Clouds, Estuaries and Grass Flats

Another day and another roll of gorgeous locations and even a bit of hip wading.

The morning was cold and blustery, starting out with clouds swirling around the hilltops. The afternoon finished balmy and warm again. It was another day of scouring known locations for previously spotted bears. Alas, the bears were again keeping a very low profile, and theories were thrown about as to why.

We finished the day with a visit to an estuary grass flat, so far unexplored by our guides. It was time for more wading and clambering, during through trees, and I just about fell off a log into the rather frigid water. I did fall on my face in some mud.

By the end of the day, all we saw were glimpses of bears' hindquarters disappearing into the undergrowth. But it was my last day with the guys in the truck... as there was just one more day in north Vancouver Island, and I wanted to visit a few more places before it was time to leave. 

Heading out: first stop this morning was a low slash down near the inlet. Again, the hunting party moved off while I took advantage of the time to set up a tripod and shoot some of the dramatically changing skies. The rain was interrupted by the occasional sunburst, meaning I was cycling through wiping my lens down and shading it from the sun every few minutes. I tried some half successful long exposures, of which this was probably salvageable. Not much success, though

Rapid change: this was taken within minutes of the shot above.

Red bellied bee snapper: actually, I have no idea what type of bird this is. I don't usually shoot birds. But our guides were a wealth of information not simply on hunting bears, but on just about every aspect of wildlife in this region. I do know it's not a Blue Grouse.

More snow and mist: we never actually climbed any of the peaks where there was still un-melted snow, but they were all around. 

The slash: a slash is what is left after loggers have done their job on a slope. The land lays fallow like this for a while before it is replanted and simply left to grow.

Grass flat: we took a forest trail down to an estuary behind which Mike thought there may be some grass flats. It was one of the few corners of this part of Vancouver Island that our guide had not yet explored. Donning hip waders and carrying all the gear, we set off over a series of estuary and through some picturesque grass flats. We saw no bears, but there was plenty of sign for large cats, and Jason spotted a mink. I managed to fall off a log.