Sunshine summer

 The sun has begun to shine up here!  I think it might shine all this coming week, and it was out the entire last week, beaming heat and life into the land.  Maybe too much heat, though, becase the bears were all hidden in Glacier bay.  First we went to the Magoun Islands, a great way to start the week, but shortly after that we went to Kalinin Bay, where Sea lion Cove is located.  There is a trail that you can do an All day hike, where you go over to the beach, eat lunch, play in the water, and then come back afterwards.  I got to do that. 

 Kalinin Bay is a beary area, so I was on guard as I walked the meadow, and there was mama and a baby out in the field.  We watched them and then passed on.

 The beach was nice and there was a boogie board hidden in the woods, so I went and got it, then went for a surf.  This is a shot of me and the guide that went with me, Sarah.  The beach is very white and soft and nice.

 As we came back to the meadow, another bear popped up and we got a view, and then he stood up to look back at us.

 Next day was Bay of Pillars, and we found some Deer there.

 And lots of otters

 Stick em up!

 I took out a skiff tour and found a bear.  A black bear!

 Then in Patterson Bay I found a baby seal

 And a brown bear

 Then we went to Basket Bay, one of my favorite places in the world.  We did a small recon with the crew to check it out, and here's a picture of the cave you can drive the skiff into.

 Then we went to Glacier Bay, and found a lone orca

 And a sleepy porcupine

 And I found some sunkissed Lupines

 The next (and last) day was in Fern Harbor, near the ocean but also in Glacier Bay

 I had a glorious walk that included a nice view and I found some great Sundews. 

Back to work

It was a really good week, but for some reason, I feel unmoved.  Like the cool things are normal.  So lets see...  I saw some puffins out at the Inian Islands, and the waves and wind was nice for skiff tours.  I love the Inians, and it was really nice to have the time out there, then over to George Island.  

There was a Pigeon Gillemot which was swimming very close to the skiff, and let us get a nice close look, then swam away.  We could see it flying under water, swimming with the wings

When we went into Glacier Bay, there was a bear hanging out on a rock that sat and watched us glide by, it was a laid back fellow.

 In the keku Islands, there was a baby whale that I kayaked over to look at, and it was swimming around with its nose out of the water, being funny.  It kept on doing small circles, and we sat quietly in the kayaks watching...

 Then Mama Whale came up and swam by us gently, passing us quite close.  She had some propeller scars on her back, poor thing, but she was serene and beautiful and big as she swam by.  Kelly, (another guide) was quite surprised that I didn't scream and freak out about the close encounter with a whale, but I never felt threatened.  I knew she had a good idea where we were and wasn't going to bump us.  My kayakers were also calm.

 I also had a nice close bear viewing, for a short time, so I didn't get any photos, but we were walking around in a hilly and difficult terrain, and I had seen some bear tracks and chompings of Skunk Cabbage, so I knew one was around, and as I was walking along a cliff edge, there were two down below me, about 50 ft away.  I stopped and got my group together as they wandered off through the brush, so we got a short view (no pictures) and they were gone, but we could hear them slowly moving still.  Again, I didn't feel threatened or even have much of a rise in heart rate, it just seemed normal. 
The last day I saw a woodpecker.  It was a Red-Breasted Sapsucker, in fact.  I was taking my group along a game trail just inside the forest from the shoreline and we were slowly walking along when I began to hear a small peeping noise.  Off to my right, and up in tree, there was the sounds of small birds crying out for food.  They chirped and squeaked and sang out into the quiet woods for their hunger, and suddenly, there appeared a flitting shape jumping and gliding from tree to tree.  It disappeared.  The sounds were muffled for a moment and then the bird came back and was gone again, off into the woods.  We then tromped over to a big dead tree to investigate, and found three holes up about 20 ft in the tree, and that was where the noise was coming from, for the little hungry bellies were growling again.  We stayed for 10 minutes and watched the Sapsucker couple flit out for food and then come back with second breakfast and elevenzies and mid morning tea for the little hungry saplings.

Exploring Canada by Canoe

 I just got back from a week exploring some small lakes in British Columbia, by truck and by canoe.  Lindsey and I drove up to the area around Kamloops, and paddled around.  We found some nice birds!  First off, every lake up there has a few Spotted Sandpipers.  I've seen these around in the tidewaters of Southeast Alaska, but this was a nice find to see them up in the fresh water.

 Then there is the Yellow-Headed Blackbird.  This one is pretty self explainatory in terms of coloring, but the noises it makes are astounding.  I'd been familiar with the Red-Winged Blackbird, but this one I've only seen east of the Cascades.

 Another Spotted Sandpiper.  They do a funny flight path where they sort of hover and sort of fly, so they go real slow, but its really cute.  They also do a butt dip, and keep their heads in the same place, which is a nice dance move.

 The Red-Winged Blackbird is of course a favorite of the marshes around the lakes. 

 And the Marsh Wren, loud and feisty and when you see them, quite tiny.  This one was cursing us out for a while, upside down, clinging to all sorts of rushes and at a volume cranked up to 11. 

Then we saw this guy, who baffled me for a while, but I looked it up, its a Yellowthroat.  I love the mask he has on, looks like a criminal mastermind in a cartoon.  Also a tiny bird.

 Then we get to Loons.  The Common Loon is found in every lake we came to that had fish populations in it.  We explored a few lakes that didn't have any fish, and surprise!  No loons.  But every one that did have fish, there was that ominous black and white enormous shape lurking through the ripples.  Its nesting season too, and the birds were sitting on chicks!

 The nests are right at the waters edge, in a spot that is seldom visited from land, and the birds sit very still, so are hard to spot.  The colors stand right out, but perhaps with the black and white, the birds are invisible to predators that can't see color, but still bold and sexy looking to each other...?

 This shot shows the size sideways of the loon. Its very wide and not just in the wings.  They are really heavy birds and have a lot of trouble flying, but of course are fantastic in the water.

 The eye is red, and this, I assume, is to allow it to see underwater at depth easier.  Or maybe to make the eye disappear as the bird dives under water.  Red is the first color to go away as you go deep.  So a red eye would turn black, like the head, making it hard to see where the eye is looking. 

 We found some of the baby loons out for a ride with their folks, riding piggyback

 And on a closer look, one of them poke its head out to say hello

 Another look at the Red-Winged Blackbird

 This shot is a bunch of Goldeneye.  Since they are Female, I can't really ID them, but I like the lighting here.

 And this one showing off her golden eye.

 Here's a Ruddy Duck, doing a display.  Ducks have such bright colors and funny looks when they are trying to find a mate. 

 Here's a Mountain Bluebird.  I've only ever seen these up in Canada, but they sure are pretty.

 And some Lesser Scaups.  They are a large number of the ducks in the lakes up there.

 Here's a photo of the canoe we used, I borrowed it from my brother.

 And finally, we got a good look at a Western Tanager, who has bright colors and moves just before you can get the focus right and snap a picture.  This was the last lake we looked at, and on the morning of our departure, we found another loon nest and got up right close.  Here is a good look at the eye of the loon.  A fitting icon for the Canadian lakes.

End of first rotation

 My last week at work before my break!  It was a nice week.  I saw some Greater Yellowlegs

 And also some Greater White-Fronted Geese, a rare find...

 And of course some Harlequin ducks. 

 Here's a shot of a nice Common Loon, with a bright red eye.

 I had a skiff tour where we saw some whales nice and close

 They waved us onwards, and then we had some Dall's Porpoise bowride the skiff

 And a close encounter with a Harbor Seal

 In Glacier Bay there were some Goats, of course

 And then the last day, out at the Inian Islands, we saw some Orcas

 And some beaten up Sea Lions

 As well as some sea otters, wrapped up in Kelp

 Here's the sea lion again, with fish juice drool

 And a couple photos of some cute sea otters holding on tight to each other.

 It was a really nice week, and I'm glad to have a break now, for two weeks.