I’ve lost count of the number of people who have quipped “well, it was called Bear Camp, not Bears Camp.” Yes. Very droll. You’re all as clever as each other.
As disappointed as the group was to only see one bear, we all accepted that nature doesn’t operate on our timeline. That’s just part of nature and wildlife photography. There were a few theories as to why the bears didn’t show up:
- A later than usual change of season and drop in temperature
- The near-record salmon migration meant that bears didn’t need to travel as far upstream to get their 30,000 calories each day
- The recent fires in British Columbia may have altered some of the bears’ migration routes down from the mountains
Whatever the reason, there was plenty else to shoot, fun times, good conversation and great food shared with new and old friends.
The Bear
Here’s the bear, which we encountered on our first outing, on the first afternoon. As always, click on an image to open a scrollable gallery of the full images.
The Moose
On Day 2, my boat companion David and I were out with our guide Ryan, slowly making our way back to base after another unsuccessful outing. All of a sudden, Ryan exclaimed “moose!”. We slowed down and watched this young buck cross the river, stopping a couple of times along the way to check us out, before shaking it off and disappearing into the vegetation. Moose are quite rare, especially in this location, and at this time of year. One of the benefits of fewer bears? Moose.
The Birds
There was no shortage of birds over the four days – bald eagles, herons, mallards, mergansers and kingfishers.
This blue heron was around this spot almost every day.
There was some debate about whether this was a juvenile Bald Eagle or a Golden Eagle. The conclusion at camp led towards Golden Eagle, but based on the descriptions here and elsewhere, I’m starting to think it was a juvenile baldy. Either way, it was wary, but not too concerned by us circling in the boat. Keeping just enough of an eye on us to make sure we weren’t trying to steal its stockpile of salmon.
The Abstracts
Whiling away the hours floating up and down the river looking for bears, your mind starts to wander towards the more abstract. With close enough to 3 million salmon in the river, their red and yellow-green hues shimmering under the water as they prepare to spawn and die, I took some opportunities to experiment. And I never saw a stand of birch or aspen trees, with their near-vertical white trunks, that didn’t inspire some intentional camera movement.
