Posted by Florian – June 27, 2009
In the Presence of Bears
Grizzly country of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park
There is nothing that gives more to the sense of place of wilderness, than the presence of a grizzly bear. Imagine the Rocky Mountain landscape without the great bear. It is, as if the landscape has lost part of its soul. Most of the western states have suffered this fate. Grizzlies have lost over 90% of their former range. Now their most important enclave in the lower 48 is at stake. It is the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and the adjacent Flathead River Valley, that conservationists have been trying to protect for years.
Encounters with the King of the Mountains
Rocky Mountain Grizzly in the alpine meadows of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park
FROM MY BOOK: YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON – FREEDOM TO ROAM:
” ….I was sitting on a high alpine slope, looking over mountain lakes and ranges. It was a peaceful September day. Flocks of migrating water pipits fluttered by, filling the air with their soft calls, while golden eagles shot through the skies above me, arching in acrobatic grace. It was late afternoon, and slowly the mountain cast a shadow of blue light over me. I had been on that alpine ridge for days, waiting for something to happen. I was watching a large bighorn sheep when I noticed that it had become quite alert. I turned my head, following the direction of its gaze. My eyes met with those of
a silver-tipped grizzly.
It was as if the mountain wall had simply given birth to the grizzly—it appeared that quickly and silently from out of the blue light. In a single instant, it seemed the whole mountain came alive, vibrating with anticipation. In awe I sat there, watching the magnificent creature digging for roots. I knew he was aware of my presence—the wind had long since carried my scent over to him. Slowly the bear came closer, and everything seemed to fall into a hush. Silence filled the place, as if the whole world was
holding its breath, watching the king of the mountains enter the stage . . .” —F.S.
Imagine the American West without the grizzly bear. THE WEST is a great part of America`s history and identity. It needs to keep the symbol of the west alive. This struggle over Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park goes far beyond the status of ” A PARK IN DANGER”. It is about the WILDLIFE GATEWAY between the USA and Canada. The Flathead River Valley can be seen as a “Wildlife Superhighway”, where moose, wolves, grizzlies, black bears, lynx and wolverine move across political border as well as in and out of protection. Such north-south running valleys are extremely rare and the Flathead is one of a kind that still offers wild-land qualities that animals depend on.
Get involved and send your message to the Canada’s Minister of the Environment. We need to protect this place for the grizzlies! If you have not already read some more about the issue on my blog: Canada selling out World Treasures!
Y2Y Wildlife Corridors Book
My book: Yellowstone to Yukon – Freedom to Roam has a wonderful collection of essays by Dr. David Suzuki, Douglas Chadwick, Karsten Heuer, David Quammen, Rick Bass, Ted Kerasote and other great contributors, that look at the dream of a interconnected ecosystem with functioning wildlife corridors from many different angles.
Get the BOOK
Posted in: Adventure, Conservation, Experience, Photography, wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged: Conservation, conservation photography, flathead river, Freedom to Roam, grizzly bears, National Parks, waterton glacier international peace park, wilderness, Wildlife, wildlife photography
Posted by Florian – June 26, 2009
Patience
.. is undoubtably one of the most important tools in wildlife photography. While sometimes it seems one may be waisting ones time, I have learned that if one give into the waiting game, animals start to present themselves: You discover a little birds nest nearby, you observe a fox that does its daily round to mark its territory – and if you are lucky the moment you are waiting for may come true. Some of the best images in my career happened after such long hours of waiting.
Snowy Owl returns to the nest to feed the female and chicks. Nikon D3, 500mm/f4 AF-I
After 72 hours this was won of the “golden” moments that made all the waiting worth while. Emil and I had scoped out a good nesting location of the snowy owls. It was a great Lemming year and there were many active nests near the town of Barrow in the northern most tip of Alaska. After acquiring permission to set up a blind the waiting game began.
Wishful thinking
While I can loose my patience quickly with stuff that “unnecessarily” takes a long time, I can have the patience of an elephant after I get “hocked” on the idea of an image. Often I make different scenarios up in my mind. It becomes a collection of imaginary moments of whishful thinking. These thoughts nourish my desire to wait for those moments to materialize.
Believe me. There are many times when I have waited for nothing. But the times when a wonderful image came out of it make the wait all worth it. In my career some of the best images came out of such stubbornness, where I just did not want to give up on the image.
I loved the many hours out on the tundra with the owls. There was so much to see and listen to.
Observations
Owl mother settling her downs around the chicks
I quickly learned about the hunting pattern of the male, that would sit guard some 150 yards from the nest. He occasionally would fly from mount to mount to switch out his perches from where he would hunt the lemmings.
The female would have the responsibility over the nest. She needed to keep the chicks and the last remaining egg warm.
But even she did get anxious once in a while. She had been sitting on this nest for many weeks, through rain and snow and the daily harassment of the jaegers.
If a long time had passed where the male had not brought in any food, she seemed to try to motive him for the hunt with longing calls. Then when the male finally arrived after a successful hunt, she would change her calls to a kind of ongoing “purring” sound to encourage him to pass over the food.
Male arrives at the nest with a lemming
It was her job to feed the chicks. I watched the male try once in an helpless effort to stuff a whole lemming into the mouth of a chick. He quickly gave up though, just dropped the little rodent and took off for its perch again.
WHAT IS YOUR PATIENCE REWARD STORY ?
Posted in: Experience, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged: Alaska, Arctic, Birds, blind, nature photography, nikon, Nikon D3, patience, Photography, snowy owl, snowy owls, Wildlife, wildlife photography
Posted by Florian – June 13, 2009
A group of muskoxen in the Western Arctic
A few weeks ago I started to document America`s Western Arctic. Coming fresh from Mexico I had a few days in Seattle and then Anchorage to aclimate to the north. The Western Arctic is a huge wilderness area that not very many people know about. For most people it is a “blank spot on the map” with very little visual reference. In the past years the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has received a lot of attention, while the Western Arctic was forgotten about. During that time a lot of resource development projects went forward and oil leases were sold largely unnoticed.
It is very hard for people to care for a place that they don’t know, let alone they cannot picture. As part of my FREEDOM TO ROAM PROJECT I want to change that. I want people to be able to visualize this incredibly precious landscape of the Western Arctic. This becomes increasingly important as natural resource exploiting industries are finding their way into those very remote places. Red Dog Mine is one of such examples. There are so few people living in those areas, that there is very little local opposition. Next to Red Dog, there are new major mining projects in the works including a strip coal mine accessing one of the largest coal reserves on the planet. Over 10% – some 4 trillion tons, of the worlds coal reserve is located there.
If this project goes forward, it would not only be a climate disaster, but destroy one of the last true wilderness areas in America. It is a place that is home to to America`s biggest caribou herd: The Western Arctic Herd. Their annual migration route goes directly though the mining project areas. Last summer Emil and I worked extensively to document the Western Arctic Herd. It was one of the most memorable wilderness experiences of our lives. Read Emil’s story here >>
For several days I worked out of a MAUL bush plane to reach remote locations
Posted by Florian – June 13, 2009
A few days ago my friend Patricio Robles Gil asked me to write a few sentences about what wilderness means to me. I was based in Kotzebue at the time doing aerial work to document America`s Western Arctic. It is a huge wilderness area that not very many people know about – but let me get to that in another post……
Between the shoots and the editing I sat down and asked myself that very simple question. Coming up with an answer in a few sentences was not that easy. After-all Wilderness is the reason, why I became a nature photographer. Wilderness is the reason why I wanted to be an exchange student and come to America as a teenager. With over eighty million people in a country smaller than the state of Montana, there is little room for wilderness. As wilderness had disappeared in Germany, I longed to explore it in the American continent. The word wilderness envelops so many promises, feelings, memories and emotions for me, that is hard to define. But here is what I came up with:
WILDERNESS
“………… is a place, where my imagination can wonder into a world not dominated by mankind, where my eyes can rest over virgin landscapes and where wildlife has the freedom to roam. True wilderness is a window into an ancient world in balance. It serves as a reminder, that we humans are only one single species in this incredible web of life. Nowhere else but in wilderness do I feel more alive!”
WHAT DOES WILDERNESS MEAN TO YOU?
Posted by Emil – April 18, 2009
Staring at the enchanting waters surrounding Espiritu Santo Island, I keep thinking what might be awaiting under its blueish surface. Even though is a windy day and the waters start to build up, we jump in the panga that will bring us to the island. The ride is wild and we are soaked and salted all the way through. We finally reach calmer waters on the easter side of the island, and we can better appreciate the interesting geological features, characteristic of Espiritu Santo Island
A unique site with the most intact ecosystem in the region, withholding several endemic species, including the blacktailed jack rabbit, five species of marine turtles, resident sea lions, migratory and regional bird species and a ring-tailed nocturnal mammal famous for visiting kayakers at night. For its relevance as one of the most ecologically significant islands in the Sea of Cortez, we are here to document a place that not very long ago, was almost sold to private investors for housing and tourist development. Its designation as a protected area by the Mexican government, has allowed the process of slow recovery for a terrestrial and marine ecosystems heavily impacted by unregulated fishing and habitat destruction from tourism.
After gliding over the turquoise waters of its numerous “ensenadas” and exploring some of its hidden coves, we finally arrive to our most awaited destination: La Lobera. A medium size rockery found north of the island that shelters a Californian sea lion colony year round.
As we get closer, the water becomes clearer and shallower. I can see giant rocks beneath the surface, surrounded by pending jewels: tiny colorful fish feeding on the coral beds. Once in a while with unexpected elegance, a golden silhouette spins gracefully under my hanging feet. I want to submerge, fill my senses with that marine joy happening below.
I am finally able to fit in my wet suit and finish struggling with the mask and my long hair. Soon the cold water of the Sea of Cortez runs down my spine. It awakes me with a sudden heart beat, urging me to get a deep breath.
When I plunge my eyes under the water, the cold goes away. Underneath, there is a world beyond my imagination. Huge rocks fill the area all adorned with fish and corals of all sizes. Down, below the rocks, I discover a pair of inquisitive glowing eyes: a group of sea lions hiding underneath the rocks, looking at me.
I miss the words to describe what an incredible feeling it is to have a close encounter with sea lions under the water. Playful and full of curiosity, they approach carefully to inspect you thoroughly. If you turn and dive with quick moves, they get excited and follow you closer to see what might be happening next.
Once in a while I stay still and contemplate in awe their play. Twists, turns and swirls. Ballerinas of the sea, dancing an harmonious underwater performance.
I once belonged to the city, yesterday I fell in love with the wildness of the mountains. Today, if I continue to submerge in the waters of this fascinating ocean, I might soon start growing scales and turn into a mermaid.
Visions of the