Wildlife – Page 2 – Wandering Dawgs

2022 Alaska and the Inside Passage – Part 5 – Searching for Coastal Brown Bears in Haines

October 4, 2022October 18, 2022Posted in Alaska, WildlifeTagged Alaska and the Inside Passage, bear cub, Chilcoot River, Coastal Brown Bears, Fish weir, Haines, totem, Viking Cruise, Viking Ocean Cruise, Viking Orion18 Comments

August 27, 2022 – We spent a week in Haines in our RV back in 2013. It was – and still is – our favorite place in Alaska. What’s not to love? This small town has friendly locals, few tourists, breathtaking scenery, and abundant wildlife.

Our ship was docked with a great view of the small boat harbor, the RV park where we camped in 2013 (in the above image) and historic William H. Seward. The tide was low when we arrived and we could see eagles on the beach.

This tender took us on a five minute ride to the shore.

Our excursion for the day was called the Chilkoot Valley Wildlife Safari. My goal was to see bald eagles and coastal brown bears.

Our transportation for the day was a 24 passenger tour bus driven by our driver and guide Cydnie. She drove up the hill from the dock to take us through historic Fort William H. Seward, a National Historic Landmark. This location was chosen as the site for a fort in 1902 and was the only permanent army fort in Alaska from 1925 to 1940.

Our first stop was a bridge over the Chilcoot River where we had a great view of the river. Sadly there were no bears but we spied a pair of Bald Eagles in a tree.

Our next stop was to see the Chilcoot River fish weir which is used to count the number of salmon swimming up the river. Someone spotted three bears on the weir!

Off we went in the van to get a closer view of these three Coastal Brown Bears. It was a mama bear and her two cubs.

After watching the bears for a while we continued on to Chilcoot State Park where we took in the gorgeous view of Chilcoot Lake and kept a constant lookout for wildlife.

As we passed by the fish weir again on our way to our next destination Cydnie stopped the bus when she saw this bear cub right by the road. I was lucky to the be on the side of the bus where he was and captured a few images of him. When he stood up to show us how big he was it was time to leave. Mama was in the river watching the whole time.

A picnic area next to the Lynn Canal was a perfect place for lunch.

Our tour continued on another highway to the mouth of the Chilcat River where we hoped to see more bald eagles. There were no eagles to be seen and we returned to the ship. By this time the tide had come in and we could walk back to the ship.

Watching the bears in Haines was one of my favorite experiences of the whole cruise. When we got back to the dock there wasn’t enough time left to explore the town. Even so, it was a great day. One day isn’t enough to experience this wonderful coastal town.

If you are interested in seeing more about our 2013 stay in Haines please visit Taking the Alaskan Ferry to Haines or Laid Back in Haines, Alaska or Fresh Crabs for Dinner

Next up – Another wildlife cruise and a crab feast

2022 Alaska and the Inside Passage – Part 3 – Whale Watching and Brown Bear Search in Icy Strait Point

September 22, 2022October 18, 2022Posted in Alaska, WildlifeTagged Alaska and the Inside Passage, bubble net feeding, Chichagof Island, Hoonah, humpback whales, Icy Strait Point, Tongass National Forest, totem, Viking Cruise, Viking Ocean Cruise, Viking Orion14 Comments

August 25, 2022 – We had a full day of wildlife excursions in a new to us location – Icy Strait Point, the only privately owned cruise ship destination in the United States. This former cannery and packing station is located near the town of Hoonah on Chichagof Island, the fifth largest island in the United States. The two cruise ship docks, a museum, restaurants, shops, and excursions are all owned and operated by the local Tlingit people.

We started our day with a whale watching expedition. Our Tlingit captain Drew sped through the water to get us to a good whale watching location. Everyone was on the lookout.

Thar she blows!

Our first sighting was a pod of about five humpback whales. I tried but I could never capture all five of them on the surface at once.

We witnessed a type of feeding behavior called bubble-net feeding. The whales all dive at once. When they all surface at the same time they are in a circle with their heads up and their mouths wide open. It’s hard to predict where they will surface and when they do, they only stay on the surface a few seconds. Sadly, I never could capture them all at once.

It was an amazing to see how the whales work together to feed this way. Captain Drew kept moving the boat so everyone could get a better look. The whales continued to feed the entire time we were there – almost two hours.

As these whales headed straight for our boat I heard the captain say “I think we’re going to need a bigger boat.”

I could have stayed on the boat watching the whales all day but the captain had a schedule to keep and we had a bear search to get to. In the gallery below, the green walkway led us from the cruise ship dock to Icy Strait Point. We checked in for our bear search at the Adventure Center and had about an hour to explore before boarding a shuttle to take us to the trail. The Orca statue was the only Orca we saw the entire trip.

It was fun wandering through the museum and gift shops. I love the totems.

Our Tlingit bus driver told us about the area as he drove us through the beautiful Tongass National Forest and through the town of Hoonah. He was very knowledgeable and I really enjoyed hearing his stories about the Tlingit people.

He dropped us off at the trailhead where we met our guide for our trek through the forest. We stopped at the boardwalks beside the Spasski River where we hoped to see Coastal Brown Bears feeding on the salmon. There were salmon in the river, but no bears. Despite the fact that there were no bears I really enjoyed the walk through the forest.

After an exciting morning we arrived back at the ship with a big appetite for lunch. We just barely made it before they stopped serving hamburgers at the pool bar!

Up Next – Alaska’s capital city and the Mendenhall Glacier.

2022 Alaska and the Inside Passage – Part 1 – Anchorage and Seward

September 10, 2022September 26, 2022Posted in Alaska, Tourist Attractions, WildlifeTagged Alaska and the Inside Passage, Alaska Sea Life Center, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Anchorage, Seward, Viking Cruise, Viking Ocean Cruise, Viking Orion15 Comments

August 19, 2022 – Our latest Alaska adventure began when we flew from Savannah to Atlanta and then to Anchorage for a two night stay in Anchorage. We made it to Atlanta on time but sadly the flight to Anchorage was delayed for 7 hours. We landed at the Anchorage airport about 2:00 am, took an Uber to our hotel and tried to get some sleep.

*View of Anchorage from our hotel room on the 13th floor*

August 20, 2022 – After a few hours sleep we spent our day in Anchorage exploring the downtown area and enjoying two delicious meals of fresh Alaska seafood. The Aurora Show with fantastic photographs and narration about Aaska’s Great Northern Lights was wonderful. There was a park with a beautiful garden nearby. A grilled cheese and King Crab sandwich at 49th Street Brewery and dinner of Alaskan halibut and chips at Humpy’s satisfied our longing for some fresh Alaska seafood. Alaskan beer went great with both meals. Did I mention it was raining most of the day and night?

August 21, 2022 – We woke up to another rainy day. After breakfast we boarded a tour bus for the scenic drive to Seward where we would board our ship the Viking Orion.

Along the way we stopped to see some bears, musk ox, and other wildlife at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Seward. From their website: “The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC) is a sanctuary dedicated to preserving Alaska’s wildlife through conservation, education, research and quality animal care.”

Once aboard the ship in Seward we enjoyed the first of many delicious meals, unpacked and wandered around the ship before dinner.

August 22, 2022 – After a leisurely breakfast we sat on our balcony enjoying the scenery. A bald eagle was perched on a light post close by. If you look closely at the header photo at the top of the page you can see the eagle on top of the light pole.

*Bald Eagle perched on lamp post in Seward Harbor*

Later we rode a shuttle bus to the Alaska Sea Life Center, a nonprofit organization that has an aquarium and also does marine research, education, and marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation. This stellar sea lion was as interested in us as we were of him.

*Stellar Sea Lion – Alaska Sea Life Center, Seward*

If you are interested in reading about our 2013 stay in Seward please visit Glaciers and Wildlife in Seward.

Next up – exploring another port and a day of scenic sailing.

Wandering in the Last Frontier

September 7, 2022Posted in Alaska, Birds, Glaciers, Travel, WildlifeTagged Alaska and the Inside Passage, Bald Eagle, Black Bears, Coastal Brown Bears, Sea Otter, Viking Cruise, Viking Orion16 Comments

We fell in love with Alaska nine years ago when we traveled from Georgia to Alaska and back towing our fifth wheel trailer. We’ve been wanting to return to the Last Frontier ever since.

Our wish finally came true at the end of August this year. This time we flew to Anchorage, took a tour bus to Seward and boarded the Viking Orion for a 10 day cruise ending in Vancouver. We returned to a few places we had visited by RV and saw some amazing new places. The scenery was stunning and there were many wildlife sightings.

These are just a few highlights of our journey.

*Turnagain Arm between Seward and Anchorage*

*Brown Bear at Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the Seward* *Highway* *in Portage, Alaska*

*Humpback Whales bubble net feeding – Icy Strait Point, Alaska*

*Sea Otter Cub on Mama’s stomach – Sitka, Alaska*

*Inside Passage somewhere between Ketchikan, Alaska and Vancouver, British Columbia*

Lens Artists Photo Challenge # 211 – What’s your Photographic Groove

August 11, 2022Posted in Birds, Photography, WildlifeTagged Bison, black bear, Egret, Elk, Grizzly Bear, heron, Lens-Artists, moose, Pelican, Photo Challenge, Photographic Groove, Roseatte Spoonbill22 Comments

In this challenge host Anne asks us “What is your Photographic Groove? What type of photography do you truly enjoy? “

I enjoy the challenge of photographing birds and wildlife in their natural habitat. The header image is of a bugling Elk in Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in North Carolina. One fall we traveled there in hope of seeing the magnificent elk herd that lives there. We weren’t disappointed. I posted about our experience at Cataloochee Valley Elk in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

The following gallery contains some of my favorite wildlife images from our travels around the United States and Canada.