Evening Coyote In The Long Grasses
Evening Coyote in the long grasses, in a meadow in southern Colorado. I love it when the coyote stops and stares and decides we are just as interesting to him as he is to us. We were, transfixed, during this brief, eye to eye encounter with this animal. In the words of Tony Hillerman “Coyote Watches”, he does, but, I feel sure he saw us long before we saw him! Thanks for looking. G
Pole Sitting Lizard
Pole sitting lizard. This used to be a thing I guess, pole sitting. Climb a post and stay on top of it for as long as you can. This lizard climbed the only pole around and stayed on top of it for a good duration. For all I know he’s still there. Thanks for looking. G
Mule Deer In The Meadow
Mule deer in the meadow, San Cristobal, NM. This deer and its family joined us for dinner this evening. Of course, we ate vastly different meals but the company was delightful. Thanks for looking. G
Wild Mustang On Wild Horse Mesa, Colorado
Wild mustang on Wild Horse Mesa, Colorado, with the Blanca Peak Range as a backdrop. Grateful to Judy Barnes of “Spirit of the Wild Horse” Get in touch with me for a fun and insightful day photographing these wonderful bands of wild mustang in southern Colorado. Thanks for looking. G
Morning Bobcat, Bosque Del Apache
Morning Bobcat, Bosque Del Apache, San Antonio, New Mexico. This cat has nothing to say or do at this moment. Sit, wait, warm up, wait for the guys with the cameras to get lost. Wait some more, then mosey off into the bushes. Then we left. Flash back to last December with my good friend Jon. Thanks for looking. G
Bighorn Sheep In The Rio Grande Gorge
Bighorn sheep in the Rio Grande Gorge Taos, New Mexico. Sometimes the image is mainly for the record. Two bighorn rams go at it as if in a ring with a referee ram telling them too keep it clean. When they butted heads the thunk, initially a delayed shuddering crack, echoed loudly off the canyon walls. Then after another go round it was over, and they all laid down. Thanks for looking. G
Mule Deer, Great Sand Dunes National Park And Preserve
Mule Deer, in the brush at the Great Sand Dunes NP, Colorado. Moseying around, munching on the shrubs, doing what deer do, all the while being sweet creatures and a wonderful sight at the National Park when they pop up out of the rabbit brush as we drive by. Thanks for looking. G
Wild Horses, Southern Colorado
A band of wild horses and foal in southern colorado. A month earlier when first spotted, on a photo tour, the foal could only have been two or three days old. Two days ago, exactly one month since the first encounter with the band, we observed a very healthy young foal thoroughly at ease with the cold temperatures and keeping up with the band. A delight to see as foals born here in the wild, in winter, have a slim chance of survival. Thanks for looking. G
Young Bighorn Sheep, Rio Grande Gorge
Young Bighorn sheep in the Orilla Verde Recreation Area of the Rio Grande Gorge. Beautiful drive today along the High Road to Taos. Picnic in an alpine meadow above Truchas with a couple of Alpaca onlookers, in 55 degree temperatures. Returning home through Dixon and the Orilla Verde RA, in the Rio Grande Gorge we encountered a number of young bighorns. This one bolted up out of the steep cliffs below us to the east and across the road, only to stop on the west side of the dirt road and pose right next to us, for a number of images, before moseying off grinding on sage brush shoots. A good day! Thanks for looking. G
Javelina Tribe, Bosque Del Apache
Javelina Tribe, on the road in Bosque Del Apache. I’ve only ever seen a single Javelina in the past. These were a few of a larger tribe on this day in the National Wildlife Refuge. They came out of the brush, went into the brush, came back out of the brush and returned to the brush one more time, and then they were gone! Thanks for looking. G
Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge
Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado. It’s morning in the wildlife refuge as the fog lifts over the cat-tails on the banks of the marshes, slowly dissipating, to reveal the sanctuary islands beyond. The waterfowl are going through their morning ablutions, primping and preening as the sun warms up the air and the day begins. Thanks for looking. G
Mergansers In The Valle Vidal
Mergansers in the Valle Vidal (Valley of Life), Carson National Forest, northern New Mexico. Two of approximately eighteen of this family of ducks we first spotted on a photo tour in early August. All of them seem to be flourishing on this small man made lake in the high country. Thanks for looking. G
Black Bear, Valle Vidal
Black Bear Valle Vidal (valley of life) New Mexico. From a photo tour a couple of weeks. It’s a beautiful animal and it was fun to watch him (a young male) turning over rocks and eating grubs. He was unperturbed by our presence, all though I felt he was very aware that we were in the area. Thanks for looking. G
Northern Pintail Ducks
Northern Pintail Ducks in the Bosque del Apache NWR, Socorro, New Mexico. I love the crisp, bright clear light and how it feels when morning breaks on a winter day in the National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro, NM
“It’s mine, I killed it and now I’m going to eat it!”
Merlin. “It’s mine, I killed it and now I’m going to eat it!” I made this image yesterday on my way home from my gallery in Arroyo Seco. I spotted the raptor on the fence post as I drove along. I pulled over, reversed about 100 feet and wound down my window. I said to myself, ‘that’s a male Merlin falcon, perhaps a juvenile’. I stopped about 20 feet away and while I was changing lenses I observed the Merlin tear at a dead bird’s chest … at least I’m pretty sure it was dead. I made about a dozen images, each, very much like this one. A few minutes later when a pickup came whipping by me, scaring the Merlin, the raptor took off clenching it’s prey. This evening I wrote to my friend Jean-Luc Catron, author of Raptors of New Mexico to confirm my ID of the bird. This is his reply … “What a beautiful photo!! You are right, it is a merlin, and because of the muted facial markings I can also say that it belongs to the subspecies richardsonii (prairie or Richardson’s merlin). It is a male because of the blue gray dorsal plumage”. Thank you Jean-Luc. Thank you for looking. G
