Category: #northern Arizona

• Buy a digital copy of this rock squirrel photo!

  Rock squirrels are small rodents in the squirrel family, with short ears, and fur that blends with their preferred places to hang out—on large rocks. Yesterday (5 September) I posted this video to YouTube. The squirrels in the video might well be  siblings. Here in Flagstaff Arizona where I filmed them, it seems that all…

  jwilce

  September 6, 2022

  #northern Arizona, #photoblog, #photography, #photonarratives, #wildlife photography, Mammals, Rodents

  #Arizona, #northern Arizona, #olympusphotography, #photography, Flagstaff

• Snowy pre-dawn morning

  I confess— I’m a super early riser. So this photo was taken at 4:45 today (February 17, 2022). My fingers were cold. My face was cold. The temperature was roughly 15F at that time. All that aside, I wanted to take a walk and I was looking for a particular scenario to photograph— the moon,…

  jwilce

  February 17, 2022

  #digital cameras, #FlagstaffArizona, #moon, #Moonsets, #nightsky, #northern Arizona, #OlympusE-M1-Markii camera, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #photonarratives, #technological improvement, #technology, Arizona, Moonsets, outdoor photography

  #Arizona, #Flagstaff, #Lunar photography, #moon, #nature, #Night photography, #northern Arizona, #photography, #Winter photography

• Capturing Lightning With “LiveComposite” by Olympus

  jwilce

  September 10, 2021

  #FlagstaffArizona, #nightsky, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #technological improvement, #technology, Arizona, outdoor photography

• This Morning’s Moonset

  I drove up Snowbowl Road and managed to arrive at the top of the road just in time to get my camera out, steady it on top of my car, and shoot. That was 5:19 a.m. Tomorrow morning’s moonset should be at 6:01. Ample time to plan, get the tripod and camera ready, shoot some…

  jwilce

  September 30, 2020

  #colors, #digital cameras, #moon, #nightsky, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photoblog, #photography, #photonarratives, Arizona, Canon EOS Rebel Cameras, Digital single lens reflex cameras, Moonrises, Moonsets, Mountains, outdoor photography, rural America, San Francisco Peaks

  Cosmos

• Wing Flapping Displays As Agonistic Behavior

  I introduced this series of posts addressing “agonistic behavior” with the following definition, from the Wikipedia article on the subject: “The term has broader meaning than aggressive behaviour because it includes threats, displays, retreats, placation, and conciliation.” This post highlights wing flapping by ducks as an example of agonistic behavior that is clearly not fighting (but could…

  jwilce

  September 19, 2020

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

• Agonistic Behavior: Small Vs. Large Once More

  One clash, two photos— Red-winged Blackbird Harrassing Great Blue Heron on banks of Francis Short Pond. In the first, the blackbird passes by the heron. In the second, the heron seems to me more worried. Once again two species clash, and once again the smaller seems to have the upper hand— or at least it…

  jwilce

  September 18, 2020

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

• The Agoni(stic) And the Ecstacy (Or Not): Bird Vs. Mammal

  Juncos are fairly tough birds. They hiss and click if you unwittingly get near their nests. So if they can challenge humans, ground squirrels may well appear to them to be relatively easy to chase off. That is the way it seemed a month ago when two juncos challenged a rock squirrel in our front…

  jwilce

  September 18, 2020

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

• “Agonistic Behavior” Among Birds: More Than Just Fighting

  A useful introduction to the term “agonistic behavior” is found here,” from Wikipedia—”Agonistic behaviour is any social behaviour related to fighting. The term has broader meaning than aggressive behaviour because it inecludes threats, displays, retreats, placation, and conciliation.” My camera and I see it all the time, from our bird bath to clashes in the (relative) wild. I have documented such…

  jwilce

  September 16, 2020

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

• 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

• Motion Blur #2: Photographing American Avocets in Flight

  I live hundreds of miles inland from the Pacific, but late in August, Flagstaff was visited by a flock of American Avocets. As you saw in my first Motion Blur post, the technique produces some cool effects. (By the way, like yesterday’s post, this shot was taken at the Old Walnut Canyon Road Ponds. I…

  jwilce

  September 14, 2020

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

  #northern Arizona, #Shorebirds, Avocets, Flagstaff, Flocking behavior, Motion blur photography, Nature 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

• 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

• Photo Walk With Jim Wilce, June 24

  Ordinary Cameras, Extraordinary Encounters:Taking Wildlife Photos From the Heart A Workshop Led by Jim Wilce, and Sponsored by the Northern Arizona Audubon Society Saturday, June 24, 8-10 a. m., Kachina Wetlands (near Flagstaff, Arizona) What do you want from outdoor/ wildlife photographs? How can you take photos that you and others will enjoy? And how…

  jwilce

  May 30, 2017

  #bird photography, #digital cameras, #FlagstaffArizona, #insects, #northern Arizona, #outdoor photography, #photography, #wildlife photography, 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