Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Bear

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear on this trip, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) One thing that was proven to me while we were away was that taking photos, even with a fairly light-weight point-and-shoot camera, is what is either causing, or making much worse, the awful pain in my arms and shoulders. Not a good thing, and it made it very unpleasant, every second of the day, unfortunately. Just holding the camera and trying to keep it as steady as I could, was really awkward as well as intensely painful. Too much mouse clicking when using the computer at home is perhaps the main cause of this pain (due to inflammation of the rotator cuffs in my shoulders).. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for so kindly inviting me along on this trip. It's always so much fun to spend time with you guys, and you are both so knowledgable. Thanks for so many chances to take photos of such a variety of subjects!

Am adding the description from other photos that I have posted already of this beautiful Black Bear. It will save my painful arms and shoulders being used any more than necessary. Just ignore if you've seen it before : ) The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

Black Bears have such beautiful, shiny black fur, and we got to see this one pretty closely. A while ago, I posted a rather similar photo of this Bear, but I think I prefer this one, with its head turned very slightly towards us. I am using the same info that is posted with each of my Bear photos from this trip, as it saves me from having to do extra typing. Had a volunteer shift yesterday, and the computers were down all afternoon. This meant that I had to do non-stop, fast writing by hand, which has irritated the inflammation in my shoulders. An important thing to add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people, ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be, as always, to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

This particular Black Bear gave us a great chance for some photos. Even from the safety of the car, though, I still found my feelings changed when the Bear turned from slowly walking parallel to the road, to taking a step or two towards us. It was just a brief moment, and the Bear showed no interest in us at all. I'll add here that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we'd had in about eight months. The sun shone most of the time and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair to the bear, too, as it's almost always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was (as always) happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone most of the time and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was (as always) happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

Black Bears have such beautiful, shiny black fur, and we got to see this one pretty closely. The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people, ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be, as always, to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

Though this photo (and most of my bear shots) looks very close, the bear was still way down the road. Several other cars stopped briefly and we had to move and pull over in front of them all This made it impossible for me to twist around in my seat and get any photos. Seeing a Bear having fun in a small puddle was such an unusual sight, that I just had to open my car door so that I could capture this amazing moment. The Bear lay right down on its side, too, thoroughly enjoying its relaxing moments. I don't think a bear that is stressed in any way would do something like this, knowing that there were several people nearby. What a treat for us. However, there is one thing (actually 2?) wrong about this photo (thanks, Larry, for the reminder of what I had meant, last night, to add) - the empty can that had been thrown away by someone at some time. Why can't people simple put their empty cans into a garbage bag inside their vehicle and then throw them out (preferably recycle!) at a convenient time? If I'm willing to pick up and drive with YOUR garbage in my car, then it's a great pity if you can't keep your own litter to yourself. Quite apart from spoiling the look of our beautiful scenery, empty cans and bottles can be dangerous to our precious wildlife. Please THINK after you DRINK! Yesterday, when I took a look at more of my Bear photos, I discovered, to my huge disappointment, that so many of them were useless because they were taken from inside the car. I'm always very conscious of the fact that I have to be very careful to avoid catching the window in my shots. I don't know why many cars have back windows that don't wind right down, but leave a few inches showing - something to do with child safety maybe? Maybe my own car is the same. Many times before, in my own car and other people's vehicles, many of my shots taken from inside the car just don't come out, even when my lens is out past the window. Fortunately, a number of my Bear photos did come out, but I would guess something like half of my shots didn't : ( My friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. My friends are good at telling individual bears, often by a certain scar and, of course, the actual location. Many of the bears we see, they have seen before. Basically, it's all about timing, as with any wildlife. A few minutes earlier or later and we would have missed seeing something special. We just happened to be lucky. All wildlife/nature photographers know it's all about timing : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) One thing that was proven to me while we were away was that taking photos, even with a fairly light-weight point-and-shoot camera, is what is either causing, or making much worse, the awful pain in my arms and shoulders. Not a good thing, and it made it very unpleasant, every second of the day, unfortunately. Just holding the camera and trying to keep it as steady as I could, was really awkward as well as intensely painful. Too much mouse clicking when using the computer at home is another cause of this pain. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for so kindly inviting me along on this trip. It's always so much fun to spend time with you guys, and you are both so knowledgable. Thanks for so many chances to take photos of such a variety of subjects! (And now I'm back to all the frustrating problems of Flickr, including search problems and very definite Stats (views) problems. When I search for a Flickr member, I get the message that that person can't be found. Ha, I'm away for just two days (didn't post any photos for just one of the days) and now things aren't working? Barely any new photos from My Contacts showing, either. What a mess!)

This photo took about half an hour to upload. When I then tried to upload the next two images, neither worked and, two hours later, still won't upload. On 12 May 2012, I spent a wonderful (17 hour!) day of scenery and bears, thanks to friends Cathy and Terry, who so kindly invited me along with them! We even spent some of the time in B.C. (British Columbia), the next province to our west, and were so lucky to see six bears in total, including this Black Bear and her two gorgeous cubs. As you can see, one of her little ones was a Cinnamon Bear, which you don't see very often. Our first Bear was a Black Bear that looked rather like a huge rock in the distance. The second sighting was an adult Cinnamon Bear, after which we saw an adult Black Bear. The final sighting was this beautiful family of Mum with her two cubs. None of the Bears approached cars, hoping for food. They quietly went about their feeding, for the most part without even lifting their eyes from the ground. The usual "thoughtless" people were there, too, getting out of their cars and approaching, so that they could get closer photos. Of course, these cubs were so cute, but all these Bears are wild and wildlife tends to be unpredictable. You really would think that people could keep this in mind and not approach, but stay safely in their cars - and give the animals plenty of space and respect. The weather was so good that day, but the sun was very harsh and played havoc with my images. Perhaps I should add that I probably used full zoom (my Panasonic FZ40 had 32x), lol, and this series of photos was taken from the safety of the car!!!

On 12 May 2012, I spent a wonderful (17 hour!) day of scenery and bears, thanks to friends Cathy and Terry, who so kindly invited me along with them! We even spent some of the time in B.C. (British Columbia), the next province to our west, and were so lucky to see six bears in total, including this Black Bear and her two gorgeous cubs. As you can see, one of her little ones was a Cinnamon Bear, which you don't see very often. Our first Bear was a Black Bear that looked rather like a huge rock in the distance. The second sighting was an adult Cinnamon Bear, after which we saw an adult Black Bear. The final sighting was this beautiful family of Mum with her two cubs. None of the Bears approached cars, hoping for food. They quietly went about their feeding, for the most part without even lifting their eyes from the ground. The usual "thoughtless" people were there, too, getting out of their cars and approaching, so that they could get closer photos. Of course, these cubs were so cute, but all these Bears are wild and wildlife tends to be unpredictable. You really would think that people could keep this in mind and not approach, but stay safely in their cars - and give the animals plenty of space and respect. The weather was so good that day, but the sun was very harsh and played havoc with my images. Perhaps I should add that I used full zoom (32x), lol!!! Another thing I'll add is that I only remember ever seeing one Bear before that day and that must have been 30 or 32 years ago!

About the most uninspiring photo I could possibly post, but it serves as a memory of our final day of a week's holiday down to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. On this final day, 17 September 2012, we drove from Kalispell, where we had spent the night, north through Glacier National Park. Continuing north, we drove through the adjoining Waterton Lakes National Park, stopping to admire the old Prince of Wales Hotel and the beautiful view from there. We also called in at the Visitor Centre, where we were told that a Black Bear had been hanging around the place. No sign of it when we were there, but I discovered this tell-tale sign (full of seeds) on the grass outside the building. Knowing that that was probably the closest we were going to come to seeing a bear, I just had to take a photo of this. However, we then drove along the Red Rock Canyon Road and were happy as can be to see a Black Bear on a distant hill slope. Very distant photos, but at least we saw a Black Bear : ) ■Spring diet may include: ■carcasses of winter killed animals ■overwintered bear berries ■poplar buds ■horsetails ■sedges ■dandelions ■peavines and clovers ■moose and caribou calves ■Summer diet may include: ■sarsaparilla ■peavine ■ants and other insects ■fish ■Autumn diet may include berries, particularly red buffaloberries in mountain regions, and blueberries and other berries in the boreal forest. ■In years of berry failures, black bears may seek out human refuse. Taken from www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/WildSpecies/Mammals/Bears...

These two Grizzlies were on a very distant hillside (so, fully zoomed and very heavily cropped and obviously posted for interest, not technical quality). At least you can tell that they were Grizzlies - they were feeding on a Bison carcass, along with Common Ravens (though a lady standing near me insisted that they were Vultures, which they most definitely weren't, lol). These Bears returned on other days, too. Some of the time, one Grizzly would be feeding and the other would approach fairly closely and then disappear, coming back a short time later, and then repeating the process. On the one day, we also saw a Wolf approach the Bears and manage to get a mouthful or two - will post another photo later that shows the Wolf there, too, just for the record that we were so lucky to see Grizzlies and a Wolf..

It seems so long ago that friends, Cathy and Terry, took me with them just over the border into BC (British Columbia), to look for bears in the Radium area. This was one of the beautiful Black Bears we saw, looking so healthy, interested in noithing but feeding on grasses and roots. What a great day we had!

A photo of a Black Bear, taken in the Radium area on May 12th. Will be away all day, botanizing the permafrost top of a mountain way, way south of the city : ) See you later. The following is being added next day, on July 6th, as I barely had time to just post my photos yesterday morning, rushing out to a meeting place for a day trip to Plateau Mountain. This is the description I had added to a previously posted Bear photo, taken on the same day. "May 12th was a wonderful (17 hour!) day of scenery and bears, thanks to good friends Cathy and Terry, who so kindly invited me along with them! We even spent some of the time in B.C. (British Columbia), the next province to our west, and were so lucky to see six bears in total. Our first Bear was a Black Bear that looked rather like a huge rock in the distance. The second sighting was an adult Cinnamon Bear, after which we saw this adult Black Bear. The final sighting was a beautiful family of Mum with her two cubs. One of these little ones was a black Black Bear and the other a Cinnamon Black Bear, which you don't see very often. It was good to see that none of the Bears approached cars, hoping for food. They quietly went about their feeding, for the most part without even lifting their eyes from the ground. The usual "thoughtless" people were there, too, getting out of their cars and approaching, so that they could get closer photos. Of course, the cubs were so cute, but all these Bears are wild and wildlife tends to be unpredictable. You really would think that people could keep this in mind and not approach, but stay safely in their cars - and give the animals plenty of space and respect. The weather was so good that day, but the sun was very harsh and played havoc with my images. However, I will pick out a few of the "better" ones and gradually post them. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for such an amazing day out - it was so much fun, and I can't thank you enough for giving me the chance to see (and photograph) these wild animals that were so busy going about their lives. Perhaps I should add that I used full zoom (32x) for my photos, lol!!! Another thing I'll add is that I only remember ever seeing one Bear before and that must have been 30 or 32 years ago!"

Yesterday was a wonderful (17 hour!) day of scenery and bears, thanks to good friends Cathy and Terry, who so kindly invited me along with them! We even spent some of the time in B.C. (British Columbia), the next province to our west, and were so lucky to see six bears in total, including this Black Bear and her two gorgeous cubs. As you can see, one of these little ones was a Cinnamon Bear, which you don't see very often. Our first Bear was a Black Bear that looked rather like a huge rock in the distance. The second sighting was an adult Cinnamon Bear, after which we saw an adult Black Bear. The final sighting was this beautiful family of Mum with her two cubs. None of the Bears approached cars, hoping for food. They quietly went about their feeding, for the most part without even lifting their eyes from the ground. The usual "thoughtless" people were there, too, getting out of their cars and approaching, so that they could get closer photos. Of course, these cubs were so cute, but all these Bears are wild and wildlife tends to be unpredictable. You really would think that people could keep this in mind and not approach, but stay safely in their cars - and give the animals plenty of space and respect. The weather was so good yesterday, but the sun was very harsh and played havoc with my images. However, I will pick out a few of the "better" ones and eventually post them. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for such an amazing day out - it was so much fun, and I can't thank you enough for giving me the chance to see (and photograph) these wild animals that were so busy going about their lives. Perhaps I should add that I used full zoom (32x), lol!!! I didn't crop this particular image, but will be cropping some of the others. Another thing I'll add is that I only remember ever seeing one Bear and that must have been 30 or 32 years ago! This one is to wish everyone out there a very happy Mother's Day. Whether one has children or not, we all have, or have had, a Mother, whether she is still around or not. Being a Mother is the hardest job in the world - ask any man who has taken on this work, whether for a week or for years : ) My own Mother died in 1998, but I still think of her often, and I know I always will - same with my Father. Happy Mother's Day! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_black_bear

Was I glad that there was a wire fence between this Grizzly Bear and myself at the Calgary Zoo! Not sure if it was feeling some relief - looked rather as if it was teething, LOL!