On the second morning we pulled up off shore as there was an amazing colony of sea birds nesting there. Having taken the zodiac to shore we held fire on moving in, as we spotted a single solitary polar bear scouting the ridge looking for eggs of the nesting birds, plus the guide wanted to check further into the canyon for any additional bears. After around 20 mins the bear headed off and the guide signalled that all was well, so we headed towards the canyon and then into it, with flanking cliffs around 300ft high. As we moved in you could hear the sea birds calling as the 'path' began to get narrower, then suddenly this Arctic Fox darted over the shale, glancing down at us. As we walked about 500m in we came to the end with the sea birds circling above, nesting on the cliff face wherever they could and the smell of pilling guano certainly cleared the nostrils.
Not straying off the path and walking into one unpleasant stuff, keeping quiet and low, the Arctic fox became braver and continued the search for injured birds or eggs, stopping and darting, but always giving that glance down to us. As time progressed it began to stop on the shale and groom, but still with a healthy distance between us. Some may have issues with the OOF FG to the right, but with limited access and lens I could not avoid it.
Thanks to those who posted or viewed on the last posting.
Steve
Subject: Arctic Fox (Vulpes lagopus)
Location: Svalbard
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II
Lens: EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM HH
Exposure: 1/800s at f/5.6 ISO500
Original format: Landscape, very slight crop all round
Processed via: LRC 9.4 & PS2020