Chris Morgan's Wildnotes

Pics and thoughts from the field

Gorillas in the midst! Check out this intense video clip

I have just returned from Uganda where, with tears in my eyes, I was lucky enough to spend a day out tracking mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. We followed 16 individuals as they browsed through the undergrowth, and it is an experience I will never forget. However - it was not quite as intense as THIS!!! Check it out - gorillas from the same park, walking through a camp, and getting up close and personal with some of the Homo sapiens visitors.

Chris
5.11.12

Working with the Frozen Planet team!

It has been amazing watching the Frozen Planet series - not only because it is mind-blowingly beautiful, but also because I am now very proud to be working with members of the Frozen Planet team on a brand new bear show. I took the Frozen Planet series producer Vanessa Berlowitz to Alaska last year as she was interested in creating a show like no other, about Alaska's coastal brown bears. As it does with everyone, the Alaska Peninsula dazzled her. Vanessa has pulled together a crack wildlife film team, including Jeff Wilson, also from Frozen Planet fame (among other things Jeff was one member of the 2 man team that spent months capturing the beautiful Adélie Penguin sequences). I am very excited to be involved with the new bear show - we are dreaming big, and we are going to tell a story as never told before with all kinds of state-of-the-art camera technology. And not a day goes by without me thinking about the journey that has brought these opportunities to reach millions of people with messages of wonder and hope for conservation. Thank you especially to the many Wildlife Media BEARTREK supporters who have helped to launch our little organization into the stratosphere (more here: www.wildlifemedia.org)

Watch this space! Filming with the BBC begins in June.

Here's Vanessa:

An here's Jeff:


Ever seen a polar bear give birth?

A double bill of Frozen Planet airs tonight on Discovery - watch this amazing clip of a polar bear giving birth. And then stay tuned for a hour show on "the making of Frozen Planet". It'll amaze you the way they captured some of those world class shots. Incredible what the team went through!

A polar bear gives birth in her winter's den. The cubs are born blind and tiny. A polar bear's milk is nine times richer than our own, so the cubs will double in weight every two weeks.

And here's a clip of the cameraman Mark Smith filming a polar bear in the front yard of their Arctic cabin!

Chris
4.8.12

Secrets from the BBC Frozen Planet team

This is wonderful behind-the-scenes insight from the BBC team about how they managed to obtain the breathtaking and surprising shots in Frozen Planet (now running on Discovery Channel here in the US). Here, series producer Vanessa Berlowitz describes what it took to film penguins in Antarctica. I'm working with Vanessa and Jeff Wilson (one of the semi-crazed guys who spent 4 months with the penguins) all summer on a brand new BBC production about Alaska's bears.
Lots more clips here: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/making-frozen-planet/

Chris
4.3.12

PS Images from my Siberian tiger shoot coming soon!

The beaver's back! The tree from last week has gone!

I was back in the woods this morning close to home. Astounded to find the entire tree that I photographed and blogged 2 weeks ago has now disappeared. The beaver has been busy!

(download)

Chris

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Chris Morgan

Sent from my iPhone. Sorry for the brief message.
www.chrismorganwildlife.org
www.wildlifemedia.org
www.bearinfo.org