Rosie's Wildlife Photos - rosieswildlifephotos

Home page of author/artist/photographer, Rosalie More.

Featuring photo-art by a family of artists/photographers.

The vast desert in Nevada appears at first to be devoid of wildlife.  Upon closer inspection, one can spot flocks of quail and numerous little bunnies, with an occasional coyote hunting for rodents.  Deer are not uncommon in residential areas where lawns are watered and landscapes provide trees for shade.  But wildlife photographers may find the desert to be lean pickings, unless they find a stream or rare wetland area where animals are drawn to the water.  Along the Carson River are sloughs, ditches and ponds visited by many varieties of ducks.  Canada geese winter here in large flocks.  In early spring, both the red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds congregate in the cattails, along with tree swallows and yellow-rumped warblers feeding on the midges and crane flies.  Kestrals gather to hunt for rodents in the fields nearby.  Red-tailed hawks wheel across the sky searching for rabbits and squirrels on the ground below.  When the sun is high, turtles climb out on a log at the edge of the stream to warm themselves, and the Black-crowned Night Heron ventures out occasionally in the middle of the afternoon.

Click on PICTURES & VIDEOS on the menu to view my list of photo albums.  The first on the list contains my most recent photos from Nevada.

You never know what you'll see next.  I was holding my camera on my lap as Bill drove us through the wetlands west of Eugene OR.  Diana, in the back seat, yelled that a big bird was right beside the road.  Bill stomped on the brake, then backed up slowly, watching for traffic in his rear view mirror.  I craned my neck, wondering what I had missed seeing. 

“Get your camera ready!” Bill yelled, looking back over his shoulder as he pulled off the road.

I was already ripping off my lens cap, turning on the camera and rolling down my window.  “What am I looking for?” I shouted.

Diana shrieked, “There’s a heron right beside the road!  He’s got a snake!”

There’s nothing more difficult than twisting around in your seat to take photos out a car window of something you’ve driven past.  I felt like a pretzel as I squinted through the camera viewer and focused on the Great Blue Heron which was, by this time, flapping away from us.  Luckily, his burden was heavy and he came to earth in the pasture nearby.  I hated that he had put so much distance between us.  Fortunately, I already had my 70 mm to 300 mm zoom lens on the camera.

Sometimes the subjects of photos are out of range and unfocused, but still worth keeping for the story they tell.  The photos I got were poor quality, yet I was intrigued by the action.

The Great Blue Heron had spotted a mature Coast Garter Snake in the grass and decided to have him for lunch.  The snake seemed too large for the heron to swallow, but the bird appeared to be undeterred.

I leaped out of the car to have more freedom of motion, and proceeded to snap the shutter. The series of photos tells a story of the life and death battle between a GBH and a very large snake. 

To see what happened, check out my Heron and Snake album. 
[Click on the PICTURES & VIDEOS in the menu above to view the albums.]

In late October of 2010, we headed for Colorado to photograph the elk during rutting season.  They were thick on the ground!  Unfortunately, they were most active at twilight, before dawn and after sunset.  During the day they tended to rest in the shade of trees and chew their cuds.  It's difficult to photograph anything at twilight. We witnessed a lot of activity at those times without coming away with any usable photos.  Discouraging, since some of the shots captured lascivious behavior.

We searched for elk in the Rocky Mountain National Park during the day and felt lucky to spot small herds at a distance.  Closing in on them triggered a game of hide and seek in the trees.  One day, in frustration, we turned the car toward the town of Estes Park on the border of the park.  To our astonishment, we found that many elk had encroached upon the town and were taking their afternoon siestas on the median strips alongside major roadways.  They ignored both traffic and curious pedestrians (although storekeepers warned us that there was a risk in getting too close).  Is it cheating to photograph wildlife from the car window while stopped at a red light?

[Click on the PICTURES & VIDEOS in the menu above to view the albums.]

I uploaded albums featuring the birds at Denman Wildlife Area in Jackson County, Oregon, plus a Great Blue Heron who got into a bit of trouble at the Delta Ponds in Eugene, Oregon.  I had a great time photographing the wildlife in both places, because they're abundant and not as skittish as they could be if they had never seen any humans.  Click on the PICTURES & VIDEOS on the menu above to view the albums.