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Your favorite wildlife sighting of 2020


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Home Forums Campfire The Natural World Your favorite wildlife sighting of 2020

Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)
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  • #3690961
    Chris K
    BPL Member

    @cmkannen-2-2

    Any memorable wildlife encounters or sightings this year?

    Here’s a badger we saw in the Black Hills in late June:

    #3690964
    Dan
    BPL Member

    @dan-s

    Locale: Colorado

    I don’t know if “favorite” is really the right word, but this rattlesnake bit my dog, setting off a chain of events I’ll never forget. She’s ok BTW.

    #3690965
    Bonzo
    BPL Member

    @bon-zo

    Locale: Virgo Supercluster

    I saw this little guy at a local park, crossing the trail; the only reason that I noticed him at all was because he was on a warm, sandy spot.  I almost stepped on him while I was running; I had passed him by two strides before I noticed that he was there…so I stopped and waited for him to finish crossing.  As soon as he made it to the dry leaves on the side of the trail, he vanished.

    #3690966
    Brad Rogers
    BPL Member

    @mocs123

    Locale: Southeast Tennessee

    Bighorn sheep on New Army Pass while finishing up the SoSHR.   I’d not seen bighorn sheep up close before despite backpacking in their habitat multiple times.

    #3690968
    Claiborne B
    BPL Member

    @cbrown2019

    Much too close encounter at the Grand Canyon South Rim during rutting season…

    #3690971
    Claiborne B
    BPL Member

    @cbrown2019

    My sister came across these guys chillin’ while on safari, after her Mt. Kilimanjaro Summit last January…

    #3690977
    AK Granola
    BPL Member

    @granolagirlak

    We weren’t backpacking, but that wasn’t a qualifier for this thread, so I’ll post my 2020 favorite – mama and baby moose as seen from our van in Denali National Park. Kind of glad we weren’t walking on the road right then!

    #3690981
    Kattt
    BPL Member

    @kattt

    I saw this little guy in person too but the camera caught it best.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CDXMfw-HGDD/?igshid=1najpqnf6gm0w

     

    #3691001
    Stumphges
    BPL Member

    @stumphges

    A moose along the Echo trail just before dusk. Favorite because of my dog’s reaction. He’s a great fan of whitetail deer and his response to seeing the moose, almost black against the pines crowding the edge of the trail, was incredibly excited. He barked, moaned and articulated sounds I’ve never heard from him before or since. I imagined he was saying, “A deer! A huge deer! OMG, look at that massive black deer! Do you see it? Do you see it?” A friend from Alaska was with us and remarked how much darker and smaller he was than those near his place.

    #3691007
    Philip Tschersich
    BPL Member

    @philip-ak

    Locale: Kodiak Alaska

    I ran into the entire “Waterfall” Roosevelt elk herd on Afognak Island this July (well, the cows and calves anyway, the bulls were on the next mountain over). Just over 100 animals, with approximately a 30% calf rate. That’s very high. At 2:34 in this video:

    Come to think of it, our spring survey in Uyak Bay was chockablock with critters:

    We also had a pretty cool orca encounter last spring on our way into the harbor:

    #3691009
    Chris K
    BPL Member

    @cmkannen-2-2

    Wow, some great sightings here. Thanks, all.


    @granolagirlak
    – Karen, yep, any sighting counts. The badger we saw was from the car.


    @kattt
    – Was hoping you would post something – you’re the BPL wildlife sighting expert!

    #3691010
    Dan
    BPL Member

    @dan-s

    Locale: Colorado

    A few more favorites.

    #3691011
    Luke Schmidt
    BPL Member

    @cameron

    Locale: Alaska

    This is a wild Alaskan boy facing off with a semi tame mink over a fish.

    https://youtu.be/Mb9AEPZIEmM

    Hopefully the video link works. It was a fun birthday party/ice fishing day for my adopted nephew.

    https://backpackinglight.com/wp-content/uploads/hm_bbpui/3691011/k7bd30w1f831udnq8dhvjabpnekz7nhu.jpgThe picture is blurry but that is the fattest bear I’ve ever seen in person.

    Sadly I did not get a picture of the 3 grizzlies on my front porch in October.

    #3691042
    Brad Rogers
    BPL Member

    @mocs123

    Locale: Southeast Tennessee

    And since I don’t think I remember a thread like this in previous years, here is the crown jewel of wildlife sightings – a wolverine in Wrangell-St Elias NP in 2017.  It literally ran by where I was packing up camp one morning.  When it noticed me is scrambled up the talus wall in the background at lighting speed.

    I know it’s a bad photo, but it was a once in a lifetime sighting.

    #3691052
    Greg
    Spectator

    @slalomnorth

    #3691056
    Mark Verber
    BPL Member

    @verber

    Locale: San Francisco Bay Area

    a family of foxes playing on black’s mountain (Rancho San Antonio).. alas no camera. I don’t know why, but other the common: birds, lizards, trout, domestic horses, deer, coyotes, and mosquitoes, I didn’t see any other wildlife on our trips this year :(

    Best picture from Brooks Camp in Alaska a number of years ago

     

    mom and cubs

    #3691090
    Manfred
    BPL Member

    @orienteering

    Wow, my wildlife pictures are most of the times more grainy (too much digital zoom) and sometimes a little shaky. Here is one from this summer.Bobcat with ground squirrel

    #3691100
    Ben C
    BPL Member

    @alexdrewreed

    Locale: Kentucky

    Fun pictures everybody. It’s especially cool to see the badgers. I’ve never seen one before.

    I had a great sighting of a red fox and her pups but couldn’t get a good picture. And saw tons of pronghorn in Wyoming. Wish I was as quick with the picture as you guys.

    #3691415
    lisa r
    BPL Member

    @lisina10

    Locale: Western OR

    No pics, but had multiple bobcat sightings (my first), including some kittens, at a local wildlife refuge this summer. Not the first time, but ran into a rattlesnake in the Trinity Alps (which I enjoyed – I love snakes and rattlesnakes helpfully tend to warn you of their presence). My least favorite encounter was the mystery creature that pawed at my tent in the night in the Pasayten Wilderness. From my paddleboard on the Willamette River watched a mama merganser fight off a weasel that was going after her ducklings. Kit fox just the other day in Death Valley.

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