Alstom Point is one of those stunningly beautiful overlooks that is hard to get to, but in the end, worth the journey. The point lies just past Page, AZ across the border of Utah, along a 40 mile dirt road that turns treacherous, rock crawling, and hard to navigate.
Sunset overlooking Lake Powell
The view at the end of the journey is it’s reward, with sprawling vantage points of Lake Powell and Gunsight Butte. The Lake was significantly low, at only 31% of full (or 141 feet below full), but offered new canyons, waterways, and ridges to gawk at from high above.
Our first camping trip of the year was only for an unfortunate short period of time, but the view while it lasted was memorable.
Pursuing my passion of photography has been difficult for me lately, but one must use what they can to ‘make it happen’.
As a result of a recent accident, I have a bum hand, but have found that with my camera on my tripod, I can set the camera up so that I can release the shutter from the camera’s rear LCD screen.
The simple tap of the rear screen focuses, and takes the photo in one fell swoop, making it not only possible, but easy to snap photos.
It seemed criminal to not take pix during our recent 2′ of snow. Where there is a will there’s a way.
Baby grosbeak awaits breakfastBaby acorn woodpecker awaits breakfastCoot with her baby float through the smartweeds, hiding in the reeds.Coots get into it on the waterDuck splashes around Carnero LakePelican lounge in large bay at Alamo LakeField of sandhill cranes.Osprey defends nestRed Crossbill birds feed off of charcoal pit at Aker LakeHummingbird feeds on nectar.
I try to look back at my photos and my trips from the last year to improve on the next. While it may be a good idea, I am not always successful in taking the initiative to do so. They say the best photographs tell a story, or at least come with a story. So, in that vein, I have tried to seek out my best animal stories.
In no particular order are a few of my favorites.
In one of my most exhilarating animal encounters and experiences I have every had, was this close encounter with an Asian sun bear in Thailand. I was enjoying this lovely Thai lunch when someone yelled “BEAR”. Of course my first instinct was to grab my camera and run toward it. When it came in closer to check out the tasty smelling food, the proprietress grabbed the chicken off the charcoal hibachi grill, and I heard in the background, ‘back away… s l o w l y,” and they weren’t talking to the bear.
While in Thailand I did go to an elephant sanctuary. But it left me wanting more than seeing elephants held in captivity being fed by hoards of tourists. I wanted to see elephants in the wild. So when I saw my first wild elephant walking out of the jungle toward me, I was beyond thrilled. As it turned out, I was very fortunate and saw a number of wild elephants on multiple occasions. 
While we are in Thailand, let’s talk about dusky langur. Until we went to Thailand we had never heard of this endangered monkey. We got into a troop of these unusual primates and had a terrific time watching them jump around feeding off this tree. It was fantastic to witness.
I was thrilled to find this little guy at Whitehorse Lake. This jovial little guy wandered very comfortably around the Lake, as I snuck behind trees and laid down on berms waiting for it to come in. I thought it was a baby javelina, but with some help of the AZ Game & Fish Dept, it was identified as a feral pig, who apparently loves strawberries (according to fellow campers).
I’ve been fortunate to see a lot of animals in the wild. Of course some of the most common are elk and deer, with the occasional antelope, big horn sheep or coyote. It’s rare and very difficult to encounter (and photographically capture) the more uncommon animals, many, if not most, of which only come out at night. There are a number on my list I would love to see and never have, and maybe in time I can add them to my roaster. But, I must admit this long tailed weasel wasn’t even on my list. I had never even heard of it! He made an appearance while I was unwittingly taking landscape photos. This curious little guy kept poking his head out from behind a rock, then another rock, playing a little hide and seek as he tried to check me out. It was a fun ‘dance’ and he made it a fun challenge to capture his portrait.
I spent some time in my blind this year. There is something so special about animals coming in on you, while you go completely unnoticed. You can watch the animals interacting in their own environment, and if you are fortunate enough, with one another. It is peaceful, relaxing, and time consuming, but an amazing experience with nature. I was lucky enough to capture a white tail mom and baby deer, and a red fox. 
Ok. I’m a sucker for big horn sheep. I could fill these pages with favorite big horn sheep pix, but I won’t do that to you, but I couldn’t pick just one.
We have seen our fair share of white tail deer, but it is unusual to get bucks hanging out together and not being territorial. I suspect these boys are brothers enjoying one another’s companionship. I found it very en-dear-ing. Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
It’s not very often we see 6-point bull elk, particularly in the daylight, so I was delighted to see him, I only wish it has been for longer and more often.
Thailand is full of a myriad of flora and fauna, interesting flowers, and colorful birds. Our guide, Pip Pip, was good enough (and patient enough) to teach us many different varieties.
Little Green Bee EaterWhite throated King fisherIndo-Chinese Roller
As many birds as we saw, we only got a decent photographs of a few. Many were beautiful but just too far away, like the oriental honey buzzard, Asian open bill stork, and coppersmith barbet.
But we did manage to see Oriental Pie hornbill, such an interesting bird, and Orange breasted trogan.
Orange breasted troganOriental Pie HornbillHornbill
As much as I enjoyed the wide variety of amazing birds, I was really thrilled to see and photographically capture large mammals, like elephants, not in captivity, but in the wild, and Asian sun bear.
Asian elephantAsian sun bear
We saw a variety of monkeys, including gibbons, long tailed macaque, and dusky langur’s.
Dusky LangurLong tail macaqueGibbons
While I would have loved to see more, I guess that would be greedy, as we were very fortunate to see what we saw.
I can’t thank our guide, Pip Pip, enough for his time, patience, and inspiration for teaching us and showing us these magnificent creatures. We had such an amazing time and saw so many fantastic sights.
During our recent trip to Thailand after hitting Bangkok, see my post here …. https://kritterspaw.com/2023/12/06/bangkok-thailand/ , we drove 9-1/2 hours north of Bangkok to Chiang Mai or New City. As it is such a long trek, we stopped at Sukhothai along the way.
Thailand in general has over 40,000 temples, one in every village. So if you are interested in seeing temples, there are many, and from just the few we saw, they are very different from one another. Yui, our guide, was gracious enough to share her culture and educate us a bit on something we knew very little about. We stopped at relatively new temples which are a testament to the depth of commitment to the teachings of Buddha, and the offerings to Buddha and the monks to support the temples and their way of life.
We stopped at the ancient temple in Sukhothai which is considered the temple of the great relic and dates back to 1300. It is particularly notable because it is the only temple with a lotus flower atop the chedi. It’s a fascinating look at an early example of temples and the similarities to today’s temples.
But what we enjoyed most in Sukhothai, even more than the historic temples, were the cooking classes that we absolutely loved in both Sukhothai and Chiang Mai.
We not only got to try some amazing food, we got to make it with local people, who we truly enjoyed. It was such a fantastic way to experience northern Thailand, I can’t imagine a better experience.
We made EVERYTHING. We made papaya salad, khao soi. We made curries from chili paste we made from scratch. We made fried flowers, and learned to wrap with banana leaves. We made dessert, and ate it too.
As wonderful as the food was, the very BEST part was cooking along side the locals with their passion for food and teaching. I absolutely will make this food at home and think of the beautiful personalities we met. It was such a phenomenal experience.
While I was wow’d by the cooking classes we experienced, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a lovely city Chiang Mai is. It is full of modern coffee shops, tea shops, and Michelin recommended restaurants. It has temples galore, the most impressive, not to be missed in Chiang Mai is the Doi Suthep, both the upper and lower temples. The lower temple, the jungle temple is fascinating as it seems untouched by time from 700 years ago. Though, the temple at the top of the hill, is equally impressive in a different way.
Back in 1300’s a white elephant carrying a relic from Buddha was said to walk up to the hill and collapse. It’s at this site that the ‘upper’ temple was built on that very site and the chedi is said to house the relic the white elephant carried.
We were extremely fortunate to have wonderful guides to guide us through our experiences, giving them depth and meaning. We can’t thank Yui, Lynn, Tom, Ann, and Mr. O enough for all they taught us and we learned and enjoyed through them.
With the lack of rain we have had, the animals are hungry and out foraging for food. I hadn’t seen them much lately, but they must be out there! The more I watch animal behavior the more I start to understand it. I never see them on windy days (their scent gusts in the wind alerting their presence to predators) and infrequently on cloudy overcast days, as they can’t see shadows.
So I figured I should spend some time in a blind to see if I could get lucky and catch some animals coming in for food once the weather settled down. I choose nice days, no wind or clouds, perfect for foraging animals to make an appearance.
I spent 4 days in a row in complete silence hoping for any animal to wander into my field of view… to no avail. All I saw were birds and squirrel.
On the fifth day, I was gifted with a momma white tail deer and her fawn. There is something special about being in with nature. You can hear the sounds of the baby bleating, and the mom snorting for the little one to come along. It was precious to be able to witness from a very close proximity to these magnificent animals, and to see them eye-to-eye.
Persistence and tenacity are key attributes for success, so are patience and luck!
We have been fortunate enough to see gray fox this year, which is fortuitous given its nocturnal nature.
The gray fox normally frequents ridges and canyons, but can be found in wooded areas and grasslands. We were lucky enough to witness mom and 2 kits playing.
Our sightings were limited though, as the gray fox can be quite skittish, particularly during daylight hours.
Their predators include mountain lion, bobcats, coyotes, eagles, owls, and hawks, all of which we have our fair share, particularly the pesky mountain lion that wants to eat our pup for a snack.
The gray fox are mostly omnivores and prey on chipmunks, mice, bunnies, and the occasional bird or insect. Whatever brings them here, we are happy to see them, for as long as they happen to visit.
Sundials were estimated to be ‘invented’ by the ancient Egyptians around 1500 BC. There is evidence going back to 3500BC of a stick or pillar with a triangular ‘wedge’ (known today as a gnomon) to cast shadows to tell time.
Early devices were thought to help farmers tell time such that they would know when to plant and harvest crops. The early Egyptian ‘shadow clocks’ consisted merely of a straight base and raised crosspiece at one end with a scale inscribed in 6 divisions. The semi circle construction wasn’t developed until 280 BC by Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos who devised a pointer fixed at one end along a circular arc divided into 12 equal divisions.
Early versions of the sundial did not account for the seasons and length of the day. The sundial continued to iterate and become more sophisticated with factions across the world refining the design. Babylonian astronomer Berosus invented a spherical surface that traced a shadow tip for the longest day of the year. Around 100 BC that the Greeks began experimenting with vertical, horizontal, and inclined dials. The Roman’s employed seasonal hours, and even some portable sundials.
Over time, sundials became more complex and more accurate. Modern astronomers and mathematicians adjusted for the Earth’s tilted axis, the length of the shadow (longer in the winter than summer). Gnomon’s (the triangular pointer) were devised to cast a shadow to tell time and were eventually designed to point north versus straight up.
Eventually, the sundial became so accurate that it was the basis to check and adjust mechanical clocks until the late 1900’s.
Today, sundials are primarily ornamental, and use embellishments to make them unique and individual. Many incorporate mottos or whimsical sayings, like German’s wit, ‘Do like a sundial, count only the sunny days.’
The big horn sheep used to number in the millions between 1850 and 1900. Unfortunately, parasites, disease and modern city growth have dwindled the numbers of desert big horn sheep to 20,000 and about 45,000 Rocky Mountain big horns. In Arizona the total population across AZ for both desert and Rocky Mountain bighorns is estimated to be about 6,000. We were lucky enough to run into a herd of big horn sheep, complete with a number of small lambs.
As I relished in the joy of trying to photographically capture these beautiful animals, I was struck by all the tips I have learned over the years flooding into my mind as I framed and composed my shots.
With so many animals, I had to keep reminding myself to cut the clutter for clean shots devoid of distraction.
Maintain a tight frame, and check all the borders for any complications that might take your eye away from the subject. Avoid ‘butt’ photos and isolate the face and body. Try to avoid cutting off body parts. Though, when necessary, be careful of cutting off feet, heads, and ears, and maintain at least front half of animal, behind front legs or major joints. Be cognizant of post process cropping to maintain large pixel size for best sharpness particularly when enlarging images.
Look for gestures, cute faces, and action to make more interesting and inviting photographs. Make sure the animal is looking at you and you can see the eyes, straight on or profile. Use narrow depth of field (large aperture) to blur distraction from background.
I try hard not to spook the animal or change it’s behavior. Stop, look, and enjoy the encounter of nature’s wildlife and her habits, characteristics and mannerisms. Knowing these things helps to achieve better results at the next lucky encounter.
Give the animal room to roam, allowing space around the animal. It’s not lost of me that some of these methods contradict one another. That’s the fun of photography, despite my own guidance, ‘rules’ are meant to be broken. Different situations call for different solutions. Creativity and vision are in the eye of the beholder. When dealing with wildlife, it is difficult to create a perfect clean shot, so we must adapt to what we encounter.
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