In the Field

Rainforest Icons. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. September 23, 2024.

If you ask anyone who has visited the Great Bear Rainforest once what species they'd consider to be the "icons" of the rainforest most would probably mention bears (including Grizzlies, Blacks and Spirit Bears), whales (Humpbacks and Killers) and maybe even coastal Gray Wolves (if they were very lucky and happened to see a wolf or two). BUT, if you asked someone who has been to the Great Bear many times OR if you asked any of the local First Nations, you can bet Bald Eagles and Ravens would be included in the list. You can do a trip to the Great Bear and not see a bear or a wolf, but you can be sure you'll see Bald Eagles and Ravens!

This is one of those times where the momentI saw the scene I instantly loved it. Yep, it was raining (hard) and the subjects were real wet - and it was dark! But, to my eye, it was just an absolutely iconic Great Bear Rainforest scene. I loved how the white of the Bald Eagle's head and tail absolutely popped out, how the Common Raven was nicely tucked under the eagle (and looking in the same direction), and how the tree was angled slightly diagonally (as a nice "framing" element).

When I get to the point where I'm too old to travel into the Great Bear this is the kind of scene that will be seared into my mind when I think "Great Bear Rainforest".

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of these two rainforest icons:

• Rainforest Icons: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 6.7 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during my Into the Great Bear Rainforest Exploratory Photo Adventure in late September of 2024. Each year I offer trips into the Great Bear Rainforest as well as tours into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

Rainforest Icons. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. September 23, 2024.

High Efficiency* Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 4500.

Nikon Z9 paired with Z Nikkor 800mm f6.3S. Hand-held from a floating Zodiac inflatable boat. VR on in Sport mode. 3D-tracking AF area mode with subject detection on "Animal" mode.

1/640s @ f6.3; -1.0 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Rainforest Icons. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. September 23, 2024.

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .nef (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD2S algorithm of DXO PhotoLab 8.1 Elite (using the appropriate lens/camera optical module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Phase One's Capture One Pro (build 16.4.6). In the case of this image the only global adjustment was a minor tweaks to the blacks. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 6 separate layers, with the tweaks being associated with "exposure balancing" and contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to brightness, clarity, highlights, shadows, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

Rainforest Icons. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. September 23, 2024.

Species Status in Canada - Bald Eagle*: This species is not designated as at risk. The Bald Eagle was listed as "Endangered" in the contiguous US states from 1967 to 1995. In 1995 it was downlisted to "Threatened". On June 28, 2007 Bald Eagles were removed from the list of endangered and threatened species - a true American conservation success story.

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a very large bird of prey with broad wings. Adults possess characteristic white ("bald") heads. It takes Bald Eagles a full five years to attain their characteristic adult plumage (including their nearly pure white head and tail). In the years prior to the development of their adult plumage they are easy to confuse with Golden Eagles. Being very broad-winged Bald Eagles are able to use an energy-efficient flapping-soaring style of flight. While many people like to think of the Bald Eagle as a fierce hunter, in reality they hunt only as a last resort. More commonly they scavenge for their prey. Additionally, they often klepto-parasitize other weaker species such as Osprey, commonly stealing the other species hard-earned prey items. The Bald Eagle is, of course, the national emblem of the United States (Benjamin Franklin argued against this - his preference was for the Wild Turkey).

Species Status in Canada - Common Raven*: This species is not designated as at risk.

The majestic Common Raven (Corvus corax) has an extremely broad geographic and ecological distribution - its natural distribution is one of the widest in the world. One factor contributing to this wide distribution is the huge range of foods (and feeding behaviour) of the raven - it's a scavenger, predator AND kleptoparasite. Its diet includes carrion, large numbers of arthropods, small rodents, bird nestlings, seeds, grains and more.

Ravens are considered to be among the most intelligent of birds and exhibit extreme behavioural plasticity. They will quickly learn innovative new methods to access food and even will form associations with other species (such as wolves) in order to obtain food. Some have even suggested that ravens will lead wolves to prey they have spotted from overhead, presumably so they can feed off the carcasses if the wolves make a successful kill (and once the wolves have had their fill).

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada