Two Young Brown Bears playing on the Tundra were between us and our destination.

We decided to wait and watch until the game was over and the Bears went back to fishing for salmon.

Not sure whether the Bears... or the Photographers had the most fun :)

Katmai National Monument was established in 1918 to protect the region surrounding Mount Katmai and the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. Today, Katmai National Park and Preserve remains an active volcanic landscape, but it also protects 9,000 years of human history as well as important habitat for salmon and thousands of brown bears that feed on them.

Tags:   Don’s Photostream Wildlife Grizzlies Bears Alaska

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Found this Majestic Bird searching for Breakfast along the beach in Homer Alaska. Later discovered that this bird was one of a pair who were parenting a juvenile in a nearby nest.

Homer, Alaska is also known as the "Drinking Town with a Fishing Problem" :)

The Bald Eagle has been the national emblem of the United States since 1782 and a spiritual symbol for native people for far longer than that.

These regal birds aren’t really bald, but their white-feathered heads gleam in contrast to their chocolate-brown body and wings.

The Bald Eagle dwarfs most other raptors, including the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawk. It has a heavy body, large head, and long, hooked bill. In flight, a Bald Eagle holds its broad wings flat like a board.

Tags:   300mm 2.8

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Mrs. K was kind enough to capture a shot of me sloshing in the rain across the Alaska Tundra to photograph an Alaska Brown Bear.

It was the thrill of a lifetime and truly a Bucket List Item.

In the Alaska Tundra, conditions are cold. The summer is brief, with temperatures above freezing lasting for only a few weeks at most. However, this "warm" summer coincides with periods of almost 24 hour daylight, so plant growth can be explosive.

A wide variety of plants species can be found on the tundra. What most of them have in common are growth characteristics - they tend to grow low to the ground.

Among the common types of tundra plants are willows, sedges and grasses. Many in dwarf forms compared to their growth forms in warmer climes. Lichens and mosses are also important, particularly in the harshest climates.

The long day length that accompanies the short summer is a boon to plants, which are able to photosynthesize 24 hours a day in some places. This leads to rapid plant growth.

A surprising number of insects are able to endure the harsh winters (many as frost-resistant eggs); these also undergo rapid development in the summer. Many bird species migrate from southern areas to the tundra each year for the reduced competition and plentiful insect harvest; this rich diet enables them to rear their young in an otherwise bleak environment.

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Pouring Rain didn't prevent this Big Fellow from Fishing for Salmon along a river in Katmai National Park, Alaska.

The Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear is a member of the grizzly bear family that lives in the coastal regions of southern Alaska.

Alaska Peninsula brown bears are a very large brown bear subspecies, usually ranging in weight from 800 to 1,200 pounds. They are found in high densities along the southern Alaskan coast due to the large amount of clams and sedge grass and the annual salmon run. This allows them to attain huge sizes, some of the biggest in the world.

They gather in large numbers at feeding sites in Katmai National Park.

Alaska Peninsula brown bears are the second largest type of brown bear in the world, only after the giant bears of Kodiak Island. They usually measure 8 feet in length, usually have a shoulder height of about 4-1/2 feet. The average weight for a coastal male is around 900 lbs. For a female, the average weight is approximately 500 lbs.

Although variable from blond to nearly black, grizzly bear fur is typically brown in color with white tips. A pronounced hump appears on their shoulders; the hump is a good way to distinguish a black bear from a grizzly bear, as black bears do not have this hump.

Brown bears on the Alaskan Peninsula usually feed on spawning salmon, and use many different ways to catch them. These include waiting at the bottom of the falls for the fish to jump, or standing at the top of the falls waiting to catch the fish in midair (sometimes in their mouths). Bears also have much experience at chasing fish around and pinning the slippery animals with their claws. After the salmon runs, berries and grass make the mainstay of the bears' diets, after which they put on sufficient fat reserves and go into hibernation.

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A Brown Bear Fishing for Salmon along a river in Katmai National Park, Alaska.

The Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear is a member of the grizzly bear family that lives in the coastal regions of southern Alaska.

Alaska Peninsula brown bears are a very large brown bear subspecies, usually ranging in weight from 800 to 1,200 pounds. They are found in high densities along the southern Alaskan coast due to the large amount of clams and sedge grass and the annual salmon run. This allows them to attain huge sizes, some of the biggest in the world.

They gather in large numbers at feeding sites in Katmai National Park.

Alaska Peninsula brown bears are the second largest type of brown bear in the world, only after the giant bears of Kodiak Island. They usually measure 8 feet in length, usually have a shoulder height of about 4-1/2 feet. The average weight for a coastal male is around 900 lbs. For a female, the average weight is approximately 500 lbs.

Although variable from blond to nearly black, grizzly bear fur is typically brown in color with white tips. A pronounced hump appears on their shoulders; the hump is a good way to distinguish a black bear from a grizzly bear, as black bears do not have this hump.

Brown bears on the Alaskan Peninsula usually feed on spawning salmon, and use many different ways to catch them. These include waiting at the bottom of the falls for the fish to jump, or standing at the top of the falls waiting to catch the fish in midair (sometimes in their mouths). Bears also have much experience at chasing fish around and pinning the slippery animals with their claws. After the salmon runs, berries and grass make the mainstay of the bears' diets, after which they put on sufficient fat reserves and go into hibernation.

Tags:   Salmon Bear Into the Wild Alaska Photostream Flickr

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