This sweet little bird is called a golden-crowned kinglet. They are tiny songbirds and I heard quite a few of them calling from a stand of pine trees in Chugach State Park south of Anchorage. I was hoping to find a male, but was only able to photograph this female before they moved on. The male has a nice patch of bright orange in the middle of the yellow crown. But even without the fiery dome, the female is quite an attractive little bird as well.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second

Just when I thought this mother bear and her two cubs were going to disappear into the forest, she plopped down and began to nurse. The cubs couldn’t get enough, even after a morning of eating fish and what seemed like massive quantities of grass. But then again, it’s that time of year when it’s all about fattening up as much as possible before hibernation. It was nice to get a front row seat to this intimate behavior.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 175mm) ISO 800, f/5 at 1/250th of a second

I regret hiking this trail. Mainly because I thought I was on another trail. One that didn’t go five miles straight up a mountain and then five miles back down. I was ill prepared for the journey, lacking both the water, and to my surprise and disappointment, the fitness. The trail I thought I was on was about two hundred yards up the road to the north. That trail was supposed to be relatively easy and meander along somewhat level ground through a sheep meadow. This one didn’t do any of those things. It was very tough. And there were no sheep. But I was rewarded with amazing views at the top. These two photos were taken nearly there. In the top photo, I am looking back down upon where I came. In the second, I’m looking at what I had left to climb. You can see the creek which gives the trail its name. Most of the trail was a muddy, rocky, thickly forested slog along that creek. It finally opened up and dried out as the trees disappeared and the trail moved to higher ground. It wasn’t until the next day, legs barely working, that I noticed the trailhead I was supposed to have taken. I did end up seeing a few of the white dall sheep I was after along the Falls Creek Trail, but they were all over on the adjacent mountain. As they say, next time. But the colors of the tundra plants and flowers were at their autumnal best, so it was worth it for that. Kind of.
Top Photo — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 1/200th of a second
Bottom Photo — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/18 at 1/160th of a second

In September, Alaska’s coastal brown bears are at their fluffy, and pudgiest best. Their winter coats have grown in thick and full and they have fattened up in preparation for hibernation. The cubs looked almost round at times, like this little guy in the top photo, after just making off with what was left of Mom’s dinner.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/800th of a second

If you’ve ever seen a moose up close, you know just how big these creatures really are. Their antlers can be more than six feet wide and weigh a hundred pounds. Yet somehow, they seem to effortlessly drift into and out of thick forested areas. This bull had an impressive rack, indicating he was a bit older. All that green gave me a nice opportunity to frame a headshot. Like the moose I posted last week, this guy was in Chugach State Park in Alaska, looking for a willing female.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 220mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/320th of a second

Just going to keep rolling with a heavy dose of bears for the time being. Lemurs and hippos will return soon. This is what the brown bears in Lake Clark were fishing for — the coho salmon, also known as the silver salmon. Coho are a fairly large salmon and provided a nice alternative to the grass that these bears were feasting upon seemingly twenty four hours a day.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second

I saw quite a few trumpeter swans while in Alaska. These two were hanging out on Tern Lake down on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage. Trumpeter Swans are the largest birds in North America and can measure up to five feet long and weigh 30 pounds. They were considered nearly extinct, until a population of several thousand were found near Cooper River in south central Alaska.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 32mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1250th of a second

I was in a great position down on the ground to get this shot of a brown bear shaking the water off her fur after a morning of fishing. It was still quite early, but the tide was getting too high to fish so she and her two cubs were on their way to the open fields where grass was on the menu.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/2500th of a second

Other than bears, there were also a few red fox making the rounds near our lodge in Lake Clark National Park. I ran into this guy once or twice. He was usually a bit timid, but on this occasion he let me snap some shots at close range. Perhaps he thought that fern was keeping him more concealed than it actually was.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/200th of a second

We only had one morning with this kind of light — made possible by that narrow seam that opened up in the clouds. This lone bear cooperated by taking a sunrise stroll across the wet sand at low tide.
Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 240mm) ISO 2500, f/4 at 1/80th of a second