Sunday, June 17, 2012

BEARS, EAGLES AND FISH


We had quite a rain storm Friday afternoon and evening and most of the night.  Saturday turned out to be fairly pleasant with milder temperatures.  The ladies did some laundry at John and Anne’s house in town.  John and I went and found a geocache near the airport in the afternoon.  In the evening, we went down to the hatchery John volunteers at to help release 11,000 Coho salmon into the river.  John and Anne’s daughter in law April’s parents and two of her sisters and their spouses and children were all there to help as was my Cousin Donna and her husband Ken.  I documented the procedure as my contribution.  We watched some bears after and I managed to get a few shots that were worth keeping out of many I took.  The light was getting low and the bears tend to keep their heads down since they are totally concerned with eating as much as they can.  We had been out for a drive on Thursday evening and saw a sow and two yearling cubs as well as a single mature bear. 
John and I were out ATVing Friday morning and John spotted an eagle that seemed to be attached to something it didn’t want to leave so we did a bit of stalking.  I managed to crawl up a little hill after struggling through the slash and I was pleased with the sharp shot I got of the wild eagle.  Of course there were a lot of pictures that I deleted before getting the one I liked.  We managed to get back to the truck just as the rain was starting which was a bonus.  In addition to several eagles, John saw two different bears and we saw a grouse of which I managed one picture.  When using my Canon Rebel XTi, I really miss the high ISO capability of my 5D Mark 2.  My images taken at the hatchery last night and the bear shots were mostly shot at ISO 6400 and my shutter speeds were still slow.  Back in my film shooting days, I wouldn’t even have considered shooting much of what I do now.  
John and Anne are heading south to Robert’s Lake this morning on their Harley to have lunch with their biker friends to celebrate Father’s Day.  While we were stuck in the motor home Friday evening, John helped me figure out the wiring for the DVD and TV cables.  Just when I was about to get into bed Friday night, I discovered the rain was soaking the carpet on my side of the bed again.  So far, the leak has proven impossible to find.  This has been going on infrequently for over a year.  I started up the motor home and lifted the driver’s side and rear of the motor home just a little and that stopped the leak.  I don’t think it has ever leaked when the slide is in so somehow water is running toward the motor home from the slide then finding its way in at the floor level in the rear of the bedroom.  I have ripped up the carpet and can see where the water is oozing out but haven’t discovered its route to get to that point.  It could be coming from anywhere over the length of the slide which is 12-14 feet long.  When we finally get the leak taken care of, we intend to replace the bedroom carpet with more solid flooring.  It has been quite frustrating dealing with the leak.
We have moved into the main part of the campground as of Friday morning so now we have full hookups.  We still have a view out to the ocean through our windshield but the are some RVs and cabins limiting the view.  We are much more sheltered from the wind though which is nice and it is much closer to John and Anne and their campfire.  We have a much better internet connection as well but it is still iffy at times and slow all the time.  Aileen was hardly able to get on out at the point but is having more success here.   

A little deer at Telegraph Cove

A visitor on the way into the hatchery

The next four are a pair of yearling cubs still with their mother




Willow Grouse

This bald eagle was reluctant to leave his treasure which was a bear carcass, I presume left by bear hunters


A Shooting Star

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