More Wildlife Preserve Photos

Hi!

Tonight I decided to go through some recent photos taken at a preserve near my home.

You can read more about the preserve and see a few more photos in my 10-15-14 blog post.

Anywho...I'll post a few more photos from the preserve itself (a cactus "ready for its close-up" and some beautiful sunsets) and a couple characters from a local resident's nearby barnyard menagerie.

Hope you enjoy!

(Click these pics to see them larger)

"And God Spoke" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved

  

"Omnipotent Paintbrush" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved

 

"And God Spoke II" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved



"In Flight" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved



"FEED ME!" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved

"Robert St. John" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved

"Where 'They' Dwell" - copyright 2014, Jephyr!, All Rights Reserved

More Photographs From Last Weekend

Twice I found myself headed up the Apache Trail east of Phoenix over the weekend

The road winds along the Superstition Mountains through old Apache Indian lands...and past historic gold mining camps complete with tales of old prospectors and legends of lost gold mines.

In spite of the oppressive 108 degree weather I'd gone out in search of adventure and brought along my Canon EOS 5D Mark II to document what I might find.

"Shadow Dweller" - Photography by Jephyr, 2012

Along the way I saw a Forest Service road sign indicating there was a "look-out" point for a natural monument called Weaver's Needle.

I took the turn, and found only one other car in the parking area...parked and then began a short but blistering hike up the trail.

About half way up I stopped in the only shade I found and saw a little prickly pear cactus hunkered down in the shade...and snapped the image above.

"Sky Weaver" - Photography by Jephyr, 2012

Later when I reached the end of the trail, I was amused to discover that you could barely see Weaver;s Needle from the lookout point.  (In the image above you can just see Weaver's Needle along the horizon just to the right of center)

But rather than get frustrated I decided to make the best of it and began to notice the beautiful sky and the desert "garden" of plants and cacti all around.

"The Witness" - Photography by Jephyr, 2012

Did I mentioned it was HOT?  With the exception of one lone vulture way off in the distance I didn't see another living thing.

At that point I felt a bit like a crazed desert rat!

Later, on the way back down I swung into the Goldfield Ghost Town and snapped several images of old vehicles abandoned in the desert sun.

"End Of The Road" - Photography by Jephyr, 2012

All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

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I just updated my digital art page on my web-site...feel free to have a look!!

Arizona's Salt River: Lotza Buzzards!

Hi,

Yesterday I drove up the Bush Highway in the east end of the Phoenix Valley.  I was planning to take some photos at various locations along the way.

It had been a while since I'd been up there....and was sad to find that you now must have a permit in almost EVERY place there is to park.

In addition, there are now very few places the "powers that be" allow you to just pull off the road.

There are signs everywhere saying no parking and going on about fines and permits and violations.

SHESH!!!

It is VERY sad to me.

Oh well...times change I guess.

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Dust Storm:

I did manage to stop at the Great Western Trail Head of the Tonto National Forrest...and video tape a huge dust storm that blew in.

I may post that sometime...but because I was right down in it...the video just looks like a brown cloud for a lot of it!  : )

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Lotza Vultures - Oh My:

Later, as I drove back down into the Valley and passed through the "Lower Salt" I saw at least a dozen or more vultures flying in the sky.

I pulled over and snapped as many images as I could and will post some of the better ones here.

Taking these images did drive home the FACT that I need a longer lens.

Although as you can see after a while they started to drift further and further away...initially they were right over my head and fairly close to the ground.

I had my normally amazing Cannon 24-105 mm zoomed in all the way...but in the original photos the buzzards look like they are miles away.  So I had to "crop in" on all of these...and they are not as "clear and focussed" as I would've liked.

DADDY needs a new lens!!

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All in all, though, it was a great day!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Please visit Jephyr.com to see more of my art-work and photography.