Mr. Fox and his reflection.

This is one of my fox-neighbors running along the banks of Kronotskaya River in Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka. I took this photo during my long wintering in a remote ranger station there in 2010-2011.



The Kronotskaya river very rarely freezes at winter due being spring fed. This a photo taken by my middle son, Petr couple of weeks before the photo above.





Animals remember the summer salmon runs in this river, and keep frequently checking for fish...





But there is no fish here at this time of year!

Originally posted at:

Лис с зеркальным отражением http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/64680.html

Еще одна Кроноцкая тайна: http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/58939.html

Завтра - апрель! http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/58770.html

"Здесь рыбы нет!" http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/64680.html

Kamchatka dreams. On the banks of the Kronotskaya River.

Originally posted by at Камчатские сны. На берегу Кроноцкой.

Wind of change...

All my things are packed. Backpacks and boxes are stacked in the middle of the ranger station, that sudennly became empty. This small and simple cabin in the middle of unpopulated tundra in Kronotsky Nature Reserve was my home for over a year.

But local spirits are not in a hurry to let me go. They bring either storms, or heavy rains and fogs to prevent safe helicopter landing. But as soon as the weather permits I will be taken from here. This evening the wind calmed down and on the west the sky cleared out. There is a chance that tomorrow I will find myself in civilization after the longest and most productive expedition of my life.

Originally posted by at "Уж небо осенью дышало..."

Almost sunflower fields.

Good morning from Kronotsky Nature Reserve!
We are resting from bears, foxes, and... I was about to say "from fogs", but that wouldn't be true. The fogs are here every day, including today.


The banks of Kronotskaya River are painted with these bright flowers for several weeks now. For myself I call them sunflowers, but technically it is a subspecies of ragworts.









Originally posted by at Доброе утро из Кроноцкого заповедника!

Occupants of the morning estuary.

Good morning from Kronotsky Nature Reserve! These are the morning owners of the estuary.

A bear, fishing in the fog...


... and seals resting on the shallow water


Originally posted by at Доброе утро из Кроноцкого заповедника!

Red on Blue.

Good morning from Kronotsky Nature Reserve!

Originally posted  at Доброе утро из Кроноцкого заповедника!

The time to go home is getting closer...

Good morning from Kronotsky Nature Reserve!

On this exact date one year ago I left my home in Bryansk forest. The time to go back is getting closer. Today I was thinking what will I miss when I leave. I will miss the sounds of ocean waves, the snowy volcano tops, the freedom of emptiness of the tundra around my ranger station, the bears trails in high summer grass, the foxes under my windows... I will also miss the feeling of loneliness. And Kamchatka fogs! Every single day has started with a thick fog during the whole extend of the warm time of year near my house here.

And I really liked it! In the fog I like the smell of the wet grass, the vague silhouettes of bushes and trees, sudden and exciting encounters with animals. I like to see how the fog moves, like it is alive, how it shifts up as the sun warms it up and opens up the familiar surroundings. I love to return to the station in the damp clothes, light a fire in a stove, make the coffee and really enjoy every drop of it.

But there, back at home, there will be other joys of life...







 


















Originally posted by  at Доброе утро из Кроноцкого заповедника!

Another wonderful start of the day!

Originally posted  at Доброе утро из Кроноцкого заповедника!

 

Good morning from Kronotsky Nature Reserve!


 

Fisherman's Day celebration!

The other day we celebrated Fisherman's Day! But fishing isn’t going well yet anyways. There is a lot of fish around - hunchback salmon is actively going up the river for spawning. All the bears see it, but only super-professionals can get it – those who can dive deep and get the weakened fish from the bottom. Only few bears can do it. Others are waiting for the water level to drop so the fish is more accessible.

You can view the Russian version here..

Update on Mr. Sneaky Evildoer housing situation. Happy end so far...

Estuary shore looks like a three lane highway these days, with a separate lane for each animal species.

I was in a thick fog of the estuary by the sunrise this morning. Every now and then I was hearing the bears roar and the sound of their footsteps on the water. First of all I discovered that the new burrow was also digged up, and there were no foxes in it. I went back to the old burrow (that I've shown yesterday) and noticed some fresh fox paw prints on a soft ground. So I stayed in a hide from 6 to 10am and only saw one cub peeked from one of the burrow branches that was partially undestroyed.

The morning was marvellous, after 9 am the fog cleared and the panoramic view of volanos with their snow caps was astohishing. But I could not really enjoy it. I almost lost hope and went back to my station...

At home I felt restless... And in the afternoon I went back to the estuary. I was tying up my boat to the willow tree at the shore not far from the old burrow when I suddenly saw Mr Evildoer himself through the thick bushes!! He looked at me displeased with the wet dirt all over him. Let's skip my emotions... In two minutes I found a new burrow that he was busy making under the roots of the inclined willow tree.

It looks like the foxes decided to expand the abandoned or temporary otter burrow. And based on my paw-steps observations the cubs are hiding in the remains of both burrows. I quickly went back to the boat to spare the foxes from unnessesary stress of my presence. But as I was rowing away I saw Mrs. Evildoer that was dragging a large salmon to the new burrow. I do not know for sure if all of the young ones survived, but it is already a Happy end!

You can view the Russian version here..

My little local mink-"alarm-clock".

Mink on land and in water.

This little animal has made his home just outside my cabin. Thanks to him I never missed a sunrise - right around 3:50am every day this little mink starts his morning routine making a gentle noise around. Just enough to wake me up. It is slightly too early, but on the other hand the early bird catches the worm!

You can view the Russian version here..

The willows are in blossom.

Over here, in my ranger station here in Kronotsky Nature Reserve, all the willow trees are blooming. Do not ask me what are their specific names, I am not a specialist. But even I can differentiate at least 10 different species around my home.

Original post in Russian here.

Next to a Dream.

Hello my dear Readers!

I could not write anything here for a very long time . It has been 45 days already since I started my shift as a ranger in “Kronotsky airfield” – this is the name for this ranger base station in Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka.

All the places around this unpopulated area have names that are connected to the word “krontosky”. “Kronotsky airfield” ranger station is situated in Kronostsky tundra on the bank of Kronotskaya River, that flows out of Kronotsky lake (the largest fresh water lake in Kamchatka), and fall into the Kronotsky bay of Pacific ocean. And the majestic symmetrical cone of Kronotsky volcano rises above and crowns all this beauty!

I first saw this volcano from the helicopter 16 years and at that time I gave myself a promise that to come back here. Since then I have visited this place for periods of time from two days to slightly over two months. And never was disappointed in this place. Every time after I had to leave it this volcano would start coming back to me in my dreams. I would see it in such perspectives that I was dreaming to photograph it but couldn’t yet, did not have time.

For this time, if things go as I plan, I will spend the whole winter here. But that is just the plan, we can never be sure in the future. At least my food supply here should last until May. Most of the time I will be spending performing my duties as a park ranger: patrolling the vast territory around my station, collecting the nature information for reserve research, some time I will spend repairing the current “ancient” station building and the surrounding stations, that are not constantly occupied, but rather used for long and seasonal patrolling trips. But every time I step outside I always take my camera with me, and I already have something to share with you.

Once again I wanted to say thank you to my readers. I did not have access to the internet for 2 months, but during this time the number of my readers increased! This obliges me greatly to continue!

This is how my current home looks. There is a family of bears peacefully grazing nearby on this photo.

Kronotskaya river in September with barely visible roof of my home visible on middle left of the photo.

The only way to get here is by helicopter.

And this is how the local tundra looks like in April-May when the snow is stiff enough to walk on it without snow-shoes. This picture is made by my brother, Dmitry, two years ago.

You can comment here or at the original post in Russian..