Boolie

A Love of Nature Trails

They may not be the best for exercise or for feeling like you’re alone in the wilderness, but I’m a huge fan of nature / interpretive trails. They’re accessible to a wide range of people and are great if you’re short on time, and often have a good sampling of the local flora. This is Bear at the Jane Rau Trail in February, I wanted to see how he’d do going over the bridge over the wash (he was unfazed). This loop is really short but a nice addition to the start or end of a longer hike and can offer up some pretty cool wildlife, I’ve seen a bobcat and a gila monster here.

Meadow Stare

Some more pictures from 2013, this time of a female northern harrier hunting for Townsend’s voles in the big meadow at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.

Second Shift

With the sun sinking low late on a summer day I met one of the most beautiful desert residents, a gophersnake. Taken two years ago, still my only sighting of a living one. Given the hot weather I suspect as my day in the desert was ending it was just beginning for the snake, starting the hunt as the temperatures slowly fell.

A Different Life

While editing old photos like this male bufflehead at Rest Lake in 2013, I was struck by how different my photography life is now compared to then. I took this with my monstrous Canon 500mm super-telephoto, on Ridgefield’s auto tour the size and weight weren’t an issue and I loved how it magnified even the dinky divers and other small creatures. Back then it was my most used lens but I’ve rarely used it since moving to Arizona, I hike with it on occasion where I have a specific target in mind but for most hikes I stick with my beloved and much lighter Sony 100-400mm.

I’ll be upgrading my telephoto system soon since it’s the only part of my gear that can’t do focus bracketing, the big Canon will get traded in once I decide if I should stick with Sony or go all-in with Nikon. I bought it in 2006 for $5500, a heart-stopping price at the time but I got my money’s worth out of this one.

Friends in High Places

As part of getting Bear ready for hiking again I took him for the first time to the short trail up the hill in Cavalliere Park. He loves looking out from up high so I gave him a moment to take in the view. I always try to sneak in the four mountains that helped me get my bearings when we moved here, especially Brown’s Mountain just above his nose as well as Cholla Mountain above his shoulders and Granite Mountain above his rump. Cone Mountain is blocked by vegetation but would be to his left.

Looking East

Looking east at a great horned owl looking east. Perhaps enjoying the fading sunlight falling on the distant mountains, perhaps keeping an eye out for a meal below, perhaps looking out for the hawks living further east. As an adult its primary threats are no different than mine: age, injury, illness, humans.

Desert Friends

This whale and I share a special bond, it always breaches the desert’s surface when it sees me on the trail, often bringing a favored friend along like a lizard, ground squirrel, or in this case a curve-billed thrasher. Taken on an early fall morning in 2022.

Mind the Gap

You Got Peanut Butter In My Saguaro

I believe the artists who created this scene are termites, the left side showing the protective mud layer they place over the hardened black areas at the base of old saguaros, the right showing where they have recycled most of the bark-like material and returned its nutrients to the desert soil.

It’s Gotta Be the Shoes

On a couple of recent hikes Bear picked up some large prickers that took a while to remove, we may have to try again to get him to wear shoes on his hikes. We tried in April but he just lay there in his humiliation, whispering “Don’t let the cats see me like this.” You have my word Bear, you have my word.