Pix | kritterspix

Squirrel and its Nuts

Posted on September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 by kritterspaw

This time a year, when you walk through the forest, the squirrel will ‘hawk’ at you… squawking incessantly. You are in their territory after all. This is their busy time. They are scurrying around ‘squirreling’ away nuts for the winter, filling crevices and holes throughout the forest – stuffed full of pinecones.

It seems every one in the forest is fattening up for the winter, readying themselves for those long cold winter months where food is scarce for these forest animals.

Including these hawks who were looking for those squirrels!

Everybody’s gotta eat!

Reflections of Blue Ridge Reservoir

Posted on August 20, 2019August 20, 2019 by kritterspaw

There is something magical about sunrises and sunsets, and when combined with the soothing comfort of water – it makes for stunning scenery.

It was a full moon the other day, so we decided to get some pix of Blue Ridge Reservoir at night… and in the morning. The light cast by the full moon lit up the daisies growing through the patchwork rock that lines the ridges above the lake.

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The forest and it’s trees come right down to the waters edge at Blue Ridge.

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A brisk calm morning greeted us with gorgeous clouds and fantastic reflections in her still waters. It doesn’t get any more relaxing than waking up to gorgeous scenery and the serenity of a calm sea and her comforting embrace of the beauty that surrounds her.

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A Walk in the Woods

Posted on July 18, 2019August 4, 2019 by kritterspaw

Sometimes life gets busy. These days, that seems like all the time!

It’s at those times it is more important than ever, to get out and smell the roses, or in our case, the pine trees, wander through the woods, and take in the nature that abounds around us.

For us, that means getting out to the Rim. We took the time to indulge in a relaxing afternoon awestruck by the beauty of nature which brings abundant ferns back to an area that still shows signs of a charred earth.

The sun comes up and the moon rises every day regardless of what goes on in our day to day lives.

We should never get so busy as to not take notice of the beauty around us.

You can check out more forest and woods pix here…. https://kritterspaw.com/2019/08/04/relaxing-in-the-woods/

Morman Lake Elk

Posted on June 27, 2019 by kritterspaw

morman lake elk pool_IR.jpg The herds of elk come mingle about in Morman Lake every year. One can see them from Forest Road 3 on the way to Flagstaff. The new borns play in the grass, and the moms laze around in the soggy dirt.

I watched this one little guy very quizzically stalk a blue heron.

The young elk was very amused by this strange looking long necked ‘thing’ strutting around in the weeds.

The blue heron, on the other hand, didn’t think the curiosity or affection was quite as amusing. I watched the elk follow that blue heron around the pools at Mormon Lake, and the other elk soaking up the water. Nature at it’s finest!

Late May Snow

Posted on May 25, 2019 by kritterspaw

If you are from AZ, you no doubt heard about our late May snow. Just as we were preparing our gardens for the Spring / Summer season, we got predictions of 5″ of snow. This is the West coast, not the East coast, we’re not supposed to get these late snow storms… nonetheless, here it is.

While we didn’t get 5″, we did get 2 separate snow storms over several days that amounted to maybe 2″. It was unexpected, but always welcome and provided us a blanket of white on the ground and over the trees.

No matter. We’ll take what we can get.

Snow storm over… 70F today here on the mountain. Go figure.

Visiting Fox

Posted on May 11, 2019 by kritterspaw

Haven’t seen a lot of animals lately… but did see this curious fox stop by for a quick drink.

It’s always fun seeing such a wide variety of animals. I never tire of it.

Bob

Posted on March 21, 2019March 22, 2019 by kritterspaw

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Sometimes, even when you’re not looking, you encounter the unexpected.

Such was the case when we stumbled across this scrawny bobcat wandering through the woods after a morning snowstorm, looking for supper.

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He reminded me of a friend who recently lost her beloved cat, Lucky. He was curious, intent, and full of life.

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I watched him hunt through the lens of my camera edging up to him ever so cautiously, trying to get as close as I dared. He was much more interested in catching supper, than he was in me.

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I hope he finds peace, tranquility, and a fabulous supper.

Bob Lake_IR.jpg We felt lucky to cross paths.

The calm before the storm

Posted on March 10, 2019March 10, 2019 by kritterspaw

Now that our snow is all melted, and soaking into our forest… it’s time for some more. We are forecast to get snow for the next 3 days. Never knowing quite what to expect, irregardless of the forecasts, we prepare ourselves for what might come.

While some might stock up on groceries, gasoline for vehicles or generators, or perhaps ready the snowplows…. we see it as an opportunity to see if we can catch some animals in transit.

Animals can sense when a storm is afoot better than any Harvard grad. They tend to move around during a storm… so we set out to see if we could catch some animals.

Unfortunately, it was pretty slim pickin’s out there. But it made for a fun morning outing nonetheless. Bring on the snow.

Snow Elk

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by kritterspaw

We got quite the winter storm this week…. and I don’t know what it is, but storms always seem to bring the animals.

Of course, we are always delighted to see them. I always tell them… ‘I’ll make you famous’… if only they knew!

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These poor little guys were hunkered down looking for warmth and food.

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Even the dry twigs seemed like tasty food for these guys who were rummaging through the snow looking for something to eat.

Of course, kids will be kids, and all they cared about was playing in the snow! Typical! : )

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You can check out more snow pix here… https://kritterspaw.com/2019/02/23/snow/

Sandhill Cranes

Posted on February 12, 2019March 11, 2019 by kritterspaw

I have never been much of a bird watcher, but being retired, and living in the ‘wilderness’ has made me so much more aware of the animals and birds around me that I ever was living in the big city going to work every day.

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There are so many interesting animals and birds out there, that I feel I have barely scratched the surface of being able to appreciate and identify the wide variety of species we have in AZ.

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The sandhill cranes are among the more interesting migrating birds that call AZ their temporary home.

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Then their are the snow geese that come for the summer – and I’m not talking about the east coasters that come in travel trailers and crowd Phoenix during Noreasters back home!

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Northern shovelers with their platypus-type bills are among some of the interesting ducks we have.

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Along with the pintail ducks that flock to our AZ lakes.

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At Whitewater Draw in southern AZ, you might find yourself saying ‘who?’ to any number of bird species in this small, confined riparian area that serves as home to a snow bird of another feather.