Polar Bears; Days Five and Six

Five for Five…

When we got to the den today the bears were already sleeping in a day den. We had blue sky, but a very cold wind. In the last couple years in -40 C my camera stayed out in the cold for 8 hours straight without draining so much as a battery. Today they went dead three times. I have no idea how cold it was, but this morning was definitely the coldest that I have ever experienced it here. In fact my hands are still burning and we've been back at the lodge in the warmth for the past six hours.

In the afternoon the mom and cubs came to check us out a few times again. The guides had to chase them off because they were getting too close to us, but in the meantime we got some absolutely amazing shots of them as they came towards us. In the past four years of my polar bear safaris up here, this was by far the best nature photography day that I’vehad!

Day Six…

Today was windy and snowy. The bears only came out of their den briefly, but we were fine with that. Shooting through that much snow doesn’t do much for your images anyway. I just stayed in the van and slept.

Day Four Hide and Go Seek...

Day Four:

She still didn’t let us down. We showed up at her den and a couple hours later she and the twins emerged once again. The bears have built a day den in the snow near their earth den and they have several holes with connecting tunnels coming out of the snow. When the mood strikes her, mom will chase a cub into one hole and the agile cub will quickly escape out another. It was really cute to watch.

Hide and Go Seek Countdown. 1, 2, 3, ...

Today was snowy so at over 100 yards away there was a lot of snow in the air making the images soft. It was fun watching the cubs climbing trees and playing even if the images weren't very good today. You can see more of my images are on my nature photography website.

Day Three: Bears and Wolves

Day Three:

On our way out to the den today our trackers noticed two sets of wolf tracks heading toward the den. Some time after we left the momma bear and twins last night, a couple wolves came to investigate the family. If the wolves can separate mom from her cubs, they will get a tasty snack. Judging from the tracks, it looked like the family was headed for the bay, but when she discovered the wolves, they went  back to their den. There were fresh wolf tracks all around the den and the surrounding area. Seeing us humans was likely a relief to the family as the wolves would keep their distance from us. We got to the den around ten a.m. and she came out shortly there after. Today we spent most of the day with mom and cubs and with the great light had a pretty good day of photography. At the end of the day once again it looked like she was headed toward the bay. Ten photographers were enjoying their last photography day today, so it would have been a great ending to the trip for them if the last thing they saw was the bears headed on their journey. She was headed in the right direction and was a couple hundred meters out when she decided to turn around and head back to the den. I guess she still isn't ready to go yet. Maybe she will be gone by the time we get to the den tomorrow. Either way, we have enjoyed some great wildlife photography so far this trip.

Polar Bears Day Two; Keeping the streak alive...

Polar Bears Day Two:

Today we photographed the same mom and twins again. We got to the den at around 10a.m. again and they came out of the den at 2p.m. The mom was really dirty coming out of her earth den, but the kids were actually cleaner than yesterday. The kids spent the day running, climbing trees and playing and were really active. Mom was trying to get them to settle down near the end of the afternoon, but they had holes in the snow bank that only the cubs fit in. Mom would try to get them in one hole and they would pop out another. Finally they settled down and came when she called them for a nursing session and a sleep. They were settling down and we were losing the light so we left back for the lodge.

Check out our wildlife photography page here.

Polar Bears Day One; Keeping the streak alive!

Polar Bears Day One; Keeping the streak alive...

Since February 19^th the lodge has seen bears every day except for the first day. This has been the first time in four years that I have seen a polar bear on my first day here. This year is also heading for one of, if not the best polar bear years this lodge has had.

This year they have seen five families so far including two triplet families for two days each.They have photographed the mom and twins that we saw today for 13 days in a row! I’m sure she will be heading for the Bay soon, but in the meantime, her and her kids have been great models.

We got to the den at 10a.m. this morning and waited until 3p.m. until mom and cubs came out. They were in the earth den so were dirty, but the cubs were active and played a lot, walked a lot and we were able to photograph a lot of really interesting polar bear behaviours. The kids fought a lot, the mother enjoyed a snow bath, she stood up on her hind legs to check out a tree and she circled us twice. She came so close a few times that the guides had to honk the horns at her and drive the vans between her and the photographers to guide her away from us.

All in all it was a very interesting day. I took over 4400 images today. That was the most images I have taken in a day here in any of the years that I have been coming. It is also the most different behaviours I have seen in one day. To put it in perspective, I normally average about 5000 total images per polar bear safari. 4400 images today in three hours!

I will have my images up on my website when I get back. In the meantime, check out my wildlife photography website or images from my 2010, 2011 or 2012 trips.

Polar Bears- Slow 2012; Amazing start to 2013!

The polar bear denning season is upon us again. Last year we had a difficult season. Last year in the first two weeks they only had two sightings of a mom and single cub. When my group got there we saw nothing on the first day and only a momma bear’s head popping out of the den on day two, three and four. We finally had a good photo day on day five. I managed to take about 3000 images of a mom and her two cubs that day. On the next day we saw twins briefly and another set of twins briefly just before dusk on the way home. On the last day we saw a mom come half way out of the den. In eight days we really only had one good photo opportunity, so we made the best of it. The day after we left the mom and triplets came out and they photographed them a couple times over the next two days. Over the next week, there wasn’t so much as another sighting. Needless to say our one good day saved our safari. Some other photographers weren’t so lucky and didn’t even get a glance of a bear and some were so disheartened that they mentioned that they wouldn’t be back. That’s wildlife though, there are no guarantees.

2013 Sightings...

Lets go forward a year. This year there were no sightings on the first day. On the second day they saw twins, day three, twins and a single, day four recorded twins and triplets, day five saw playful twins. The next day triplets again. The following day they saw two sets of twins. So far they have had a better year than all of last year combined and they still have 23 days left in the season!

You never know what nature is going to provide or when to show up. I have another six days before I am out on the tundra this year and am on pins and needles. The conditions are perfect for the bears right now. A balmy -20 degrees Celsius, they have already seen probably eight or nine families and two sets of triplets (odd, in my experience the triplets are normally seen later in the season)…are you thinking what I’m thinking? Is it going to be a short season? Are the conditions for the bears so ideal that they will all have left for the Bay before my group gets to the lodge? Will I see any bears this year? Or is this the year that I get skunked? Or will the sightings continue daily throughout the season providing us with our best polar bear safari yet?

I will continue blogging daily starting March 6th after my first day on the tundra, continuing on to my last day on the 15th.  I'm both nervous and excited about this season. Hopefully I will have some great sightings to report. In the meantime check out my previous safari years at Watchee on my wildlife photography website- Polar Bear Mom and Cubs- 2010 & 2011 and Polar Bear Mom and Cubs- 2012

Images of Africa 2012
If you are in the Edmonton area, please come out and join us. I booked the entire conference centre in Scotia Place. We will be serving South African wine and playing African music and generally having a good time. I will have 40 prints on display and as you can see from the invite, two of us will be presenting.

It will be great to hear from Hendrik. He still visits Kruger park every time he goes back to South Africa. He will be speaking about how to enjoy an air conditioned, self-drive safari experience in Kruger National Park for $110.00 per day.

I will be speaking about my experiences in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. Some of the topics I will be covering are:

• What to pack
• Weight restrictions and how to get around them as a photographer.
• How to pick a safari company.
• Photography tips
• Travel tips.

Visit me on the web on my wildlife photography website or on Facebook.

In the meantime, my exhibit is going up in Scotia Place in the main lobby on November 30th. If you can't make it out to our 'Images of Africa' evening, come check out the exhibit. It will be running from November 30th, 2012 to January 17th, 2013. The exhibit is mostly comprised of leopard, lion and cheetah cubs, so it's pretty high on the "cute factor".