”.After checking previous shots I’d have to agree. This is Bat Boy!

LOOKING FOR MUMMY!

I found this baby Common Merganser all by it’s self.I couldn’t see it’s mother anywhere? If it can’t find it’s mother real soon,it’ll be preyed upon for sure!

BETWEEN A ROCK & A HARD PLACE

It’s been hot (for our area at least) here for the last few days.When that happens the bears tend to stay inside the coolness of the forest.I only found one bear out tonight.It was a female.I recognized her & I think she recognized me as well. She has a skin problem around her right eye.

On another note.This boulder I find interesting! See how rounded the edges are.That only comes from being turned over & over many times.The only thing that could do something like that is a glacier.

When a glacier advances it’ll scoop up whatever is in front of it.Very much like when you shovel snow with a large shovel. The glacier will continue to advance for thousands of years! It will pick a boulder up & transport it hundreds of miles from it’s original spot.When the glacier retreats all of these boulders fall out.Thats what I believe this boulder is.They are called a “Glacial Erratic”.I’ve seen some erratics the size of a house!

THE DAREDEVIL

SUNSET DANCING

ROMEO’S SUNSET TAKE OFF

CRUISING

BEAR STARE

THE DAREDEVIL

THE DAREDEVIL’S CLOSE UP

A CRESCENT EAGLE

ROMEO’S SUNSET

TOFINO TRAGEDY

Once again Tofino has the pale shadow of death cast upon it. A boat with 5 souls overturned.Two survived ……the ocean kept the rest.

Five Native fishermen went out to check their Longline around 2 am Friday morning. Some how the boat overturned?It wasn’t windy out.One swam to shore & another clung to a small buoy. Three others didn’t make it.Military & Coast Guard helicopters,planes & boats searched the area extensively! Nobody was found.

I took this shot in the spot where the boat overturned.

UPDATE : Tuesday June 19.The boat was found & raised.It was taken away for further investigation.

 

WILLY

This male (Willy) was following a young female.He wanted to mate with her but she wasn’t ready yet.He would try to nuzzle her all the while softly grunting.In the last shot it shows him laying down waiting for her.He actually had a 5 minute nap while Winnie grazed near by.

WINNIE & WILLY

In the bottom picture the bear to the left is the male,Willy & of course the other is Winnie. Willy wanted to mate with her but she wasn’t ready.So Willy followed her everywhere.Sometimes he’d just sit down & once he laid down to sleep while she grazed close by. This scene reminded me of how humans act.The male stays seated outside the mall store waiting for his wife to finish shopping.

THE DAREDEVIL

A TOFINO SUNSET

 

 

SEARCHING FOR DINNER

ROMEO’S SUNSET FLIGHT

GRAY WHALE VISITS THE HARBOUR AT SUNSET

While I was with Romeo,I noticed a skiff south of me.It wasn’t moving?I wondered if it had motor trouble but also wondered if there was a whale around? I finished with Romeo.The sun had set & so the light was gone. I headed back to First St dock.That skiff was still there but moving slowly.Thats when I saw the “blow”! It was a Gray whale! I knew instantly that I could only take silhouettes as the sun had already set.If I had known it was a whale I would of left Romeo sooner & come over. Ahhh hindsight………….!

The only shot angle I had was looking NW.I had to line up the whale with the last light of the day.Which placed me right near the dock.For whatever reason the whale surprised everyone & actually came over to the dock! Giving the tourists a excellent vantage point (better than mine)! My cameras exposure was set on “manual” as it always is. So when the Gray came up behind me suddenly I had no time to change my exposure! The shot was under exposed but I managed to bring it back enough to get a half decent shot.

Gray whales are a beautiful creature to be sure but photographically poor.They almost always stay low in the water & rarely breach.(jump out of the water)

A nice ending to my evening shoot none the less!

 

ERNIE & ETHAL

Ernie is the one on the bottom.If you have a keen eye you’ll see the size difference!

GRAZING IN THE MEADOW

 

BEARLY GRAZING

GREAT BLUE HERON

LEAP OF FAITH

A cute Pine Martin ran in behind!

MUNCHIES

A DAREDEVIL’S SUNSET

RAINING EAGLES

This was the last shot for the evening.A unexpected localized rain shower dampened my photographic hopes. Romeo seemed fine with it!

THE DAREDEVIL

Notice in the last shot the difference between the eye pupils. The bright side is closed down,while the dark side is opened more.

SHADOW DANCING

UP CLOSE & PERSONAL

MAGGIE GIRL

 

LONE CONE HAT

This is a local mountain called “Lone Cone” & no that doesn’t mean it’s volcanic. The word “cone” refers to a small mountain.We have another called “Vargas Cone” just south of Cox beach.

The locals say when Lone Cone puts on a hat good weather is on it’s way!

ROMEO POSING

HEAD UP IN THE CLOUDS

DINNER WITH A FRIEND

A Common Merganser was swimming around in front of this bear.I’m not familiar with this bear but suspect it is the one I’ve seen here several times in the past.Bears will hang around a given area as long as there is food & no other bears.

In the second shot you can see a small white spot on it’s fur.Thats a Sala flower.All the fruit bearing bushes are blooming right now.The flowers not only sweet with nectar but also sticky.

“DON’T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL”

I found this bear on my way out of Gunner inlet.It’s a young bear.I thought it’s ears were bigger than normal & so was leaning towards calling him “Bat Boy”,but I’m not sure of the sex? It does have a white chest patch so I will be able to ID it in the future. I’ll let you know if it’s a “Bat Boy” or “Bat Girl”?

THE DAREDEVIL’S SUNSET

A Frontal system was moving in when I shot this.The leading edge was translucent which made the sunset more interesting!