Got Some New Species

Last week was a pretty good week for photography. I hiked just over 22 miles last week and it was worth it in more ways than one. Yeah, I got some cool shots but I also got a pease of mind. For years I have had trouble with my feet. I spent 13 years doing 20,000 steps a day on concrete, and it extracted a high price. The pain would drive me to tears. That is a ton of pain as I have been told by more than one doctor I have a scary high pain tolerance. For the last for months I have been taking it easy-er on my walking and doing hills and trails. It has paid off. Sure I still would have pain in the evening,but it was manageble and the next day they would be back to normal. I'm thinking another month or two and I will be pain free! Anyway you are here for photos and I will start it off with one I took with my phone as it was so small and my camera lens was so big.

Now I have tried looking this Lizard up and can't seem to get a good answer. Its either a Northern Aligator, Southren Aligator (Lizaerds) or a Western Whiptailed Skink. Which ever it is its the first one I have ever seen. The whole thing was about as long as my middle finger. The next set of photos isn't something uncommon at all but its the first time I have photographed one. I mean we had 3 of them as pets growing up, but still I was hppy to see this one. It was in great shape, healthy and clean.

This next one is one I knew was in the area. Hard to find and in all my travels from a very young age I had only seen one and it was running across the raod as I was driving. So as I was checking out a clear spot in the creek I noticed some movement on the far side. It had just walked behind some brush and that gave me time to bring my camera up without the movement spoking it.

The Grey Fox! Now I didn't know a lot about the Grey Fox, its a Fox thats grey... Or so I thought. Its not a fox at all, but its the oldest living Canine on the planet. (I did not know that either) I did how ever know that it could climb trees, I did not know that it had semi retractable claws. As I watched it go behind a cliff and not come back out and idea came to me. I may have found its den area. I plan on going back a few times and just wait. As long as the wind is right I should be able to remain hidden enough to find out. Here are a few photos that just turned out good, so I will share a few with you.

To finish off this post I will tell you about what happened last night while taking pictures of the stars. I was setting up my tripod and I started hearing a high pitched call. I had heard it before on a video. I spend a fair amount of time watching videos and reading about animals that I want to photograph. Know your subject and you will have better odds on getting the shot. It was a Mountain Lion calling her cubs and it was close. I was pumped! I wwwanted to record it so I reached for the car dorr and.... Beep Beep as the door unlocked. That ended that! But now I know an area where I might find one or two. Well until my next udate, get your camera a snap something!