We set a record for snow this week! Single day snow of 35″. That brings our estimated total this year (since Jan 1) to 90″! We are LOVING it. Particularly, after our recent fire, we can sure use the precipitation. Wooohoo.
It snowed an inch an hour for from 8am Thurs to 8am Fri.. and then some. It was a sight to see… and very happy we were here to see it.
Snowy faces all around!
Check out more pix here….. https://kritterspix.com/2019/02/23/snow-elk/
It’s that time of the year when the eagles are nesting, breeding generally in January / February. Pinetop / Lakeside in Northern AZ hosts an Eagle Fest hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish for an educational experience to learn about the eagles, their habitat, behaviors, and a field trip to see the eagles ‘in action’.
Female bald eagles lay between 1 – 3 eggs, with only a 35 day incubation period. The fledgling(s) only stays in the nest for 45 days before being kicked out to fend for itself.
The juvenile bald eagles, or eaglets are born a light gray and turn brown in color. It isn’t until they are 4 – 5 years old that the iconic white head and tail feathers appear. Bald eagles can live to be 35 years old or more.
Our field trip was at Rainbow Lake, in Lakeside, AZ. It was fascinating to watch all the waterfowl ‘walking on the water’ as the ice melted on the lake.
We watched mergansers catch fish and chase each other around to try to steal the fish from one another.
That is… until the bald eagle got hungry and dive bombed the mergansers to make their catch their own.
Just goes to show… the bigger bird gets the worm, er… fish.
My sister tells me she enjoys my blog and hasn’t seen a post in awhile… so I guess I have been remise. Hi, Karen 🙂
So we went out to our burn area behind our house to take some photos of the burn area in the recent snow fall.
Our singed trees are loving the snow and the soaking water it yields. While many trees won’t come back… some will.
We’ve gotten probably 24″ since Christmas all together, so it has been very welcome precipitation for our forest. The snow has slowly melted in, giving the ground it’s much needed moisture. We’ll take all we can get. Bring it on.. and bring more!
We got about 8 inches of snow out of this last storm. I am loving the beautiful fresh fallen snow on the trees.. and this sweet deer taking it all in.
Then… in a Whoosh, 1/100th of a second later, to be exact. From right behind the tree came quite a surprise to me… and this lucky deer.
OMG! What the HECK was THAT?!?!
In a flash, this mountain lion thought he had dinner. But in just a matter of minutes, he was back empty-pawed.
Dejected and hungry, he left the scene of the near miss, not to be seen again.
The deer have since been back… but are a lot more cautious and alert.
It was the first mountain lion I have EVER seen in the wild. I felt so fortunate to get a shot of it. As it was… I was looking through my viewfinder when it happened…. and it was over in less than a blink of an eye. Life happens quickly, it pays to know your path and be prepared.
Bison at North Rim, Grand Canyon
Back in the mid to late 1800’s over 60 million bison roamed the plains. From North Dakota to Arizona herds were plentiful and prolific.
Bison at Raymond Wilderness Area
Until they weren’t. Hunters decimated much of the herds. In fact, it was in large part ‘how the West was won’, as hunters kill Native American Indian’s food source. With only some 23 bison left, concerned citizens the likes of Theodore Roosevelt and the Bronx Zoo, among others isolated the remaining bison to prohibit their extinction.
Today, bison are being re-introduced and bred under the watchful eye of Game and Fish Departments, National Wildlife Federation, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and private organizations across the country. Today’s bison are carefully monitored for disease and genealogy to assure healthy, robust, diverse herds.
It’s a real treat to see them grazing on the Plains and to appreciate and observe these large historic animals.
For more bison pix, see my post here … https://kritterspix.com/2018/11/05/they-are-not-buffalo/
We have explored the backroads of Arizona extensively. Along our travels we have been fortunate enough to see all sorts of amazing scenery, and wonderful animal sightings. I always feel blessed to have these great animals cross our paths at the same time they cross ours. Some animals are common to see, elk and deer for instance. Others, not so much, but we have seen… bobcat, turkey, and even bear.
On a recent trip to Sedona we saw this elusive little critter practically under our feet. We spot lighted him with our flashlight and caught a fleeting shot. It’s a ringtail cat!
Apparently, it’s the Official State Mammal of Arizona (who knew?). They have a fox-like face with pointed ears and a long distinctive tail. The ringtail is part of the raccoon family… note, the familiar striped tail. They live in a riparian habitat in the rocks near water, making Sedona a prime area (apparently). They are noctural creatures, only coming out at night. So, we were lucky to catch of glimpse of him.
We had been taking night shots at an overlook in Sedona when he scurried across us, curious what we were he came back for a another quick look. Funny how that happens. Sometimes it is all about being in the right place at the right time.
See more Sedona pix…. https://kritterspix.com/2018/10/30/sedona-az/ and https://kritterspix.com/2018/10/30/oak-creek-sedona-az/
We went out to check on Fall Colors, but it’s still a little early for this neck of the woods. Maybe next week will yield more color.
For now, we were happy to walk through the woods and take in the crisp air… as was this little squirrel we found.
Winter is coming. Storms are on the horizon, and we have already had our first snow. We’ll take it. Our burnt forest can certainly use a good soaking.
We’ll make another trek next week to check on colors again. It’s all good.
