Category: animal behavior

• Motion Blur Photography #3: Flock of Geese

  You have noticed by now that there are two connected ponds on the Old Walnut Canyon Road (the road that leads to Walnut Canyon National Monument) that attract a variety of waterfowl as well as ospreys, bald eagles, and swallows. Once again I turn to my cache of photos taken there for another favorite— the…

  jwilce

  September 15, 2020

  #bird photography, #digital cameras, #FlagstaffArizona, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #photonarratives, #wildlife photography, #wings, animal behavior, Arizona, Behavioral synchrony, bird photography, bird photos, Canon EOS Rebel Cameras, Digital single lens reflex cameras, outdoor photography, wildlife photography

• Gray Fox In Our Neighborhood

  A few weeks ago, on back to back days, I had magical encounters with a gray fox, which was standing on one of the huge boulders adjacent to the Cheshire Pond (Cheshire Park). My wife and I had last seen one in our neighborhood about 16 years ago! I took this photograph during the first…

  jwilce

  September 11, 2020

  #northern Arizona, #photography, #wildlife photography, animal behavior, Arizona, outdoor photography

  Family Canidae, Mammals, Open spaces, Public parks, Suburban wildlife, the "dog" family

• Red-tailed hawk in Claremont, CA

  A week ago my wife and I visited my home town, Claremont California. Whenever I go there I prioritize taking a walk along Thompson Creek. As we walked, something caught my eye—a hawk on a 15-foot-high eucalyptus branch. I began to photograph what was apparently a red-tailed hawk. The next thing I know, another hawk…

  jwilce

  September 3, 2018

  #accipiters, #bird photography, #California, #digital cameras, #hawks, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #photonarratives, #raptors, #wildlife photography, #wings, animal behavior, bird photos, California, outdoor photography, wildlife photography

• Waterfowl on Frances Short Pond (Flagstaff)

  It’s been a frightfully warm winter, but not so warm as to completely melt the ice on our fair city’s beloved municipal pond near a couple of our public schools. Frances Short was an “educator and city councilperson” in Flagstaff. (For more information, click here.) The pond and its immediate environs are home to waterfowl…

  jwilce

  December 28, 2017

  #bird photography, #digital cameras, #FlagstaffArizona, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #wildlife photography, animal behavior, Arizona, bird photography, bird photos, outdoor photography, wildlife photography

  #Arizona, #birds, #publicspaces, coots, ducks, Flagstaff, mallards, municipal parks, waterfowl

• Spring (or at least nest-building material) is in the mouth

  It’s always nice when I discover that my camera has seen more than I did when I took a shot. That has happened lately, as spring gets ready to turn to summer, when I see “Well well, the little creature seems to be building a nest!” (Of course I am also very aware of seeing…

  jwilce

  June 4, 2017

  #bird photography, #digital cameras, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #wildlife photography, animal behavior, Arizona, bird photography, bird photos

• Dragonflies mating mid-air

  One of my favorite places in Flagstaff is Frances Short Pond. It is a hotspot for members of the Order Odonata— dragonflies and damselflies like the one below, which is, I believe, a “bluet.” But now the show I promised—a shaky video of two orange dragonflies and their mid-air mating dance. The still photos on…

  jwilce

  September 30, 2016

  #dragonflies, #FlagstaffArizona, #insects, #mating rituals, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photography, #photonarratives, #wildlife photography, #wings, animal behavior, Arizona, insect behavior, insect photography

  #Arizona, #insects, #nature, #parks, #photoblog, #photography, #wings, Flagstaff