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.
I hope you enjoyed my walk through some of my 2023 memorable animal sightings. Check out my Best Landscape pix here … https://kritterspaw.com/2024/01/20/best-of-landscapes-2024/
1. Antelope Greens Peak Loop near Show Low
2. Blue Heron Carneros Lake
3. Big Horn Sheep Greer, AZ
4. Mule Deer Grand Canyon South Rim
5. Mule Deer Grand Canyon North Rim
6. Bison Raymond Wilderness Area
7. Great White Egrets Happy Jack, AZ
8. Baby White Tail Deer Fawn Happy Jack, AZ
9. Bull Elk Happy Jack, AZ
10. Pygmy Owl Happy Jack, AZ
1. Tinder Fire Of course, the most memorable (and terrifying) event of the year was the fire that stormed up our hill on April 29, 2018. We were fortunate enough to be spared… many weren’t so lucky.
2. Post Fire The post fire made for some surreal photos and devastating landscape, which I’m happy to report is starting to come back.
3. Renewal Trips to the Mogollon Rim brought new light, old growth, and peaceful respites.
4. Sublime Point The North Rim Sublime Point offered an awesome vantage point for nature’s wonder.
5. Bright Angel Point The popular Bright Angel Point along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon makes for magical scenery.
6. Maple Blanket An early October snowfall chased the fall colors off the trees creating a blank of fall color on the new fallen snow.
7. Sedona Fall Oak Creek Canyon burst with yellows and reds along the serene creek.
8. SnowMelt Snow melt creates run off among the woods of Mogollon Rim.
9. Ruins Doors This magical place overlooks the valley below as it has for centuries, seemingly untouched.
10. Ram Release While this is more an animal highlight than a photographic one… it was a special moment for us this year, to be a part of re-locating big horn sheep to their natural habitat only a few miles from us.
1. Big horn sheep on wall in Zion National Park
2. Big horn sheep close-up in Zion National Park We saw these sheep watching the world go by in November (2016). There wasn’t a lot of traffic or cars in the park this late in the year, so these ram were just hanging out watching cars go by.
3. Black bear in our front yard! I can’t believe we saw a black bear out our window while having dinner! I had to wait for it to get off the front deck eating out of our bird feeder before I could pursue it to get this photo. It was about 5:30pm and the sun was just waining. Easily the most thrilling animal sighting of the year for me.
4. Elk in Happy Jack, AZ It’s not uncommon for us to see elk where we live. But this bugling baby was a treat as he bugled to his mom in the snow.
6. Elk mom & babe It’s always a treat to see the new born elk with their spots. It doesn’t happen often, but when we do, it is a thrill. The new moms are always so watchful of their playful and energetic new borns.
7. Elk in the Middle. It’s fun when we get a group of elk, as you can see the different ages and sizes and interaction with the elk siblings, cousins, moms, and gatherings.
8. Newborn Elk I could do a Top 10 on Elk alone.. but I have to move on to different animals. I had to include this one though, as this little babe still had wobbly legs and was just too precious to not include.
9. Canyon Owl I love owls, but rarely see them. I’m lucky if I see one a year. We saw this guy carefully watching us from his little perch along the canyon walls outside of Canyon X in Page, AZ
10. Puffin Wave While I’m on birds, I have to include this awesome puffin we saw in Englishtown, Nova Scotia.
11. Eagle Flight I would have been happier if this eagle had a fish in his mouth… but nonetheless, it’s a close up eagle in flight, so it goes to the diversity of animals (in this case birds) we saw in 2016.
12. Gobble gobble. I don’t know about you, but it’s not everyday you see wild turkey. I have never seen one in gobbler mode strutting his stuff…. but I’m happy with any opportunity to photograph a turkey in the wild.
. 13. Chippies. Moving on to little animals, I caught these two little chipmunk ‘talking’ to each other. If this photo had sound you would hear the chirping the one on the right was making. She saw me and stood there with her foot up and just chirped incessantly until this other little chipmunk came up to see what all the ruckus was about.
14. Tufted Ear Squirrel. I love these cool squirrels with their tufted pointy ears. I really like the texture of this tree bark against the furry critter and blurred wooded background.
15. Tufts in Flight. Then there is this guy caught in flight mid air jaunting across the rocks looking for just the right pine cone to nibble on.
16. Porcupine Scowl. I’m not sure how many porcupine’s I have ever seen… but I caught this fella scowling at me on an overlook in Northern California. He was not too happy that I was in his face with a camera. I took his portrait and backed off and left him in peace as he wasn’t nearly as happy to see me as I was him.
17. Ground squirrel pose. We stopped at an overlook in Utah outside of Lake Powell for lunch. This little guy wanted hand outs in the worst way. He was a riot to watch because he didn’t want to get too close, but he really wanted a nibble. What a curious fellow he was. We tipped him for his entertainment, took his photo for posterity and went on our way. We left him an apple core that was about as big as he was. He dragged it off like the coveted prize, but not before he posed for us and flitted about trying to get our attention.
18. Hiding among the Daisies. This little bird was digging up bugs amongst a field of daisies. He squatted down as if I couldn’t see me. Can’t hide from my camera, little guy.
19. Young ‘un. I had this young elk’s attention, until it realized I was no threat and went about it’s business. She looked right at me, as if to say, ‘what ya doing?’.
20. Ram Alert. We saw this young ram munching on these trees on the White Rim road within Canyonlands National Park. The road was thrilling all by itself, but made more fun seeing this guy along the way.
1. Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
2. Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
3. Cape Breton Eastern Shore, Nova Scotia
4. Mt. Hood, Oregon
5. Bodega Bay, Northern California
7. Maple Drop, Mogollon Rim
8. Burnt Art, Mogollon Rim AZ
9. Snow Burst, Happy Jack AZ
10. Toadstools, Utah
11. Smoked Tree, Mogollon Rim AZ
12. Harris Beach, Northern CA
13. Lake Powell, AZ
1. Alstrom Point, Lake Powell
2. Mesa Arch, Canyonlands Utah
3. Mogollon Rim, Northern Arizona
4. Mogollon Rim, Northern Arizona
5. Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia
6. Olympic Peninsula, Washington State
7. Peter Iredale wreck, Ft Stevens Oregon
8. Leaf splash, Northern California
9. Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
10. Quinault Rain Forest, Washington
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