I searched through my archives for birds with black feathers and came up with birds I saw in Alaska, Texas, Colorado, and close to home in Georgia. The photo above is a Hooded Merganser at Inks Lake in Texas.
Oystercatcher in AlaskaPuffins on the Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez, AlaskaWhooping Cranes in TexasBlack Billed Magpie, ColoradoWood Stork on nest in Georgia
Five years ago this week we were on the road to Alaska from Georgia. Once we crossed the border into Canada, I spent every day looking for wildlife. There were many “WOW” wildlife sightings in both Canada and Alaska.
I’ve been thinking about posting some of my favorite wildlife photos from the trip and today I finally got the boost I needed to put it all together. When my friend Ingrid at Live, Laugh RV posted that the theme for her very first Wednesday photo inspiration was wildlife, I immediately started going though the thousands of photos from the trip.
If you would like to participate or see other posts inspired by Ingrid, click on over to Ingrid’s post Wandering Wednesday.
Here are just a few of my favorite wildlife photos from our Canada and Alaska adventure.
Elk near our campsite in Jasper National Park, Alberta
Soon after entering British Columbia we were in Mount Robson Park and saw this grizzly beside the road
Bear in British Columbia
Bison herd with calves near Liard River Hotsprings in British Columbia
Moose in Denali National Park, Alaska
Black Bear Cub in Valdez, Alaska
Stellar Sea Lions on wildlife cruise from Haines to Juneau, Alaska
Humpback Whale on wildlife cruise from Haines to Juneau, Alaska
Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier cruise from Valdez, Alaska
Pod of Orcas with calf on Columbia Glacier cruise from Valdez, Alaska
Eagle at Deep Creek Beach, Alaska
Pair of Eagles on Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez, Alaska
Puffins on the Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez, Alaska
The day was overcast with a chance of rain but it was our last opportunity to take a cruise so off we went on the Glacier Spirit with Stan Stephens Cruises. The boat had a nice, warm comfortable cabin and plenty of viewing areas outside. We left the Valdez Harbor about noon for our 6 hour cruise.
We went out on the Glacier Spirit
One of the crab boats from “Deadliest Catch” tv show
A boat heading out of the harbor
Foggy day for a boat ride
The scenery was breathtaking and there was plenty of wildlife. As we cruised close to shore we saw too many eagles to keep count. A pod of Dall Porpoise bow surfed for a while. They’re too fast to get a picture but beautiful to watch.
Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez
We stopped to watch the sea otters on our way out into the bay
We spotted this pair of Bald Eagles as we cruised by on a wildlife and glacier cruise from Valdez
Henry enjoying the view from the bow of the boat
Hundreds of juvenile Stellar Sea Lions
Puffins on the Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez
The highlight of the day was seeing a pod of Orcas with a calf.
Pod of Orcas with calf
We finally saw Orcas!
A pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez
The captain navigated through huge chunks of ice to get into Columbia Bay for a close up look at 10 mile wide Columbia Glacier.
Chunk of ice from the Columbia Glacier
The Columbia Bay was full of ice as we approached the Columbia Glacier
We were about two miles from the Columbia Glacier when I took this photo
This piece of ice from the glacier is big enough to be called an iceberg
A small sailboat sails around the ice
A chunk of ice from the glacier
The ride back to Valdez was just as spectacular.
We saw waterfalls as we went by
An oil tanker leaving Valdez
A couple of the small rocky islands we passed
Do you see the profile of a face on the right side of the rock?
This waterfall looks like it is coming out of the clouds