Big Animals

bull5PSi

deerbubblesPSi

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.

buffboyclosPSi

moosestandPSi

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

bearblurPSi

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

bearlookPSi

Nice bear.

Turkey Strut

tslil_PSi

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.

lookr_PSi

croachPSi

turkstretchPSi

lilstrtchPSi

Dinner Out

rocktiltPSi

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.

sunset shadowsPSi

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.

2treesPSi

Lounge Squirrel

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).

sqloungePSi

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

sqflwrPSi

sqsitsPSi

finchgrnPSi

Finch

gbbrchPSiGrosbeak

redtopPSi Woodpecker

sqblkPSi

It’s Whats for Dinner

My www.krittersmenu.com has a category, It’s What’s For Dinner.  In the terms of my foodie blog… it’s what we have for dinner and recipes and ideas worthy of sharing.

On this photography blog, it’s not so much what we had for dinner… but what our fair weathered friends did, making for a photographic story of nature and the food chain.  Case in point, this blue heron in search of a meal.

blu reflctPSi

The hunt

blu wingsPSi

The target identified

blu dinner 1PSi

The catch

blu gulpPSi

Gulp!

It’s What’s for Dinner.

London Graveyard

cemetaryk PSi

It’s not like I frequent cemeteries, but there is something nostalgic and eerie about old London graveyards.  It’s like something out of a movie.  The tombstones are of another time and place… a totally different era.  One can serenely walk through a quiet graveyard and imagine stories and lives of another time.

grvstnsportk-PSi

gravestonkPSi

These photos were taken in Guildford, England, just outside of London, circa 2000, recently scanned from 35mm negative to digital.

Desert Flowers

cactired vertPSi

Spring is coming.  It’s still a bit chilly in our neck of the woods, but we took a trip down to Phoenix, and the flowers are all a bloom.

red-flarePSi

poppiblur vertPS

We had hoped to see the fields of poppies, but the poppies were rather scarce.  I’m not sure whether we were too early or too late.  We won’t see the flower blooms up north for a couple more months.

We did see one cactus bloom.  The mass cactus bloom won’t be until May, but this little guy was an early flower.

pinky vert lowrPSi

pinkbeePSi

sunrise hillsPSi