While we were walking around enjoying the golden aspens a week ago, we ran into this beautiful kitty, escorted by her deaf owner. I motioned that I would like to take a photo as she calmly perched on a log, totally at ease in her surroundings. What a beauty!
“What is this?” you may wonder, if you don’t live in Arizona.
If you do live here, you know all too well that this is a baby javelina (not a pig, but a collared peccary). The photo below will give you an idea of the size of the baby.
There is a steep hill covered with rocks above the retaining wall behind our patio, and it is usually down this slope that javelinas enter our yard. One side of the backyard has a gate (usually open) leading to the front yard, and the other side is ungated. We tend to leave the gate open, knowing that wildlife (mostly deer, coyotes, and javelinas) may be passing through. Normally the occasional group of javelinas come down the hill and walk around the house to the front, where they then head up neighbors’ driveways to the open areas behind the houses.
This morning, I looked out back and saw a mother javelina standing on the patio, calmly nursing her two offspring. The larger of the juveniles looked like a smaller version of its mother, but the smaller javelina was tiny and still had its umbilical cord attached! I took some iPhone videos and then grabbed my big camera to take a few quick photos through the glass door and screen. After nursing was over, the two larger javelinas then jumped up on the retaining wall, leaving the new baby behind. Realizing its plight, mama javelina jumped back down, and this behavior continued for about a half hour. Then suddenly a dog appeared at the top of the hill, barking at the javelinas, who then started squealing. I finally realized the gate must have blown shut and dashed outside to timidly open it, after first peeking through to make sure the javelinas weren’t right by it. In no time, the javelinas went through the gate and headed up a neighbor’s driveway. Drama over.
I took this in-camera multiple exposure several months ago. The bird was gathering nesting materials and going back and forth to the hole in the saguaro. I wasn’t sure about it as a multiple exposure at first, but it has grown on me.
Dog + beach- perfect combination!
Spotted at Newport Beach
Last week’s poppy adventure provided an unexpected photo op. As we headed to Saguaro Lake, we came upon some of the Salt River wild horses having their own poppy adventure! We had talked earlier about the possibility of trying to find them, but we didn’t really know where to go and the poppies were calling my name. It was certainly a moment of synchronicity finding some of the horses among the wildflowers!
This photo was taken back in 2019 when we came up on a mounted shooting competition taking place at the county fair. It was fascinating to watch, and I hope to go again sometime.
A horse closeup photo from a few months ago- I had fun using textures and painting effects to change things up.
We took our youngest grandson to our local zoo on Saturday, and I didn’t take my regular camera. This shot of a lynx was taken through the glass barrier with my iPhone, and I thought it did a pretty good job. Those paws are huge1
Seeing otters is always a major highlight of any boat trip in Alaska, and we were able to see quite a few off Gull Island. Otters are always special to our family, because our oldest grandson was fascinated with them beginning when he was very little and continuing throughout his childhood. Now that he is a teenager living in Alaska, otters have become less exotic to him- but no one can really resist watching the playful antics of these delightful creatures.
We returned yesterday from Alaska- arriving at 6:15am in Phoenix after a smooth but excruciating overnight flight from Anchorage. It was a smooth flight with the potential for a good night’s sleep in the darkened cabin, BUT. . . the lady behind us had brought her CAT which yowled continually the entire time! Sleep was beyond reach for me- I watched a movie and tried to calm my frazzled nerves by playing a meditation album on my iPhone and taking photos out the window. Lonnie actually managed to sleep for a few hours.
None of the above diminished the joy I felt from our wonderful reunion with our daughter and family and our 50th anniversary vacation within a vacation! It was perfect!
I’m posting an iconic Alaska photo first, because previously I had managed to travel to Alaska at least 5 times without capturing a moose image! It was raining lightly as we drove along the Seward highway as we were leaving Anchorage. We spotted a small group of moose, pulled over, and managed to get a shot of this young moose before he turned back to resume eating. The others had already disappeared into the brush. I love the look in his eye as he spotted us!
We encountered some friendly horses on our drive through Skull Valley last week. I’m not a farm girl by any description, but there is just something so appealing about rural scenes like this.
Here’s something you don’t see every day…
One of my favorite series of books for beginning readers (my children and grandchildren as well as my first grade students) is the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik. There is something about this photo of one of the three little grizzlies at Bearizona that brings those books to mind. It has been two months since I saw those bears, and I’m sure they are a lot bigger (and scarier) these days!
The last few days I have finally gotten around to editing more of the photos I took at Bearizona a month or so ago. I had fun playing with textures and some new brushes in photoshop to create somewhat painterly looks.
Another portrait of “my” bunny
melinda anderson photography 