Tag: wildlife

Mountain Lion

Right on cue, after a bobcat appearance, a lion shows itself. I thought if I saw one this would be the camera that picked one up. It is on a well-traveled route to water. The deer and horses are frequently using this trail so why not a lion? It’s a rocky route without low weeds and brush so the lion is highlighted quite well. Unfortunately, again these photos are at night so not the great photo quality. Still, it is nice to see that they are out there keeping the wild places wild. Thie appears to be a young lion. It looks on the smaller side. I hope to see it again but not in person!

Finally a Bobcat!

While I am enjoying all the images and information that I have been able to gather on deer and coyote movements, I will admit that I have been eagerly anticipating getting images of Bobcats and Mountain Lions. I have been assured that both frequent the property. As such, I am carrying bear spray on my belt when I wander the around just in case of an encounter. A reminder of the need to be aware and vigilante came this week when it was reported that a young girl out walking her dog was attacked by a mountain lion south of this area. Fortunately, both girl and dog were not seriously injured but it is cause for concern. These are not great pictures. Trail cams don’t take the quality of images a DSLR camera takes but I am thrilled to see the bobcat showing up on two different nights on my camera. In a couple of the photos it shows the bobcat carrying a rabbit in it’s mouth after a successful hunt. Now on to capturing a Lion.

Sparrows

This time of year, White-crowned sparrows return to the lowlands of the southwest in large numbers. They spend the summers in the northern boreal forests and the higher mountain ranges. Their reappearance is a harbinger of colder temps as fall and winter arrive. They are a welcome site in the sagebrush steppe as a lot of the other birds have fled to warmer climes. Often, they can be found in the same areas as Rufous-crowned sparrows foraging for seeds. I enjoy photographing both species as they have a distinctive and attractive appearance.

White-Crowned Sparrows

Rufous-crowned sparrow

Ghostly Trail Cam Photos for Halloween

I have always been afraid of the dark. This fear has not gone away even at my advanced age. I just have far too much imagination and can conjure frightening images from the slightest noise or unexplained movement out there in the scary dark. I laugh at myself as even when reviewing trail cam photos that are taken in the dark I can get creeped out. It is disconcerting to stare at a photo that was taken at 2:00 AM and there is nothing obviously in the photo that triggered the flash. Another eerie sight are eyes glowing out of the dark with no hint at what animal or other being is behind the eyes. In these photos the animals are easy to identify, deer, feral horses, coyotes and a raccoon.

If not Spiders, then What?

Last post was an example of the unexpected when it comes to photos captured on Trail-cameras. What is the desired objective? …beautiful animals of course. I started placing a series of cameras out in July in two main areas that are full of wildlife. Nevada State Game Laws makes the placement of Trail-cameras illegal after August 1 of each year until January 1 of the following year in the interest of fair chase. My goal is photographing animals not hunting them in this application, but I am still subject to the law. I obtained permission to place these cameras on private property which is legal. I am seeing lots of large Mule Deer bucks along with does and fawns. The cameras have also captured a skunk, coyotes and feral horses. While Trail-cameras don’t take high quality photos the pictures are hopefully going to increase my odds of getting good pictures with my real camera. Here are some examples from the last few months.

Mule Deer Buck
Business End of a Skunk
Coyote
Heavy Horned Mule Deer
Two Mule Deer Bucks

Jewels of the Garden

Hummingbird Feeding on Red Agastache

Hummingbirds are called the Jewels of the Garden or Jewels of the sky. It is easy to see why. As they flit through the colorful flowers the sun catches their brilliant, iridescent feathers giving them a gem like appearance.

Hummingbird and Pink Agastache

These birds are some of my favorite photo subjects. I have turned my backyard into a hummingbird, or pollinator garden as I have written about in the past. I love being able to hang out in my own space, no driving, complete privacy and unlimited time to devote to these tiny subjects.

Pollinator Heaven in Pink

I don’t know what impacted my flowers this year, but I have very few great photos of the Hummers with beautiful flowers. This is one I like. The flowers seemed to be stressed by the heat and bloomed early and faded fast. I still had a good showing of birds but just not the number of pretty flower and bird opportunities I’ve had in the past.

Hummingbird with Faded Monarda

Common Yellowthroats

Female Yellowthroat with Dragonfly

I was fortunate to find a nesting pair of Yellowthroats earlier this summer. They were busy feeding their young ones and the number of dragonflies that were consumed was staggering!

Male Yellowthroat

The males are more colorful with a bandit like mask of black across the eyes. More dragonflies in his beak for the nestlings.

Feeding Interaction between the Couple

I was happy to capture this interaction between the male and female while they were feeding their young.

Band of Brothers

I was fortunate to run into this handsome herd of Mule Deer bucks just as they were leaving a field in the early morning. It isn’t often you see this many horned ones together and it was a joy to watch and photography them for about an hour before I had to move on.

Mule Deer

These fellows got over their alarm at my presence fairly quickly and it was interesting to watch their interactions at my leisure.

Four Point and Three Point

Western count, this is a nice four point and three point hanging out.

Alert

King Stag

This guy was definitely the biggest buck and the most wary. He dived into the tall brush and hid for a good little while until he decided I wasn’t a threat. He ran out an joined the rest of the herd and allowed me to get a few good shots. He has some pretty gnarly eye guards. Classic four point Mule Deer Buck.

Mix of Bucks and Does
In Motion
Play Fighting

These bucks did a little bit of play fighting while I watched. I was hoping they would knock their horns off it being March and time for them to be dropping their antlers. No such luck.

Bald Eagles

February and March are prime months for seeing Bald Eagles as they migrate through the high desert. They follow the flocks of snow geese, tundra swans and numerous ducks that fly through the area on their way back north.

Bald Eagle in Flight
Bloody Feet

I like to photograph and record nature with realism. Birds of prey have to eat and that is messy. Eagles cull the weak and sick birds from the flocks. They fly over large rafts of snow geese scaring them into panicked flight. They pick the ones off the water that are too weak to fly or are struggling. Nothing goes to waste. Ravens follow the eagles and clean up any scraps.