Back home already!

I made it home to the Bryansk forest finally. This is one of the last photos from my ranger station T Kurile Lake. It seems like this bear family came to say good-bye to me just before the helicopter came. The cubs played in the snow and then they all left. It was very touching moment. It left me wondering, why aren't they already in a warm den? It seems like they should be...


Good bye, lake Kurile! by Igor Shpilenok

See you in spring, Masha... Sleep well!

During past week bear-mothers with cubs have dissappeared from the lake, they departed to their winter dens. It is about time, the temperature is And even most of pregnant female bears are gone now, including Masha. Adult males, especially older ones will remain on the banks of the lake and rivers until late December and even January fishing.

Meanwhile Misha seems to be very sad without his girlfriend. All through the fall they were playing like cubs while other bears were behaving rather boring. No wonder Misha is missing Masha... See their games below!











Originally posted at http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/138228.html and http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/136428.html

Several pictures of cape Tugumynk.

This is how cape Tugumynk (Russian: Мыс Тугумынк) looks like from my ranger station at cape Travyanoi in usual to these places rainy weather. Free kilometers of lake waters separates us. For most of last week I could not see it at all, the rain was too heavy.











Originally posted at http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/135912.html

Fresh snow!

original

Sunny weather, finally!

Ready for winter!

This is a bear-mom with her nearly one-year-old cubs...


... and this is a male-bear, possibly, a father of the family above.

This morning...

Yesterday I've shared a view of the sky full of starts above my ranger station here at Kurile Lake. This is how the same sky looks this morning.

The stars above my ranger station right now...

The view to the north, towards Ilyinskyi Volcano (Ilyinskaya Sopka).


The view to the south, towards volcano Kambalnyi.

Good morning from the Lake Kurile!

Misha and Masha.

Misha and Masha are the adult bears that live near my ranger station here at the Kurile Lake. I am watching them play and hunt together every day. Usually, adult males do not socialize with anyone. They are animals-egoists, animals-individualists. Misha is an exception. He is very friendly with all his neighbors; he is always the one to starts all the friendly animal games. And he is especially friendly with one female, Masha. They spend a lot of time together, even at rest. I am almost certain that these are my good acquaintances from four years ago: a brother and a sister.

A couple of bear cubs appeared near this ranger station in the summer of 2008. Most likely they just got separated from their mother. Other adult bears were scaring them off, so the children found protection near the humans. They were always together, even in their sleep they were cuddling up to each other. Since then I have only visited these places couple of times, and did not know how were they doing. Masha must have brought up one litter, and now she is pregnant again. Misha has mastered fishing and have grown to a very respectful size (males are larger than females, and they grow until age of ten). Their behavior, however, remained the same. They still sleep and play together right next to our ranger station. I can often see them play from my window or the porch.






Below are the photos of Misha and Masha from 2008.





















http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/134631.html

Craving for snow...

It is amost beginning of winter here. The days are chilly and dark. Heavy clouds bring rain. But there is no snow yet. The nature is ready for snow. Even my little neigbor, ermine, is ready: he is almost completely white! And below is how he looked several days ago.







There are less and less bears around - they are gradually departing to their winter dens for hipernation... Hopefully it will snow tonight!