NEXT THREE DAYS IN HYDER, ALASKA (BALD EAGLES IN SALMON RIVER; FISH CREEK OBSERVATION SITE & BEARS, BEARS & MORE BEARS) - Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - Friday, August 11, 2023

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

We woke this morning to cloudy skies and 61 degrees. After a breakfast of waffles and bacon, we left about 10:00 a.m.to head out to the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. We paid $10 for a three day pass.

We are hoping to see a bear or two today. The sign below told us that bears commonly cross the road, so we should use the boardwalk.

The Fish Creek Wildlife Observation area is a day-use recreation area in the Salmon River valley near Hyder, Alaska. Both brown (grizzly) and black bears can be observed and photographed at the site as they fish for chum and pink salmon in the clear shallow waters of Fish Creek and Marx Creek. Visitors will see wild bears in their natural habitat in this beautiful glacial river valley. 

The above sign told us that the wildlife viewing was just 170 meters or 557 feet away.

As we walked along the boardwalk, we began to see the salmon in Fish Creek.

The storyboard above told us that Fish Creek is located in the far southeastern reaches of America's largest national forest -- the Tongass. Spanning 500 miles, and encompassing nearly 17 million acres of land and 11,000 miles of shoreline, the Tongass National Forest is the largest protected temperate rain forest in the world.

Fish Creek is a dynamic ecosystem that is continually shaped by natural forces and influenced by human actions. Imagine visiting Fish Creek two thousand years ago. The spot where we are now stands buried by glacial ice hundreds of feet thick. As the Salmon Glacier slowly retreated, hearty "pioneer" plants colonized the exposed, raw land. Over time, lichens were replaced by fireweed, fireweed by alder, and alder by Sitka spruce and hemlock trees. This gradual change in plant communities over time is called "succession." We saw succession in action as we traveled to Salmon Glacier at the head of the valley yesterday.

Today, the Fish Creek area continues to change. Many of the changes that we notice are the result of our action on the land. The small, blue lagoon was formed when the dike road was built. Although human-made, the lagoon provides a great home for young salmon fry, and the animals that feed on them.

Above and below are clusters of red berries from the coastal Red Elderberry.

 

We see more salmon as we walk along the boardwalk.

Above is a picture of all the bear sightings at the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site from Friday, August 4th through when we got here on Wednesday, August 9th. As you can see there was a lot of early action with bears before we arrived today.

The above storyboard welcomed us to Fish Creek; while the storyboard below told us how to avoid losing face with a bear.

The storyboard above told us how to identify the different salmon in Fish Creek, while the storyboard below gave us a peek into the different behaviors of the bears at Fish Creek.

We continue to see salmon as we walk along the boardwalk.

The storyboard above told us how to identify a black bear. Black bears are the most abundant and widely distributed of North America's bears. The live in most parts of Southeast Alaska. An estimated 100,000 black bears live in Alaska. Black bears are generally black, but colors can range from cinnamon to white (Kermode bear), to a bluish-gray (glacier bear). Whatever the color, black bears are the smallest of North America's bears. An average-sized black bear stands about 29 inches at the shoulder and weighs about 200 pounds.

The black bear's main characteristics include: no shoulder hump; the rump is the highest point on the body; a straight face and large erect ears; and claws that are short and sharply curved, dark in color and rarely longer than 1-1/2 inches.

Although usually found in the forest, black bears follow their appetites from sea level to alpine areas. Like ravenous teenagers, they will eat just about anything they can find. Newly sprouted vegetation, like skunk cabbage, is important in the spring, while salmon and berries are critical in the summer and fall. Protein and fat-rich salmon help bears gain up to 20% of their average weight before they enter hibernation in the late fall. Deer fawns, ants, grubs, and other insects are additional sources of protein.

The storyboard above told us about brown bears or grizzlies. Is it a brown bear or grizzly? People generally call coastal bears "brown," while bears in the Interior of Alaska are called "grizzlies." Grizzlies often have dark brown fur, but various shades of brown are not uncommon. Grizzlies are larger and weigh more than black bears. Adult grizzlies at Fish Creek generally weigh 500-800 pounds.

The grizzly bear's main characteristics include: pronounced shoulder hump; dished in face and small rounded ears; and claws that are long and straight and light in color.

Roughly 35,000 grizzlies still roam Alaska. While populations are healthy in Alaska, polulations in the "lower 48" have decreased to less than 1,000 bears. Grizzlies depend on a wide range of habitat to meet their yearly needs. Keying into a dependable supply of protein, Fish Creek grizzlies will travel many miles from the surrounding forest to "fatten up" on spawning salmon. Sows with cubs, and young adults are the bears most commonly observed.

The above storyboard told us about the Salmon's Home & Its Life Cycle. A unique combination of geology and weather makes Fish Creek a perfect home for spawning salmon. Clear, spring-fed water and clean gravel are the keys to spawning success. In the Salmon River Valley, milky glacial sediment gives the water its special color.

Salmon are anadromous -- they depend on both fresh and salt water during their life history. Each year, salmon return to the freshwater streams of their birth to spawn and die. Chum, coho and pink salmon often spawn in small streams from the intertidal zone to creeks many miles inland. After spawning, the adult salmon die, but a new generation of salmon is born to continue the cycle. 

So the cycle starts by the female digging a redd, or nest in the fresh water gravel. After the eggs are laid, the male fertilizes them. Eggs hatch during early spring. The tiny alevins live within the gravel while they absorb their yolk sac. After they absorb their yolk sacs, the young salmon emerge from the gravel and feed on tiny aquatic insects. After emerging from the gravel as tiny fry, chum and pink salmon migrate to the ocean rather than to freshwater lakes or streams. Emerging from the gravel, coho salmon will spend up to two years as juveniles in the stream before migrating to the ocean. There they gather in large schools and feed on plankton and tiny insects. Chum salmon spend three to five years in the ocean before returning  to spawn, while pink salmon return in just two years. 

Chum, coho and pink salmon are silver-colored before they enter freshwater as adults. After spawning, the adult salmon die, returning their nutrients to the Fish Creek ecosystem.

Above seagulls feed on the salmon -- they were not just eating the salmon but some were also feeding on the eggs.

The Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site is an elevated 600-foot walkway where visitors can see bears forage through the creek, which features some of the largest chum salmon on the west coast.

Below Mel watches the salmon spawing in Fish Creek.

We stayed from 10:00 a.m. until around noon on the Fish Creek Observation deck, but did not see a bear yet. So we decided to go back to the camper and get some lunch. 

On our way there, we spotted some eagles hanging out on the Salmon River (see below). Eagles were spread across the river banks and gravel bars, feeding on the rich salmon carcasses the river had gifted them. This area is home to some of the largest and most spectacular Bald Eagle congregations in North America. Each winter, hundreds to thousands of eagles migrate to these rivers from breeding areas as far north as the Yukon Territory, brought together for one main reason -- to feed on post-spawning chum salmon carcasses.

We planned to return again to bear watch in the late afternoon.

When we returned about 4:45 p.m., we once again selected a spot to watch for bears on the Fish Creek Observation deck.

And then around 7:03 p.m., we spotted a brown bear along the south side of the boardwalk. (See the next few pictures below.)

The bear stayed around for quite awhile splashing around in the water and grabbing salmon in its mouth.

Until he finally turned around and walked away.

As shown above the brown bear (grizzly) that we spotted had been added to the list of bear sightings. Shortly after that, we drove back to the campground and had a late dinner of chicken thighs, potatoes and green beans.

Thursday, August 10, 2023

This morning we decided to head out to the Fish Creek Observation site at 6:00 a.m. It was cloudy and rainy and the temperature was 55 degrees. We bundled up in our jackets and carried our umbrellas as we set out to hopefully see another bear or two.

When we got to Fish Creek, we were told that a brown bear was spotted at 6:00 a.m. under the bridge. Shucks! We had gotten here a bit late to see that bear! But it wasn't long before we were blessed with another bear sighting.

At 6:20 a.m., a brown (grizzly) bear made its appearance along the south side of the Fish Creek boardwalk.

Again, we watched him for quite a while. He then carried the fish in his mouth for a short distance.

What a beautiful experience to be able to watch the bear flailing in the water as it tries to catch a salmon in its mouth! It's like he is doing a "bear splash."

Below is a good picture with the fish in the mouth of the bear.

Splish, splash the bear is taking a bath in Fish Creek!

We are thrilled because the bear is continuing to come closer to the start of the Fish Creek boardwalk viewing area.

What a beauty!!!

And then around 6:30 a.m., after a big truck drove by along the road, the brown bear disappeared from our sight.

We left at 7:30 a.m. because it was still raining. We went back to the camper and had breakfast.

Later in the afternoon, we ate an early dinner of pork chops and salad before heading back to look for bears again around 4:45 p.m. We stayed until 8:15 p.m.

But this time we were not lucky -- not one bear tonight! However, as you can see from the bear sighting list below, a couple of bears were sighted after we left this morning and before we returned this afternoon. 

Friday, August 11, 2023

Today is the last day of our three-day pass to Fish Creek. We left the camper at about 9:45 a.m. It had been raining off and on all night, and was still raining when we left after breakfast.  It was chilly and damp, with the temperature at 54 degrees.

There were no bears in sight when we got there, but there had been four bear sightings this morning prior to us getting there. Because it was so chilly and still raining, we didn't stay long and left around 10:45 a.m. We decided to drive out to the boat launch area again for the cell service for a little while before returning to our campsite at Camp Run-A-Muck.

We had an early dinner of salmon and leftover potatoes and corn, and then headed back to Fish Creek for one final chance to see the bears. We got there about 5:45 p.m. and stayed until 9:45 p.m. Once again, no luck at seeing the bears!

And then when we left and were driving back along Granduc Road to go back to the campground -- our luck suddenly changed, as along the side of the road were two beautiful little black bear cubs!

We watched the black bear cubs frolic across the road -- all the time wondering where the mama bear was.

We got back to our camper and crawled into our warm bed. Tonight, we were for sure "snug as a black bear cub!"

Shirley & Mel