A few eagles! Just upstream brown bears were catching salmon, and the eagles waited for the scraps to come floating past.

This was one giant black bear! Anan Bear Observatory, near Wrangell, Alaska.

A black bear checking out the salmon stream at Anan, near Wrangell, Alaska.

A black bear shaking the water off last summer at Anan, near Wrangell, Alaska.

Typically when we arrive at the Desert Photo Retreat there can be a bit of a lag before the wildlife shows up in good numbers. For whatever reason, this year, we have hit the ground running. The bird activity is as good as it was when we left in the spring, I think in thanks to my water system working, and the night mammal activity has also been busy. Both nights we have been here we have seen on the trails cameras a gray fox pair, 3 species of skunks and the javelina group grew by a fair bit over the summer and now includes two more brand new little ones! This is a photo from last April. It will be a while before I’m set up to photograph.