I took this shot of a great blue heron a few days ago down at the ponds … it was a beautiful image but it needed a little quiet time added to the image
I got this shot of a drake Widgeon just touching down at Bubbling Ponds this afternoon; wings extended and flattened to reduce lifting forces and swinging them down and forward to use as air brakes which along with the friction of the water gets him down into the water and at a stop fast.
Sometimes you get lucky … you sense that the ducks are about to takeoff, raise the camera to your eye, nail a focus and maybe you get the initiation of the flight
Snack time ... nope, not another hawk eats quail shot or bobcat eats squirrel shot … just a simple squirrel in the peach tree out back having an afternoon snack mid-September of this year.
Ordinarily you will see ducks and other winged creatures come in for beautiful landings even in crowded conditions.
Two names ... … one bird … Sparrow Hawk or American Kestrel … both refer to our smallest falcon in North American.
Four forests ... one atmosphere ... and the one atmosphere is all we get and because of the well meaning efforts put into place by the Four Forests Restoration Initiative, overseen by Greater Flagstaff Forests Partnership and with a whole host of environmental organizations and agencies, we are coming to the moment when it must be acknowledged that more harm is being done than good.
Today was one of those absolutely beautiful days … woke up with the sound of rain drumming the roof of my warm cabin in the woods overlooking the Upper Eau Claire lake … a couple of rollovers and a decision to rest up from the effort of waking up. It was cold, rainy and windy … checked the weather channel app, so I knew.
Not all days are productive and there are days when I just shoot for the sake of shooting something … this hen dove is one such example.
In this place of golden silence as a great blue heron slips quietly across calm waters at sunset
Stealth Mode: … this Black Hawk has his wings fully extended, max glide ratio and closing in on an unsuspecting target … food for the day soon to be added to his shopping cart.
… I got this shot over the weekend of one of my favorite predators launching an attack on a Gambel’s quail.
This Gambel’s quail was sitting on top of the desert olive bush in the back yard, looking back at One and me and asking the question, “do you really want to try to get me?” well in response I shot him and One was frustrated by her inability to climb up through the safe haven of that bush.
When I took off this morning the smoke was pretty intense, so I pointed the nose up and to the north.
There are few things that can bring a smile to my face more than watching the squirrels in our neighborhood as they bounce their way across the grass … I caught this one in midflight as the back feet have just left the ground and the front are reaching for the next landing spot.
It was an exciting encounter and lasted a total of two or three seconds.
Not long ago I resumed my evening walks and have started getting some shots I like again. I took this one of a javelina who was also on his evening walk … taken up near the green on the 11th hole as I was walking back home down the fairway.
Down the hatch … among humans a way of toasting or celebrating by throwing a drink down your throat ...
Yesterday I spent about an hour and a half photographing House Mountain, an ancient shield volcano in the Sedona area.
A shot I took of a grebe at Willow Lake a few weeks ago and he seems to have a look of incredulity about him … or curiosity perhaps … ornery?
I have always enjoyed this image and usually shoot a few new ones every year … it is a reminder of this date (April 15th) during my working years as this is usually how I felt.
Talking … to me? Or to someone or something else? In any case our blue heron friend was proclaiming something of which I was clueless … he was a beautiful subject for this shot though and I like that you can see both of his wings in this image.
I took this shot a few years ago on a morning flight up to and over the Colorado Plateau. There were numerous storm cells drifting around the area, some large blue holes with the sun coming through and in general all seemed well with the world.
Dreams … daffodils or simply a field of great beauty where you can spend time and let your mind wander in a scene of intense beauty. This is a shot from the daffodil fields at Filoli and the field and apple trees were in full bloom.
… I have been doing aerial shooting of fall colors on the plateau since 2007 and 2018 was the best ever …
This rock serves as a great reminder to have a cup of coffee … or my preferred espresso shots.
The view from SW of Rogers Lake, looking to the NE, on a very wintry day last February.
You are mine, at least that what this Coopers Hawk seems to be telling the birds hiding and seeking shelter in our Desert Olive bush
I took this shot last week on a flight to the east of the San Francisco Peaks and got to shoot some of my favorite scenes besides the mountains and clouds and those are of the wonderful abstract patterns created when snow falls and does not completely cover the fields … an abstract of black and white patterns.
It was a beautiful day in Sedona when I took off this afternoon, but by the time I got half way to the peaks I was dodging snow showers.
Day 1 of the New Year was a relaxing and fun day.
The outing on Lake Pleasant today was one of the funnest days on the water yet
No one really likes waiting in line at the grocery store and some even take naps while waiting for their fresh meat to be delivered to them.
I love clouds and habitually shoot clouds that speak to me. I took this shot of the clouds from our back deck a couple of weeks ago and the Heron I shot at Watson Lake about a month ago.
Sometimes the sky and my moods intersect in a soft glow where the world becomes a vista of pastels and muted colors and the day I shot this image was such a day … dreamy landscapes, clouds and sky.
Eyes wide Open ... … the music by Tony Anderson that I am playing and what this hen Gadwall has as she is dropping her gear (her feet) and swings them forward, spreading her feet out for a landing on the water … wee bit chilly now, but they are well insulated and able to deal with it.
I came on this guy on Hwy 77 in Wisconsin, cutting over from I-35N to US 63 at Minong before heading up US 63 to Gordon where we take County Y heading to the Upper Eau Claire lake.
A dreamland of , snow, clouds and blue skies that I had on flights to the SF Peaks last week
I'm blown away by the beauty that surrounded me this morning … my first flight in Mariah for a long time was nothing short of remarkable and reminded me of the shoot that the Loon gave me in Northern Wisconsin just a couple of weeks ago.
I took this shot of a young doe on the way back to the cabin after an afternoon in search of color … she and her “mom” were feeding on the grasses at the side of the road and I shot them from inside the car so as not to spook them.
Have a heart ... and this view of Sunset Crater from the west looking east gives you the heart shape cone I was talking about a week or so ago when I sent out photos from the east looking west.
What the inside of Sunset Crater looks like? Wonder no longer, as this shot I took last September, gives you a clear view of the entire caldera of Sunset Crater … one of my favorite place to go; in the air for beautiful photos of the crater and surrounding volcanic fields and other volcanic cones and on the ground for the spectacular wood and a sense of being in an area less than ten minutes ago in geologic time, saw the earth’s crust ripped and rendered and molten lava exploding out of the earth.
Few things are able to evoke the peace and tranquility that being out on quiet water can do … the beauty of sky, shorelines and reflections in the water … and no one else around to break the spell. I took this shot last August and I’m anxious to get back out there and just drift and absorb the beauty.
Going through photos for the book today I came on a shot of the SF Peaks I took last year which is one of my all-time favorite shots of them.
I captured a series of shots of the Blue Heron that I sent out last night and this shot is the next in the series, taken approximately .14 seconds after the shot from last night … you can see where he has lifted off with the mighty force of the push from the legs and the forward and downward beat of the wings.
End of day on the Colorado Plateau on January 8th , 2017 … I took this shot on a very high wind day about 20 minutes before sunset and the conditions were phenomenal by anyone’s standards.
For a few moments last Friday afternoon, these two predators had their eyes locked on each other and then the larger of them turned his head and resumed his stroll across the grass towards the wild area of brush, trees and tangles.
When all else fails, do something different and this is the seventh photo I pulled up tonight.
I saw a bobcat whilst out with One this evening and it reminded me of a shot I took in 2015 of a young bobcat in someone’s yard high up on Merry Go Round Rock Road while heading into town.
Coal Mine Canyon is one of the beautiful canyons in northern Arizona and it much more vast when viewed from the air as opposed to from the ground. It