Tag: animals

The Paint Filly

Click on the ( i ) in the left hand corner of the photos to read captions on the photos.

I found an old friend this last week while out stalking deer to photograph. I looked up from the cottonwood groves flanking the river to the dry hills and saw three horses headed to water. Even from afar I thought that I recognized the distinctive markings of one of the horses. I hurried to catch up with them, any thought of sneaking up on deer forgotten as I hoped I could intersect with the horses without spooking them. I was able to get down wind and into some thick sagebrush and waited along their return path as they drank at the river.

Peeking at them through the brush I was thrilled to see that the paint mare trailing her colorful foal, was well-known to me. I had taken quite a few photos of her and her band the summer of 2009 when she was born. Her distinctive markings made her easy to recognize. I had last seen her in the fall of 2011 a good 12 miles to the west of this location. At that time, she had still been with her mother and several other mares. Her sire was still in possession of his band of mares. I took some photos of them and then did not see her again until this week.

Obviously she was now a mother herself. I looked at the condition she was in and that of her foal and my heart fell. The drought we have been having is taking a terrible toll on all of the wild horses but especially mares and foals. The lack of snow and rain last winter has left very little for the horses to eat. I saw the foal trying to nurse and I am not sure she had any milk to give. They are walking great distances to find feed everyday and burning a lot of calories. I have been praying, along with everyone else for a good winter with heavy snow this year but that will surely mean a lot of these horses are not going to make it.

Yesterday I think I saw the paint again with her stallion. I looked in vain for the foal. They were very far away so I can’t be sure it was her at all.  I did not see a foal trailing them.

I am getting ready for my vacation in September. Two weeks of hiking so I have been in training. I have not been taking as many pictures because I have been speed hiking to prepare myself. I did take my camera out today and in spite of rushing across the landscape before the temperature exceeded 90, I was lucky to see quite a bit to photograph.

Ran into two coyotes and was fortunate that I saw them before they saw me. I think the sun was in their eyes and I was able to get off a few snaps before they hightailed it out of there. Noticed some wild horses coming down to water across the river and with the water between us they were fairly relaxed about my presence. My concerns about the drought taking a toll on them have unfortunately been warrented. These pictures are pretty hard to look at. This particular band does not seem to be feeding well at all. You can see every rib, hip bones are jutting out and you can count their vertebrae in their backbones. There is plenty of water to drink but the lack of snow and rain this spring meant very little grew for them to eat. They are not going into the hard months in  good shape.

I almost ran into this doe while she was doing a trim job on the lower branches of a cottonwood. I actually saw more wildlife today than I do when I am trying to be stealthy. Not sure what can be learned from that!

More Weed Lovers

I had another bust day with my friend the Kingfisher. I positioned myself opposite the branches he had been diving off the day before and of course he switched it up on me and dove off a dead tree where I had been sitting yesterday. Oh well. On the walk out I stopped by the patch of Milkweed thistle again as they were seeing quite a bit of activity. Two butterflies a house finch and much to my surprise and delight a couple of hummingbirds.  The orange winged insect is a Tarantula Hawk. You have to love that name. Any insect that hunts big spiders has me as a fan.  I stayed around and got photos of everyone who was taking advantage of the bounty that the purple flowers had to offer. No day outside is wasted!

Dreamy Dragonflies

One of the reasons I like photography is that as an A type personality it teaches me patience. I have always loved the outdoors and growing up I went hunting and fishing with a single minded purpose of bagging game or catching fish. With my camera I can still have a goal, because yes I need one, and get outside and explore the natural world. I used to get frustrated when I went out to take pictures of something specific with a specific target in mind and failed to accomplish what I set out to do. I have learned that nature and wildlife photography does not work that way of course.  It has taught me to expect, and more importantly to enjoy, the unexpected, the unforseen and this has been a revelation for me a planner and goal oriented person who does not like surprises.

Today I sat in the sagebrush for hours by the edge of a small pond with the goal of trying to take an action photo of a Kingfisher taking a fish from the water. I blew the shot. I sat in the wrong spot and did not have a good angle. The shots were blurry and I threw them out. I had a wonderful time though. Dragonflies kept me company and I had fun trying to take photos of these fast moving insects. After sitting still for several hours a mule deer doe walked right by me and bedded down about 25 feet from where I was sitting. She never saw me until I finally got up to leave misson unaccomplished but I had a wonderful time.

Summer Velvet

The deer have been hanging out in the hay fields enjoying the first cutting. The Mule deer bucks are growing their new sets of horns in preparation for autumn contests. Now they are all in velvet without the hard, sharp edges and points that will be present in a few months. It is nice seeing them with this more relaxed and laid back attitude.

Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge ~ Bighorn Sheep

I just got back from spending three glorious days on the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in Eastern Oregon.  My cousin from Bend met me in Plush which acted as our base camp. The Refuge was wonderful and teeming with wildlife. We were extremely lucky to run into a herd of California Bighorn Rams before we even got to the Refuge proper. There were about 17 rams altogether hanging out at lower elevations near water. We were able to get quite close to them and take some photographs. We ran into this same herd on the way back to Plush.

The Hart Mountain California Bighorn herds have been used to repopulate Bighorn Sheep in many areas of Oregon and the west where the sheep have disappeared or are in decline. It was a thrill to see them up close like this.

The landscape photo shows you the terrain we found the Sheep hanging out in.

Hope you enjoy the photos as well.

Along the River; Late Spring

As I walked along the river early this morning the bird song was almost deafening at times. It is the kind of noise you should not mind though and I certainly didn’t! The more I visit this Nature Conservancy property the more impressed I am with the work they have done restoring the river habitat. I became a member after my last visit as I was so grateful for being able to visit such a wonderful place. It is teeming with birds, and wildlife of all kinds. I look forward to spending many hours there in all seasons working on my photography. Photos from this day include an Osprey, Jack Rabbits and Cottontail. I am not sure about the little birds. I think one is a house wren and the other a song sparrow. I saw several giant bullfrogs and a variety of lizards as well.

An Owl’s Breakfast

The Nature Conservancy opened up a beautiful stretch of the Truckee River to the public a few weeks ago. I was finally able to visit it after drooling over it since the restoration work began 9 years ago. I was not disappointed as I walked through lovely cottonwoods and saw lots of wildlife enjoying the peaceful protected area. I surprised this Great Horned Owl enjoying a breakfast of Cottontail Rabbit and saw many live bunnies too. These pelicans were fishing on the river in the early morning. I will be visiting often.

Winter Birds

It has been record warm here for the end of January. Hitting 60 a couple of times this week is like a heat wave. The birds have been fairly active and I had some luck at a sanctuary near the river. Where I grew up on the Canadian border a Robin would mean Spring but they stay here all winter whether it is a tough winter or a mild one like we are having this year.