The Best of 2015

My goodness, where do the years go? Here we are again looking back through the last year. This is a tradition that I follow every year. I find it fun to look back and remind myself of all the delightful critters that have allowed me to photograph them.

I am starting with the resplendent reptiles, it was a good year for our scaled friends, I think they did well with all the rain. 

This was our accidental catch. A very forgiving rattler that my husband managed to catch in a trap he had put out for a packrat. She didn't bear a grudge and posed obligingly after leaving the trap.

On the opposite end of the scale, this is a little baby rattler, barely twelve inches long. Being so diminutive he was a little more hesitant about posing for the camera but with quietness and patience I was able to get some nice pics.

No such demure behaviour from this spiny beauty, he struck the pose like a supermodel! I just love these characters and never tire of photographing them.

I did say it was a great reptile year and this was an absolute gem. A baby Gila Monster! At approximately six inches long it was probably not much more than a hatchling. I feel truly blessed to have seen such a unique little treasure.

The last reptile has been my nemesis for years. The Coachwhip, so fast that a photo seemed a forlorn hope until this year when, for some reason it decided to stick around for the paparazzi! Even going so far as to trace my steps up to the pool one day and watch me take a dip. Maybe it was the snakes revenge for me following him around?

And now onto the ones with exoskeletons.

I do love having these beautiful 'fluffies' around. I know they not everyones cup of tea but I think they are magnificent.

Something more conventionally pretty. I liked this shot because of the contrast between the fierce spines and the delicate butterfly.
An old favourite reappears as the sole representative for the amphibians.

The splendid Sonoran Desert Toad. This hefty lovely took up residence on our back patio, hanging out under an agave during the heat of the day, taking a dip in our little pool in the evening before heading out to hunt for dinner. He had a special place in our heart as he only had one eye.
And now onto the feathered ones...........

What's not to love about the oh so expressive Roadrunner? 

This isn't the best quality photo but it was indicative of the day. It was grey and wet when this flock of Western Bluebirds appeared. What a perfect way to brighten a day.

I just love this shot! Mrs quail looking absolutely irresistible.

Some colour here, a little Verdin feeding amongst the aloe blossoms.

This super fancy Black-throated Sparrow posed very obligingly outside the window one morning. I don't often enthuse about sparrows but this one is so smart looking with that sharp black and white colour scheme.

This was a new yard species right at the end of the year. A Peregrine Falcon feeding on an unfortunate dove.

Now onto the sky category.

We had a stunning supermoon this year that I just had to try to photograph. Such a magical sight.

My much photographed twisty twig makes the grade this year. I love this view and take endless shots throughout the seasons.

The mountains always provide a dramatic backdrop to the vivid colours of sunset.

The next group is plants.

One of our agaves threw up a flower stem this year and as the months went by it got taller and taller. Inevitably it was christened Audrey II.

The chollas flourished with all the rain, I like this macro shot, pretty but spikey!

A tiny little hedgehog cactus that goes virtually unnoticed for the majority of the year has its fifteen minutes of fame when it bursts into spectacular bloom.

Finally, the mammals.

It's tough enough to photograph the shy Round-tailed Ground Squirrel but getting a shot of them coming out of their burrow? I struck it really lucky with this one.

The naughtiest photo for the year. Wiley Coyote making it quite clear whose territory this is!

And finally our beautiful resident pussy cat. I am probably going to bore you all with endless photos of this gorgeous Bobcat that has decided that our back patio is the perfect spot to sleep during the day after spending the night hunting.

Shhhhh! Let sleeping dogs cats lie.
Happy New Year everyone.

Happy Halloween

Here are this years selection for the Halloween theme. Of course, you know me, I don't think any of these beauties are scary or spooky. The only species I find to be the stuff of nightmares are homo sapiens and thankfully there aren't any of those in my yard (yours truly excepted, and hubby too!) 

Head to Tail

A couple of shots from our recent 'snake in a cage' visitor. 

The Saga of the Snake in a Cage.

My husband has a packrat obsession. To a certain degree, I get it. They are extremely destructive and when we first bought our house they had invaded the roof space and caused no end of problems. But that was years ago and now they have been evicted and the house has been made rat proof. I just consider them to be part of the food chain on our land, they ensure we have a healthy population of bobcats, snakes and raptors, all of which I enjoy. However I don't think the war ever ended for my husband and whenever there is a new burrow, a new dropping, a new nibble on a cactus pad, he ignores all the other potential candidates and immediately accuses the hapless packrat. So, true to form, when we came home the other day to find a quite large excavation under our front step, my husband immediately stated the packrat was to blame. I expressed my doubts, saying that I thought the burrow was unusually large for a packrat but to no avail. One small concession I have achieved in the ongoing war is that we use 'have a heart' traps. They capture the animal without injuring it, thus allowing you to relocate it. So the traps were set outside the large burrow and we went to bed. The next morning I was woken at 5.50am (!) by my husband demanding that I come outside and 'sort this out.' So I stumbled out of the front door in t-shirt and flip-flops to be greeted by this....

I am trained to work with venomous snakes so my husband was not being entirely irrational in his request. It just wasn't quite how I had envisioned starting my morning. I went back inside and got myself more appropriately attired and grabbed my snake tools. The snake seemed quite relaxed, curled up in her 'nest.' There was no signs of aggression and she didn't rattle at all. I careful slid the door up and off the cage. Hubby suggested that I tip the cage up so that she would slide out but of course, snakes don't work like that.

She was very comfortable and wasn't going anywhere. I put the cage into a nearby flowerbed and left her in peace. I knew this wasn't going to be a quick process so went off and had breakfast.

Four hours later she finally decided that it was time to make a move and trundled slowly on her way.

She didn't seem to hold a grudge over her temporary confinement and allowed me to follow her progress and take numerous photos. (For future posts.)

Several hours later I happened to look out of the window and saw the true culprit emerging from the fresh excavations - a rock squirrel!

For once I am actually organised enough to link this post to Eileen's Saturday Critters. Please visit her great blog.