Arctic Birds - Part 2

This second group of Arctic birds are those I consider more exotic for one reason or another. 

We expected to see Common Eiders on our trip and we weren't disappointed. I think they are beautiful birds even though they are often overlooked in favor of their more colorful and more rare relatives, the King Eiders. Several people warned us we were unlikely to see the latter as they are uncommon but in fact we saw quite a few more King Eiders than Commons! 

 We had the opportunity to photograph Common Eiders close up near the town of Longyearben but I prefer this image of a male and female pair flying in front of a glacier.

 Although we saw far more King Eiders than we expected, the sightings were always at some distance. Still, it is easy to see why they are so sought after as the colors of the males are quite spectacular.

 One of the birds I was really hoping to see was the Pink-Footed Goose. I finally had my chance to photograph a small group as they flew in front of a Kittiwake nesting wall. You will probably have to click on the image to really see the geese as they blend in so well with the background.

 We saw a few individual Puffins in the water but no groups. I believe we were too early for the nesting time.

 Another bird we saw quite regularly was the Purple Sandpiper. I really don't know how they got their name as they did not appear to be purple!

 My favorite bird images from the trip are those of the Red Phalaropes. This is the only bird species I have ever seen where the female is more colorful than the male. There is a good reason for the difference in coloring - in this family the female lays the eggs but the male then takes over and does all the work of raising the chicks, including sitting on the nest. He is more dully colored so he will be less visible. Red Phalaropes live almost their entire lives at sea. They are partners with the Blue Whales that they follow around for the majority of the year, finding food where the big mammals feed. They are only on land long enough to mate and raise their young and then back to sea they go.

 This pair of Red-throated Loons is a little distant to really appreciate their beautiful markings but they were a treat to watch.

Last but not least is another predator of the bird world, the Arctic Skua. We saw three of the four types of Skuas on our trip but none as close as this one who was protecting her "scrape" (nest) on the ground amidst the Purple Saxifrage.

Arctic Birds - Part 1

No matter where I am in the world, birds are always a focus for my photography. Although the variety of birds in the Arctic was less than in many places I have been, the sheer number of individuals was staggering. Most Arctic birds have a short time when they can come on shore to nest so they make the most of it.

 This post shows some of the more common birds we saw, such as the Arctic Tern, above. These birds are so delicate looking but they are ferocious in defense of their nests.

 Barnacle Geese are similar in size and coloration to Canada Gees.

This wall of Kittiwakes and Guillemots is indicative of what we saw in a number of locations. In the closer shot, below, you can get a sense for just how dense the population was. There were thousands of birds on each wall we visited.

 The Guillemots were also visible hanging out on ice floes far out from shore.

 We saw several different types of guillemots including this Black, left. It was fascinating to watch this guy use his red feet as rudders.

 One type of birds we saw constantly was the Fulmar. These guys are really, really cool, in my opinion. They are tube-nosed, which means they have a tube on top of their beaks which allows them to smell food from a long way off. They have a salt gland which excretes excess salt since they are constantly ingesting it as they skim along the top of the ocean. So their nose is always running with salt snot. And their greatest defense against predators is to throw up on them. Their puke is so toxic it will mat the plumage of predators, causing them to be unable to fly and so to die. Wow!

 Speaking of predators, the most common one of other birds on Svalbard is the Glaucous Gull. These guys are huge and ferocious. They steal eggs and attack smaller birds and chicks.

 In the photo above, the female Glaucous Gull is sitting the nest while the male watches over her. It looked to me like she was riding side-car.

The only song bird of the Arctic is the Snow Bunting. It was such a treat to see and hear them since they occasionally show up in Wyoming in mid-winter. Their version of going south in the colder months!

Ice Bears - Part 2

I not only have a lot of photos of polar bears from our trip, I have photos of a lot of different bears. Each seemed to have their own personality and degree of comfort with the large ship passing by. 

 Some stayed where they were watching us with a mild curiosity while others came closer and still others left as fast as they could.

 The bear, above, is one of my favorites for a very selfish reason. I was all alone on the bow at about 5:30 am when a crew member came down from the bridge to tell me they had spotted a bear on an ice floe we were approaching. The official wake-up call was sounded each morning at 6:45 am and the policy seemed to be that there would be no announcements made before that time. The plan was to get in position and just wait with the bear in sight until people awoke. As we got closer I managed to get the one shot, above, of the bear resting before he became aware of us and entered the water, quick as a flash. That was the last we saw of him. So this is the only photo of that particular bear. I love how his head is down and his butt is in the air.

We had many opportunities to see bears rolling and sliding in the snow. The female, below, was particularly active and I captured lots of images of her in comical poses.

She was also the only bear we saw with a collar on which made for less than ideal photos. Only female bears can be collared for a very simple reason: on males, their neck is larger than their head. Collars would slide right off!

My iMac died this morning. The only good news is that it has been giving me warning signs for the last few weeks so I had everything backed up but I am left without the ability to edit images until I replace it. It was 7 years old so I can't imagine it is worth trying to fix, even if it was possible (which it really isn't in remote Wyoming). I have edited almost all my Arctic images so I can continue to post those photos for a while but things are certainly a little more difficult for the time being!

Pinnipeds and Cetaceans

One of the things I really appreciated about traveling with Lindblad/National Geographic was the opportunity to learn about the environment and wildlife we encountered along the way. Each day we had the option of attending a lecture by one of the numerous experts on board, some of which have changed the way wildlife is managed based on their research and studies. I am not sure I could have told you what a Pinniped (including seals and walrus) or a Cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises) was before this trip. 

 We saw both ring seals and bearded seals on our journey although I only managed to photograph the latter. In the first photo I am featuring a young seal that came up to the ship early one morning to inspect and then continued on his way. In the photo, below, this older bearded seal seemed unconcerned with our presence as we drifted by. Seals are the main source of food for polar bears so they are usually wary of anything getting too close.

 We also saw three different varieties of whales on the trip: one Humpback, several Minkes and four different Blue Whales. The photo above and the two following are all of Blue Whales. The story of the whales in this area can be compared to that of bison in the American West. At one time there was a thriving population that was decimated almost to the point of extinction by over-hunting in the early part of the 20th century.

Blue Whales are the largest animal ever known to exist - bigger than any dinosaur. Pretty amazing considering their diet consists almost exclusively of krill (small crustaceans).

 The two photos of this animal fluking are especially amazing for me as most Blue Whales do not engage in this practice as it puts far too much pressure on their heart and lungs. It is estimated that less than 20% of these animals raise their tail flukes as they dive.

 The other large Pinniped we saw was the Walrus. On a couple occasions we saw single animals either swimming or up on ice floes and in one instance we spent quite a bit of time observing a herd huddled together sleeping on shore.

 This fellow was obviously the old-timer of the group with his white whiskers, long teeth and bumpy pink skin.

This particular walrus was sleeping on an ice floe as we went by. He raised his head to watch us a couple times but then he just went right back to sleeping the afternoon away.

Every now and then the animals in this herd would raise their heads and seem to complain about their neighbor before settling back for an afternoon nap.

 A longer view of the beach where the herd was pulled up on shore.

This last photo is actually my favorite of the walrus since it shows two youngsters horsing around in the water in front of the older animal who has buried his tusks in the sand to rest his head!

Arctic Fox

The list of animals I hoped to see in the Arctic besides Polar Bears was long but near the top was the Arctic Fox. We were lucky enough to see several on a couple of different days although the largest number were spotted, not surprisingly, on the day we visited the Dovekie colony. 

 The foxes are incredibly hard to see as they blend in extremely well to their surroundings. This time of year is even more difficult than most as they are mottled - at various stages between their white coats of winter and the dark brown of full-on summer. The only way to really see them is to watch closely for movement in the rocks or - as we did - stumble across a sleeping fox who stands up basically at your feet!

This photo may look like just a pile of rocks on a scree slope but if you click on it to make it larger and then look closely you will see the hundreds of Dovekies or Little Auks nesting among the rocks. The foxes are here because of the opportunity to eat the birds' eggs as well as chicks and even full size birds if they are quick enough.

 Little Auks are (surprise!) little. They measure about half the size of their cousin, the Atlantic Puffin. Their short, stubby bills and size make them easily identifiable. Their wings are better suited for swimming under water than for flying and in many ways they resemble tiny penguins.

 As we were sitting close to the slope and photographing the birds, we suddenly realized the animal we were searching for was right at our feet. This small Arctic Fox stretched out and yawned before giving us a curious look and sauntering off to a quieter location.

 A second fox was spotted just up the hill as he searched for dinner. His bands of white and dark brown fur blended in to the rocky background, making him almost invisible as he moved across the slope.

The third fox of the day was pretty far off. I would not have even included the photo except for two things: He is being harassed by a Glaucous Gull which is quite a bit larger than he is and the reason for the harassment is that he has an adult Little Auk firmly clenched in his jaws. Nature at its most real!

The Ice Bears - Part 1

I have finally edited enough shots from our recent trip to the Arctic that I can begin posting multiple images on the blog instead of doling them out one-by-one on Facebook! 

Does this snow make my nose look big?

I am starting with the main reason we did the trip -  Polar Bears. I ended up with dozens of photos of these majestic animals so will compose several posts concentrating on the big bruins as well as other posts showcasing the many other animals, birds and landscapes we encountered on our journey to the far north.  

 After a great deal of research we decided to travel with Lindblad/National G to the archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, to experience the Arctic environment. In retrospect it was a great decision and a trip I would do again in a second if I had the chance. By the end of our journey we had encountered a total of 23 polar bears, in various locations, up close and far away. Some of the animals were curious about our vessel while others moved off as soon as they realized we were in their territory.

The captain, crew and expedition guides were always extremely respectful of the animals we saw and  did not hesitate to back away if there was any indication we were disturbing the wildlife.

Land Bear

 The bear above was the first one we saw and by far the most dangerous. You will notice he is the only one I photographed on land, as opposed to sea ice. We were actually hiking on shore when one of the lookouts spotted him coming our way. He was moving fast and headed directly for us, no doubt curious about the odor of so many humans close by. He was enough of a threat that one of the guides was forced to shoot a flare gun - twice - in his direction before he turned away. There are very few images of this animal as we were being herded very quickly into the Zodiaks and were concentrating on getting everyone off shore and back to the ship before he decided to resume his inspection of us. We were told that even though the guides train regularly in case of just such an event, none of them had ever been in that situation before. They obviously hated the idea of shooting even the flare gun at the animal although it beat the alternative of firing one of the rifles each guide was required to carry. Before each trip to shore a number of lookouts were sent out for several miles in each direction to scout for danger but in this case the bear had not been spotted ahead of time despite the many eyes looking.

Getting out of the water

Polar Bears are considered Marine Mammals as they live most of their lives at sea. They did not hesitate to step off the ice floes and into the water to get from point "a" to point "b".

This bear walked by a number of areas of calm water, allowing me to capture many shots of him with his reflection.

Curious Bear

 The most curious bear we saw was this one, above. He came right up to the edge of the ship and looked up at us before moving off to explore a second bear in the area as seen in the last photo.

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