Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: medium-sized bear

A very poor photo of a beautiful Black Bear that had just climbed under a barbed-wire fence before disappearing from sight behind bushes and trees. I have many much better photos in my photostream, but this was such a thrill to see yesterday and totally unexpected! Just a matter of minutes later, this Bear would have been where we had just ended our day out and we would have had an even bigger surprise, ha. As it was, we had reached our cars and had just turned a corner of the road to get on to a different road, when we saw something way down the road, that looked rather large, swimming in what was probably a temporary area of water near the edge of the road. Puzzled, we wondered if it might be a large Beaver. Then the animal climbed the low bank and we realized it was a Black Bear! I was in the front passenger seat, so couldn't get a very good view. When the bear climbed under the fence, I was able to get three or four rapid, poor shots, and this is the best of them. Not the kind of photo quality I would normally post as my main photo for the day, but it was the highlight of what had been a great day. Thanks so much for stopping, Sandy (and for the ride from and back to Calgary)! Much appreciated, as always. The first words in an article from 3 October 2014, in The Western Producer, are as follows: "High in southern Alberta’s Porcupine Hills, where west winds wrestle the golden leaves of water birch and tickle the limber pines, water trickles from hidden springs into troughs at the Timber Ridge Conservation Site. That’s where the bears bathe." Well, we found out yesterday, 3 August 2015, that the bathing bears was so very true, even if the bathing /swimming was not in the usual place, lol! We had seen no sign of large wildlife all day, so this sighting was a real treat. This 640 acre site is located approximately 20 km southwest of Nanton. Other wildlife that can be seen include "moose, elk, white-tailed and mule deer, grizzly and black bear, cougar, grouse and a variety of small mammals and songbirds." I had never been to the Porcupine Hills, but had read and heard about this area for a number of years. Lying south of Calgary and roughly SW of Nanton, it is an area of beautiful, rolling hills. This is where Glen and Kelly Hall "have a co-tenancy agreement with the Alberta Conservation Association (ACA), the first one ever established between that organization and private landholders. They own 68 percent of the site and the ACA owns the balance." "“We have a ranching operation right smack in the middle of a pretty important watershed. Our cows are our tools in order to look after the grass, which looks after the land, which looks after the watershed.” The drive from Calgary took maybe an hour and a half (?), with rain falling on the way there, and we were greeted with a warm welcome. They suggested we make our way straight up to the highest point and then to take our time coming back down. The first part of that journey was travelling in something new and fun to all of us - in a horse trailer! How DO horses make such a mess over every inch, lol?! After that, we climbed higher and higher, sometimes with the aid of an amazing little vehicle - a Kubota. I was in awe at how this tough little machine was able to travel over the roughest of land - rocks, ruts, uphill, downhill. We had some of the curious cattle follow us in places - several different breeds, and all looking beautiful and so healthy. The rain stopped by the time we first arrived, but the mountains were hidden in haze (from the weather and possibly from forest fires). Far from ideal conditions for taking scenic shots of the surrounding hills and valleys, unfortunately. Wonderful views in every direction. By the afternoon, the temperature had risen to 31°C (about 88°F)! Glen and Kelly, a delightful, enthusiastic couple, plan to conserve the site, but they don’t plan to keep it to themselves. “Ultimately, one day, we want yellow school buses at the gates and we want kids here in numbers and we want them to learn where their water is, where the food is created,” said Kelly. “We want them to learn about the trees and the grass because we have a lot of native species on this land that haven’t been interfered with.” Thank you so much, both of you, for making this day so enjoyable and a great learning experience. We have a great deal of respect for what you are doing and how you are doing it. With all the exciting plans that you have for this amazing area, we know you will do well. Thank you for letting us do a bio-inventory of the living things on the 640 acre Timber Ridge Conservation Site! There is just so much I could write about this special place, but will add several links below for further information in case anyone is interested to learn more. www.producer.com/2014/10/landowners-eager-to-share-piece-... www.albertaefp.com/news/96-ranchers-passion-drives-a-thou... www.albertadiscoverguide.com/site.cfm?grid=F3&number=36 www.westernranchlands.ca/company-overview/advisory-board/... guddling.tumblr.com/post/61370115303/we-were-given-a-tour... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch this afternoon, 4 August 2015: "Conditions are favourable for the development of dangerous thunderstorms that may be capable of producing damaging wind gusts and damaging hail. A upper level system moving into southern Alberta has the potential to initiate severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening." Later: wow, what a storm we had this evening - massive falls of hail in some parts of the city, flash flooding, thunder, lightning, and extremely strong winds! My area didn't get the hail, thank goodness. So glad I didn't have to go anywhere today. My daughter said that some people in her area had almost a foot of accumulated hail!

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people, ha). My photos were taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting, and then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair to the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear on this trip, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything interesting or beautiful : ) Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for so kindly inviting me along on this trip. It's always so much fun to spend time with you guys, and you are both so knowledgable. Thanks for so many chances to take photos of such a variety of subjects!

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear on this trip, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) One thing that was proven to me while we were away was that taking photos, even with a fairly light-weight point-and-shoot camera, is what is either causing, or making much worse, the awful pain in my arms and shoulders. Not a good thing, and it made it very unpleasant, every second of the day, unfortunately. Just holding the camera and trying to keep it as steady as I could, was really awkward as well as intensely painful. Too much mouse clicking when using the computer at home is perhaps the main cause of this pain (due to inflammation of the rotator cuffs in my shoulders).. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for so kindly inviting me along on this trip. It's always so much fun to spend time with you guys, and you are both so knowledgable. Thanks for so many chances to take photos of such a variety of subjects!

Am adding the description from other photos that I have posted already of this beautiful Black Bear. It will save my painful arms and shoulders being used any more than necessary. Just ignore if you've seen it before : ) The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

Black Bears have such beautiful, shiny black fur, and we got to see this one pretty closely. A while ago, I posted a rather similar photo of this Bear, but I think I prefer this one, with its head turned very slightly towards us. I am using the same info that is posted with each of my Bear photos from this trip, as it saves me from having to do extra typing. Had a volunteer shift yesterday, and the computers were down all afternoon. This meant that I had to do non-stop, fast writing by hand, which has irritated the inflammation in my shoulders. An important thing to add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people, ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be, as always, to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

This particular Black Bear gave us a great chance for some photos. Even from the safety of the car, though, I still found my feelings changed when the Bear turned from slowly walking parallel to the road, to taking a step or two towards us. It was just a brief moment, and the Bear showed no interest in us at all. I'll add here that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we'd had in about eight months. The sun shone most of the time and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair to the bear, too, as it's almost always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was (as always) happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone most of the time and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was (as always) happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go, and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures of these two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

Black Bears have such beautiful, shiny black fur, and we got to see this one pretty closely. The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people, ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be, as always, to see absolutely anything beautiful : )

Though this photo (and most of my bear shots) looks very close, the bear was still way down the road. Several other cars stopped briefly and we had to move and pull over in front of them all This made it impossible for me to twist around in my seat and get any photos. Seeing a Bear having fun in a small puddle was such an unusual sight, that I just had to open my car door so that I could capture this amazing moment. The Bear lay right down on its side, too, thoroughly enjoying its relaxing moments. I don't think a bear that is stressed in any way would do something like this, knowing that there were several people nearby. What a treat for us. However, there is one thing (actually 2?) wrong about this photo (thanks, Larry, for the reminder of what I had meant, last night, to add) - the empty can that had been thrown away by someone at some time. Why can't people simple put their empty cans into a garbage bag inside their vehicle and then throw them out (preferably recycle!) at a convenient time? If I'm willing to pick up and drive with YOUR garbage in my car, then it's a great pity if you can't keep your own litter to yourself. Quite apart from spoiling the look of our beautiful scenery, empty cans and bottles can be dangerous to our precious wildlife. Please THINK after you DRINK! Yesterday, when I took a look at more of my Bear photos, I discovered, to my huge disappointment, that so many of them were useless because they were taken from inside the car. I'm always very conscious of the fact that I have to be very careful to avoid catching the window in my shots. I don't know why many cars have back windows that don't wind right down, but leave a few inches showing - something to do with child safety maybe? Maybe my own car is the same. Many times before, in my own car and other people's vehicles, many of my shots taken from inside the car just don't come out, even when my lens is out past the window. Fortunately, a number of my Bear photos did come out, but I would guess something like half of my shots didn't : ( My friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. My friends are good at telling individual bears, often by a certain scar and, of course, the actual location. Many of the bears we see, they have seen before. Basically, it's all about timing, as with any wildlife. A few minutes earlier or later and we would have missed seeing something special. We just happened to be lucky. All wildlife/nature photographers know it's all about timing : )

The first thing I'll add here is to say that I use 48x zoom on so many of my photos (probably most), no matter what the subject, from butterfly to bird - and especially Bears! Like the typical Black Bear that we might be lucky enough to come across, this one was just busy eating and checking out what was growing around it that looked good to eat (i.e. grasses, roots, not people., ha). My photos are taken from the safety of the car and the bears look much closer than they really were. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, don't stay for more than a short while, watching very carefully, to make sure that the animal shows absolutely no sign of discomfort or stress. The Bears we do see show no interest in us and don't attempt to approach the vehicle. They just slowly walk on by, feeding as they go. One bear was so totally relaxed that it decided to have a quick roll in a large puddle not far from the edge of the road! It lay right down on its side and seemed to be enjoying the coolness of the water. Daytime temperatures the last two days were much warmer than we've had in about eight months. The sun shone and we couldn't have had better weather. Can't remember if it was the very first bear we spotted, we were of course thrilled at the distant sighting. And then, to our horror, we saw a photographer walking towards the bear, that was walking towards him!! The guy had parked in a small pull-off and was some distance from his vehicle. I'm still shaking my head that someone would do such a foolish thing. So unfair towards the bear, too, as it's always the animal that pays the price (i.e. having to be destroyed), if an attack takes place. Over the two days, we had 7 bear sightings, with three definitely different Black Bears (no Grizzlies), and possibly four. The rest of the sightings were of Bears we had already seen. We had left Calgary early morning on Wednesday (14 May 2014) and I think it was around 12:15 a.m. midnight (Thursday, 15 May 2014), that my friends dropped me off at home after two long, wonderful days in the Rocky Mountains, west of the city. Wednesday night was spent in a spotless motel, in a place that had so many Mountain Sheep roaming the streets, lol! Though we were hoping to see at least one Bear, I was happy as can be to see absolutely anything beautiful : ) One thing that was proven to me while we were away was that taking photos, even with a fairly light-weight point-and-shoot camera, is what is either causing, or making much worse, the awful pain in my arms and shoulders. Not a good thing, and it made it very unpleasant, every second of the day, unfortunately. Just holding the camera and trying to keep it as steady as I could, was really awkward as well as intensely painful. Too much mouse clicking when using the computer at home is another cause of this pain. Thanks SO much, Cathy and Terry, for so kindly inviting me along on this trip. It's always so much fun to spend time with you guys, and you are both so knowledgable. Thanks for so many chances to take photos of such a variety of subjects! (And now I'm back to all the frustrating problems of Flickr, including search problems and very definite Stats (views) problems. When I search for a Flickr member, I get the message that that person can't be found. Ha, I'm away for just two days (didn't post any photos for just one of the days) and now things aren't working? Barely any new photos from My Contacts showing, either. What a mess!)