Canada Day - Admiralty Island/Kelp Bay, Baranof Island
Even the intermittent drizzle couldn’t dampen our spirits as we awoke to announcements of Brown bear sightings. With spotting scopes and binoculars we watched the largest living land carnivore shuffle through slimy rockweed in the intertidal zone, overturning rocks with its powerful paws to slurp up invertebrates underneath. In a few more weeks they will be able to feast on spawning salmon in the numerous nearby streams. Poking into another of Hood Bay’s many coves we spotted a cautious sow which stood up in the meadow to peer back at us. Suddenly her two small cubs popped up next to her forming a memorable family portrait. Hood Bay is a small indentation along the western shore of Admiralty Island. In the Tlingit language the island was called “Kootznahoo,” or “Fortress of the Bears,” a well-deserved appellation as it supports the highest density of brown bears in Alaska.
Each bay presented views of Sitka black-tail deer also browsing the shoreline. The calm waters boasted flocks of white-winged and surf scoters as well as several small groups of the strikingly patterned Harlequin ducks. Great blue herons hunted along the water’s edge. While watching bears, we could identify the songs of forest birds – winter wren, varied thrush, and hermit thrush among them. Many bald eagles and groups of Northwestern crows were also observed throughout the morning, taking advantage of the bounty available at low tide.
During lunch we crossed Chatham Strait to Kelp Bay on Baranof Island. Clearing weather made our afternoon of kayaking and hiking Pond Island especially pleasant. While exploring the shoreline, kayakers seemed shadowed by ever-curious harbor seals. Hikers discovered an active beaver pond surrounded by bog and muskeg. The bog also yielded an opportunity to examine a boreal toad, one of only three anurans to survive this far north.
One last reminder of the timeless nature of this land awaited. A number of clusters of cedar trees were encountered on Pond Island and each had been scarred. However, these trees had not been marred by fire or insects but by Native peoples stripping away sections of bark for bentwood boxes or building materials. Such “culturally modified trees” are a rarity today.
Even the intermittent drizzle couldn’t dampen our spirits as we awoke to announcements of Brown bear sightings. With spotting scopes and binoculars we watched the largest living land carnivore shuffle through slimy rockweed in the intertidal zone, overturning rocks with its powerful paws to slurp up invertebrates underneath. In a few more weeks they will be able to feast on spawning salmon in the numerous nearby streams. Poking into another of Hood Bay’s many coves we spotted a cautious sow which stood up in the meadow to peer back at us. Suddenly her two small cubs popped up next to her forming a memorable family portrait. Hood Bay is a small indentation along the western shore of Admiralty Island. In the Tlingit language the island was called “Kootznahoo,” or “Fortress of the Bears,” a well-deserved appellation as it supports the highest density of brown bears in Alaska.
Each bay presented views of Sitka black-tail deer also browsing the shoreline. The calm waters boasted flocks of white-winged and surf scoters as well as several small groups of the strikingly patterned Harlequin ducks. Great blue herons hunted along the water’s edge. While watching bears, we could identify the songs of forest birds – winter wren, varied thrush, and hermit thrush among them. Many bald eagles and groups of Northwestern crows were also observed throughout the morning, taking advantage of the bounty available at low tide.
During lunch we crossed Chatham Strait to Kelp Bay on Baranof Island. Clearing weather made our afternoon of kayaking and hiking Pond Island especially pleasant. While exploring the shoreline, kayakers seemed shadowed by ever-curious harbor seals. Hikers discovered an active beaver pond surrounded by bog and muskeg. The bog also yielded an opportunity to examine a boreal toad, one of only three anurans to survive this far north.
One last reminder of the timeless nature of this land awaited. A number of clusters of cedar trees were encountered on Pond Island and each had been scarred. However, these trees had not been marred by fire or insects but by Native peoples stripping away sections of bark for bentwood boxes or building materials. Such “culturally modified trees” are a rarity today.
