Black Bear Diaries 2011 Part 1: The Bears are awake

I had my first Black Bear encounter of 2011 this evening and I am buzzing. I have been waiting for this day since my last encounter at the end of October last year. Just by luck, on my bike ride this evening I bumped into one of the many locals I got to know last year and he told me he had seen two young bears earlier that afternoon so I was thrilled when I returned to the usual spot and spotted this Sow and Cub. The cub looks about a year old and I recognise this family from last year. If you spend long enough looking at Bears you start being able to tell them apart.

It was getting late and the light was fading fast so I needed to act quickly. Thankfully I have a lens equipped with Image Stabalization so this allowed me to capture this great scene. I took a jump over the boggy stream and didnt think about the risks in doing so at the time with camera gear but I needed to be just that little bit closer. I then got myself into a decent position in tall grass and it was then that the Sow and Cub stood up for a better look at me, I couldnt believe my luck.

This will be the first of many so I hope you can follow my blog and share these awesome encounters with me.

Techs: 280MM @ F2.8 // ISO1600 // 1/60 //

Canon 7D with 70-200mm F2.8 L IS and Tamron AF 1.4 x Teleconvertor

Image © J M Douglas|Photography 2011

Next time I will take my tripod and 400mm lens.

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