Camera Critters #251

A week or so ago, I walked along a portion of the Dry Canyon Trail in Redmond, Oregon, which I don’t often travel.  It was the second time in 10 days I was in that area.

The first time I came across a nicely posing bird (which you will see next week here if I don’t find something else to show) I have few photos of, but the second time I traveled the trail, I came across a bird I have few photos of and no photo I consider good…that includes this one.

The bird is a Prairie Falcon, something I have never seen in town.



This photo is not that bad and would have been a good one had the light been directly on the bird.  However, fence lines and distance prevented me from getting a better image.  And moments after this image was taken, the bird flew and disappeared to the north.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #250

Wow…250th Camera critter…what a wonderful milestone and a great run.  Let’s do 250 more!

I have several photos I could use for this week’s post, but I’m looking forward to something and decided I would give everyone a peek at what I hope is in my future.

Even though I live in a desert environment, there still are colors other than brown and yellow, which are the most common colors I see in the summer.

But a couple of years ago, while wandering along the Dry Canyon Trail, I came across a colorful patch which really stood out.



Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #249

A little over a week ago, I heard about some rather rare birds flying around the open fields 15 miles from me.

Wanting to get a photo of the birds, I borrowed my sister’s Jeep (I have no vehicle…only a bicycle) and headed to the area with camera by my side.

As I approached where the birds had been seen only four hours earlier, I watched as a Prairie Falcon patrolled the fields.  Watching closer, I noticed a second falcon also in the area.

I knew immediately that the birds I was after had gone into hiding and my chances of photographing them was almost non-existent.

But then, from the field opposite of where I was looking came sound which drew my attention.  There they were…a herd of Roosevelt Elk crossing the open field and road not more than 200 feet in front of me.

Getting out of the Jeep, I began shooting.









I may not have seen the birds I wanted to see, but the elk were a wonderful surprise.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #248

Welcome to a new year of Camera Critters!

I have a tendency to always glance around my tiny part of the world when I look outside of my house.  Most of the time, I see very little.  But once in a while the glance pays off.

Friday morning, my landlord’s Chug pup announced her presence outside by banging on my screen door.  Knowing she will continue to jump on the door until I came out to see her, I got up and opened the door.  As I slid outside, I made my normal, and customary, glance around and saw something which just wasn't right.

At the top of the Ponderosa Pine near the northwest corner of my yard, something caught my eye.
After saying hello to Sammi, I went back inside, grabbed my camera and trained it on the object.



There, at the top of the tree, perched an American Kestrel.

It’s not the first kestrel I have seen, but it is the first I have seen in the neighborhood.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.