kritterspaw

Antelope Canyon

Posted on October 22, 2015 by kritterspaw

Horseshoe Bend

We have been to Antelope Canyon Slot canyons maybe half a dozen times over the years. The first time we saw the beams of light and had the place virtually to ourselves… that was quite some time ago (decades). We have seen the crowds increase, but never such as we saw this past weekend.

Yikes! What a ZOOOOOOO. I would never go back. They pack so many people into the canyons that it’s just not fun. It’s bumper to bumper people, and you can hardly get a photo in. It’s a money factory… they pump through 400 people an hour in the short distance in Upper Antelope Canyon. We found it absolutely disgusting. It was on and off raining all weekend. We were fortunate enough to go during a reprieve from the rain. The next day it was driving rain… and they were loading up the buses come rain or shine… no matter that there would be no sunshine, decent photo opportunities, and miserable muddy conditions. How unfortunate that nature has become such a tourist attraction that they can hold your credit card hostage with no consideration for the personal experience.

Having said that, our friends from the U.K. had never seen it and had made the special request to see this marvel… so we went. We shot up, and got shots devoid of people, which really doesn’t tell the story.

Fall Colors

Posted on October 22, 2015 by kritterspaw

We were quite anxious to go out and get Fall Color photos this year… but we have been so consumed by our projects that it nearly passed us by. We had friends come up from U.K., and they gave us the excuse and opportunity to make the journey to the rim to enjoy Fall and it’s gorgeous bounty.

Actually, the leaves were nearly gone. I think they snapped into color just as we got that big cold front and wind that moved through… then brushed them right off the trees onto the ground and against trees making for interesting juxtaposition.

Every year brings something new. Now that we live somewhere with 4 seasons we can take full advantage of it and enjoy all it has to offer.

Mogollon Rim stars and sunset

Posted on October 3, 2015October 3, 2015 by kritterspaw

We were at the rim the other day… doing some leaf peeping. No major color changes just yet… so we’ll just have to wait, and go back.

We did see this cool little horny toad, have a nice dinner and watch the sun set and stars come out though.

Blood Moon

Posted on October 3, 2015October 3, 2015 by kritterspaw

A super moon only happens like once a year… when the moon is full and closest to the earth. The next super moon is scheduled for Nov 14, 2016.

Even more rare is when a super moon is in full lunar eclipse, making it appear red in color, i.e. it’s term ‘blood moon’. The next blood moon isn’t expected until 2033.

Jousting

Posted on September 15, 2015 by kritterspaw

We haven’t seen a lot of elk this year. I’m not sure where they have been. We’ve had enough rain perhaps that they have found their food and water elsewhere.

Even more rare, are seeing elk bulls together, particularly as we go into rut season. But we were thrilled to get these two young bulls strutting their stuff, and learning how to ‘do the dance’.

These two boys were sparring with their single spikes, horsing around, and checking out their gear.

They never got too serious about it… but it was fun to watch.

Big Animals

Posted on August 21, 2015August 21, 2015 by kritterspaw

We are fortunate enough to have become used to seeing deer and elk… but Yellowstone / Grand Teton showed us a whole new level of animal. Seeing elk and deer side by side, you get a gist of how great the size difference is. I thought elk were big… that was until I saw buffalo up close… and moose.

.. and BEAR ( a little TOO close for comfort).

(admittedly a little blurry, but I was scrambling up the rock ledge)

Nice bear.

Turkey Strut

Posted on August 1, 2015 by kritterspaw

We get a little bit of everything here. Yesterday, we saw this little family of turkey’s strutting their stuff. They were pretty elusive and spooky birds. These were Merriam turkey’s, popular in northern AZ ponderosa pines. We don’t see many, so it was pretty cool to see them fluffing their feathers and teaching their little ones.

Dinner Out

Posted on July 25, 2015 by kritterspaw

I freely admit I like to enjoy a nice dinner out. It’s gotten a little harder now that we live off the beaten path. So I have to rely on my own cooking skills.. which is something I can easily live with.

The best dinner out we enjoy these days… is the one we take with.

We pack up our grill and our picnic basket, our cooler, the dog (Journey), and the camera… and we’re off. It doesn’t much matter where we go… it all in the journey… and the views.

This evening we watched the sun set over Mogollon Rim. I think we had the best view in the house.

It’s an Osprey

Posted on July 14, 2015 by kritterspaw

I thought it was an eagle… but apparently, after closer inspection it’s an osprey. We did manage to capture this large bird sitting on it’s nest. Unfortunately I never saw any little head bobs. This large bird of prey is a hawk with a diet of primarily fish.

Lounge Squirrel

Posted on July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 by kritterspaw

You know what they say… when given lemons make lemonade…. or something like that.

I would love to have bear and mountain lions to photograph (or even elk and deer), but with all the rain we have had, the big animals have lots of options for food and drink, making them harder to find.

So, in attempt to keep up my wildlife photography, I did a session with this little squirrel (and a few birds).

This little squirrel seems to be quite content to not be sharing his space with big animals.

Finch

Grosbeak

Woodpecker

kritterspix

K. Ritter's photographs and photo musings from northern arizona

Author: kritterspaw