THORNTON CREEK BEAR

Immature Heron

This Heron was a great subject because he allowed me to get close. I really do think he only does this because he’s “young”

Bear at Sunset

I like this shot because of the background. The Heron standing in the water diverts the attention nicely.
I saw the bear coming and waited for him to cross the spot I had picked out. I call this technique the “Spider and Fly”. I see a great background and wait for a primary subject to enter into the scene.

Immature Heron in Flight

This is that Heron I kept running into down at Thornton Creek. I got some good shots because he/she was young and not too suave about staying away from other animals! Lucky me!
The conditions where such that I had to boost the ISO and assume that he was going to jump and that I had better raise my shutter speed. I don’t like blurry subjects,but even than ,sometimes the mistakes can have merit just because of the Abstract quality!

Mini and Doodlebug(3)

Mini’s third cub was alot chubbier than the two previous years. I almost didn’t recognize her. She’s always with a small cub.
She was showing sign’s of having been into a fight recently.

Sailing Boat and Heron

When I saw this sailing boat coming up the channel,I knew that the white reflection of the sails would bring up the contrast between the Heron and the dark water.
I only got two shots at first and than ran quickly to the right and set up again to get more. I was able to do this several times until I finally spooked the Heron and he took off.

Bear at Sunset

This is where I like to be with regards to the light. I always try to keep my back to the sun and looking squarely at my subject.
The light was nice and warm and only adds to making this beautiful creature look even more so.

Bruno Snags A Fresh One!

This is the best sequence I have of a bar grabbing a salmon! Bruno managed to grab this female Chinook! It was a bit of a struggle,but he won the battle & enjoyed his fish in private! They just love the roe of the female!

Bear Hunting

Bears will often stand in a stream and wait for a fish to hit them. They will than collapse upon the salmon! They than reach under the water with their mouth to secure the salmon. Trying to hang onto a large flailing salmon is not only a tricky,but a difficult maneuver!
This guy missed a male Coho trying to go up stream.

Bear with Salmon

This bear couldn’t of been too hungry. He just stood here for several minutes!
They often times will instinctively just keep catching fish even when they are full.
The salmon are taken into the rivers forest and eaten. The rest of the fish will decay and the nitrogen will be absorbed by the tree’s. All the tree’s surrounding these salmon bearing streams grow at a faster rate because of this added nutrition from the fish.

Mini Gets Another

This location was so dark that I maxed out on the ISO,the shutter speed only got up to around 1/160th !
You can see the poor fish in it’s last moments with the tail flapping in a blur!

Mini & Doodlebug

Mini and Doodlebug are trying to snag a fish.
You can see that Mini has a wound over her left eye. She had been in a fight with another bear. Mothers are very protective of their cubs. But than………..aren’t all mothers?

Sunset Cruising

These two were cruising the estuary at sunset looking for food/opportunity’s.
I like the way the eye goes from bear to bear and than to the sail boat. The natural composition works well here.

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

“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.

Boo-Boo Poses

I was out on the Estuary and this bear heard and saw a loud salmon flapping beside! The bear immediately charged straight at me,but I knew he was after the salmon and not me! Important info to know at moments like this!
I moved to the right as he pinned and grabbed the fish instantly. He walked right in front of me and posed for a full 5 minutes. He did not seem to fear anything and couldn’t of been too hungry.
They become almost drunk like with their full belly’s. They feel the way you do after a huge turkey dinner. They just move slowly and sleep alot. Sound familiar??