I think this turkey might have been a bit concerned about being dinner. 😉
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, from my family to yours. May you enjoy a blessed and safe holiday season!
Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
I think this turkey might have been a bit concerned about being dinner. 😉
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, from my family to yours. May you enjoy a blessed and safe holiday season!
This was one handsome and muscular fellow! He was clearly in fighting form and ready for the rut.
Five rams were hanging out in Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver recently, on the prowl for the ladies. This was one of the bigger members of the bachelor herd and he was definitely large and in charge. Unfortunately, they were not in the mood to fight each other on this particular day but I did manage some nice captures.
With the deer rut still going on, testosterone is high and the competition between bucks for mating rights is very visible. Sometimes you will see a pair of males sparring head-to-head, other times, one decides it just isn’t worth the fight.
Yesterday these two bucks were closely following a doe, vying for her affection. One of the bucks did not care for the competition and started toward the other but the interloper wanted no part of a battle. He instead opted to run with the first buck chasing after him.
Eventually, the winner decided all was in the clear and returned to his pursuit of the doe. This actually turned out to be successful as they proceeded to mate – an image for another day.
A different look at a very common raptor. Oftentimes I just drive right by red tails as they are prevalent but not often willing to sit for pictures.
On my way home the other day I happened across this one that sat nicely as I drove by. I decided to give it a shot and after giving me some nice poses, it launched into the sky.
Taken in Weld County, Colorado.
It has been since February that I last saw the golden eagles at this spot in Boulder County, Colorado. I had just about given up hope, thinking they had moved on. Two weekends ago I finally saw them again and then again this past weekend.
As always, it was pretty uncooperative when it came to pictures, hanging out well-buried within a tree’s branches initially. After an hour it took flight, naturally at an angle that prevented me getting pics. It did then roost for a few minutes on top of a utility pole giving me a few more poses though.
Hopefully it will continue to hang out in this spot and I will get more photo ops with it.
A pic for that other Friday hashtag, #FoxFriday.
Taken back on the last day of May, my local fox family didn’t make an appearance till after the sun was going down on the horizon. It made for tough lighting but this cute one gave me one of my favorites.
While its siblings were all rough-housing, it stayed away from the fray, more interested in the guy with the camera. I of course didn’t mind.
Overcast, dim skies are not a photographers friend, particularly when you are trying to get pics of a fast-mover. Such was the case this past Saturday when I came across this eagle at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
Despite having to use a slow shutter speed due to the poor light, I was actually able to get a nice series of it as it departed. The clearing skies behind it helped to add some interest versus the cruddy gray that was everywhere else.
These triplets were following along with their mom while she was fishing Moraine Creek in National Park Service Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
The sow would go into the river to catch her meals and the three would dutifully stay ashore and wait for her to return. Normally they were wise and stayed hidden in the grass but a few times we got a good look at them.
They were so darned cute but I never could get all three to look at me at once and they always seemed to be on the wrong side of the light. Nevertheless, it was a lot of fun to be able to see cubs of the year.
What an absolutely beautiful raptor and one that we don’t see here in Colorado.
You might be able to guess from its bright, white plumage that these falcons are from the north and you would be right. They typically reside in the alpine tundra of Canada and Alaska but do sometimes venture down into southern Canada and on rare occasion, the northern tier of the contiguous United States.
They are in fact the largest falcon in the world and like many of its cousins, tends to prey on other birds. Some are a white morph variety like this pretty lady but many more come in shades of gray and brown.
This is a captive bird that I photographed at a recent event. On this day she was being a bit temperamental and not too willing to pose so I only managed a couple quick captures.
Kind of like from the Alfred Hitchcock movie, I came across this insanely massive flock of geese this past weekend on the plains of Colorado. From end to end, it had to have stretched for more than a quarter mile.
If you want to try counting them, feel free, but I just know there was a LOT of them. 😉
The majority of them were likely Canada geese which we see a lot of here in the winter, unfortunately too many. They become overwhelming at times, particularly when they take up residence in urban and suburban parks.
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