Mating bears excitement

Bruno is hanging around Glendale Cove keeping constant vigil on 2 sweethearts. He is losing weight rapidly as he chases back and forth between the 2 girls and tries to keep another male suitor at bay. This younger smaller male is very good looking, no scars or dents in his well groomed hide. We generally see Bruno lurking in the shadows of the estuary treeline, as we watch one of his mates grazing on the sedges or rolling rocks over in the intertidal zone. If she gets too far for him to monitor, he will come roaring, calling and chuffing out of the shadows in most dramatic fashion, one designed to scare the pants off tourists and other bears allike. His potential mates are playing hard to get with just enough enticement to keep Bruno interested and busy.
We still see Lenore and BPII, as we called her cub after the original Burnt Peanut, around the cove, until Bruno et al get to chasing around. When he is so aggresive, she moves with her young charge over to Siwash Bay, where she is secure and unbothered by her former mate. She has provided our tourists with plenty of " ahhs and ooohs" moments and her 5 month old cub has stolen the hearts of more than 1 animal lover. He, I think he is a he, could be adopted out to most anyone as he entertains himself with a stick or a tree stump to climb, or a rock to roll over. Bull Kelp keeps him active as he pretends it is a most dangerous snake on the beach and needs to be subdued thoroughly. Lenore has been encouraging the youngster to begin swimming lessons, much to his chagrin. He complains the whole time she has him in the water, even though he hitches a ride on her broad back. Once near the shore, Mom shakes him off her back so he can swim to shore on his own. His thin hair pasted to his head makes him look very "wet rat" like as he shakes the water out of his ears.
The Bald Eagles are still setting on their nest in the corner of the cove. There must be young eaglets in there by now, but we have seen no sign of them yet. This nest is one of the most rewarding sights to see for our tourists, once they finally see it. It is well camoflaged in the open making it difficult to spot for the untrained eye. The setting eagle's head just appears above the rim of the large nest. Turkey Vultures and Band tailed pigeons have been spotted in the area, even though they are outside their traditional range. Merganser chicks and cute little Ruffed Grouse have been spotted in the river and the forest trying to keep up to their mothers.
A cougar was spotted on one of the trail cams last week. We have seen tracks before, but never the beast. Black-tailed deer fawns and their parents must be more vigilant than ever with this new predator in the area.
The Coho salmon fry arrived for our hatchery demonstration project last week. All have survived the stressful helicopter flight from The Oyster River Hatchery and the relocation to a new water source. Feeding once a day now till August or September when some of our tours will begin planting them into the river channels. This was a very exciting part of the tracking tour last season. It helped our guests get a feeling of trying to give something back to Mother Nature. Thats all the news from the cove for now. Daylight hours have started to lessen already, so take time out to enjoy our natural world, wherever you are. Cheers, Bob

Grizz Arrival

Hello Bear Enthusiasts: After a very late spring on the west coast of B.C., the bears have finally arrived. I saw the first grizz on May 4, Bruno, a large male whom we have watched for the last 2 years. He is identified by the large white scar on his right hip, a possible war wound from an encounter with another bear in defense of a mate. Then the evening of May 15 I saw another grizzly. He stayed on the beach for about 45 seconds, just long enough for him to size me up as I was sizing him up. I saw both bears while accompanied by guests on May 19. We had a good look at this new male. He is a large, handsome, golden brown with shaggy dark brown head and legs.
May 20, the first of the females showed up. Lenore with BPII, after it's namesake "Burnt Peanut" who died 2 years ago. Then a sub-adult, possibly Bonnie or Clyde showed up at nursery point. A couple days later, possibly Bella with Casper, a 16 month old cub, arrived. All the bears seem to be very comfortable with us except for the males, which shows me they have been here before.
The birds are very active now too. Pairs of Caspian Terns, loons, and ducks of many varieties are cruising the cove in preparation for mating. The eagle is setting on her nest in the corner of the estuary. The first common merganser has showed us her seven chicks.
The drama continues as I watched an eagle attack a goose. After several dives, the successful eagle splashed into the water and breast-stroked to shore, towing the goose. A few minutes later the better fight occured as this eagle had to defend its supper from attacks by other eagles. I don't know which eagle won the best cuts of goose, but several managed to share.
Pacific white-sided dolphins have been very active throughout the inlet. 50 to 60 dolphins have been seen in several feeding frenzies lately. They are feeding on schools of small fish such as herring and possibly coho smolts, and anchovies. A humpback whale even cruised through the inlet and paid a visit to our cove.
Overall, as the bears arrival was late, other wildlife took up the slack providing us with spectacular sights of the continuing stuggle for survival along Knight Inlet.

Grizz arrival

Salmon fry count is almost finished

Hi everyone: The past 2 months have gone by very quickly as I continue the pink salmon out migration count at the Glendale River. The Glendale spawnning channel has produced over 3.5 million pink fry this season. I think this is an excellent count, and much higher than all predictions given the poor returns of adults last fall.
The Glendale river is also producing high numbers of pinks, chum and coho salmon, although I don't have the estimated numbers yet. It has been more difficult to count the river fish this year as a couple of new channels have formed because of high water runoff. We believe the salmon fry prefer the shallow water of the new channels to avoid predation by cutthroat trout and other predators such as otters and mink.
We have had a black bear hanging around the shore line behind the lodge for almost a month now. Old Scarface, another blackbear, showed up about a week ago. I had photographed him last season and was happy to see him around the spawnning channel again this year.
Only 2 weeks to go before the new season begins. I look forward to meeting the new guests, sharing stories and building new friendships.

New season underway

Hi Everyone: I am just trying to set up this new technology with my challenged techno mind. I hope it works before I have to take a hammer to the whole operation.
I have been out to the lodge for 2 weeks setting up the fish counting system in the spawnning channel and the Glendale River. Not many salmon fry showing up yet, too cold.
Bird life is starting on the estuary for the spring season. Birds who winter here such as the Trumpeter swans and Canada geese are still hanging around and the Song Sparrows have started mating calls. The Common Mergansers and Barrows Golden-eyes are pairing up preparing for the mating season. Everyday I am watching for new birds. The other day I saw a Spotted Towhee, and several Varied Thrushes as well as Fox Sparrows foraging on the intertidal zone of the estuary. High in the branches of the shorline trees was a flock of about 15-20 Red Crossbills. Last season I did not see a crossbill or a towhee.
Let's see if this new tech works!!!
Cheers, Bob