Wild Horses

On Saturday, March 30, JC, his wife Guylaine, Lori and I took one more trip to the Salt River to shoot the wild horses and with some luck an eagles nest.  The eagles nest proved to be about a mile from the river so no pictures however we did get to peak through a wildlife officers spotter telescope.  They were charting the eagles nesting habits and were kind enough to give us a brief history of this pair and let us spy on the nest with their 3000mm telescope.   We did see the adult pair circling over the river however they were out of range for me. 

Our previous trips to shoot the horses netted us a half dozen horses standing in the river doing nothing too exciting.  Our second attempt netted us no horses.  This time out we hit the jackpot.  We have been told that there are 300 plus horses in the area and we saw 40-50 of them on this day.  And action.  You bet.  We had plenty of that.  

We made out way down to the river and left the girls sitting in their camp chairs beside the river while JC and I wandered further down stream.  It wasn't too long before we came upon a group of about 20 horses grazing on the banks and drinking from the river.  We picked a comfortable spot, settled in and began shooting.  The action started off slow and easy but soon picked up to a frantic pace.  

Here we go.  

Grazing nice and peaceful like.  

Then the competition began

Milling about, sorting certain horses from the herd.  

Expressions of dominance.
Don't think the grey yearling could figure out what the stallion
was trying to do to his mommy.  

Lots of butt bumping.

Now were getting down to business. 

Thought I was in an old wild west movie

No one got hurt but they sure looked serious. 

Such beautiful powerful animals

The winner of round 1.  So proud of himself. 

We just went from wild west to a porno flick. 

Time for a break.

We heard a commotion behind us and low and behold
we were the ones being watched.
They were about 20 feet away.   

They figured we were no threat and moseyed down for a drink. 

Sometimes when two herds come together everything is peaceful.
Later I would learn that isn't always the case. 

No words needed. 

We were told the foal was only a few days old.
Notice the kayakers coming into frame. 

They would glance at us every once in a while.
They are obviously used to being observed.
As long as you give them some space they just carry on. 

When you have an itch in that hard to reach place
it's good to have a friend. 

There seems to be an extra appendage.

Lunch time. 

I was less than 10 feet from him.
 He kept an eye on me but I stayed still and we were all having a good time

Then he heard something.  Then I heard something.
For some reason another group of horses came barrelling along the path.
Everything went crazy for a few seconds.
I hid behind this bush and luckily they went around me.
I could have reached out and touched them as they ran by.
I didn't. 

On our way back to the river to pick up the girls
we found they had attracted some attention.
This mare approached, stopped to assess the danger.
Then unexpectedly kept advancing.

The girls stood up slowly and the mares decided
to wander off in the other direction. 

It was a great day and will put it on our list of places for a return visit.  

Desert Flowers

On March 27th Lori and I took a drive out to Boyce Thompson Arboretum to take a look at the spring wild flowers.  With all the rain and cool weather plus some heavy rains in the fall it is anticipated that the desert will be alive with colour this spring.  The peak wildflower season doesn't happen till April however we have noticed on many of our drives that the desert is starting to bloom.  

The spiny barrel cactus makes a nice backdrop for the delicate blooms. 

We had heard that the hills south of Superior were in full bloom and it was only a short drive from BTA so we took a drive.  We drove past an open pit mine which is both impressive and gosh darn ugly but once past the mine the hills were covered with poppies, lupins, bluebells and other varieties of flowers.

Poppies cover the hillside.  There are both California and Mexican poppies.
I think these are the California variety. 

We got back to our trailer and right across the street in front of a park model
this cactus was in full bloom.

We thought we were done with trips to the Salt river however JC dropped by and convinced us that one more trip to see the wild horses was in order.  Boy are we glad we took him up on his offer.  

Lots of horse pictures in the next post.  

One more Salt River trek

On Tuesday our Photo group went out on our last outing of the year.  Our group is dwindling in size, now down to 4 of us, but this is typical of all the activities in the park for the last part of March.  Many start packing up and heading back to their northern roots and others find the 90 degree heat a bit much for any sort of activities after about 10:00.  Count Lori and I in that last group.

We didn't leave till 10:30 and with an hours drive we were venturing out in the heat of the day.  Good thing there was a light cloud cover which kept the heat tolerable.  We decided to take another trip to the Salt River to see if we could spot the horses again and also hoped to spot an Eagle or two plus check out the Heron nesting site.  We did spot one yearling colt all by himself but before we could get down to the river he was scared away by people and their dogs splashing in the water.  Didn't see any eagles but the Herons were back tending their nests and spotted lots of Buzzards circling way up above.  We also spotted on more wild creature which you will see below.  

These trees are just starting to bud.
The clumps in the branches are mistletoe which is a
parasitic plant, often killing the host trees.  

Looks like the trees from Lord of the Rings.  Ready to start walking.
During the monsoon season the flash floods take the river
way up the bank, carrying away ground covering the trees roots. 

I tried picking my way across the river on the rocks
but some of them weren't so stable.
Was easier, and safer, to just tromp through the shallow water.

With all the rain and cool weather this winter the grass is
growing everywhere.  The cows are happy but as it dries out
this spring the danger of brush fires increases. 

Some shots from the river.  

Can you see him.  If not look below.

We were torn between being excited and scared.
Our first rattler.  He just lay there.
We kept our distance but snapped a bunch of pics.
Finally one of the braver or crazier members of our group,
despite his wife's protests,  decided to toss a couple of rocks
at it to get it in a strike position.
Despite our efforts to agitate him he never moved.  
Figured maybe it was dead so moved in a little closer.
(I'm sure this is how many stupid tourists get bit)
Finally it started to slither off and we noticed no rattler at the end of its tail.
Turns out it was a bull snake.  How disappointing.
I made sure I kept an eye out for more of its kind hiding in the grass.
Although you'd probably never notice it till you stepped on it or
 heard the warning rattle.  

The Herons were up in their nesting tree.  With my 105mm it was hard to
get a close clear shot and extreme cropping left things a little blurry. 

More shots of the Salt River as it meanders along. 

On Wednesday Lori and I went in search of wildflowers and will post those pictures as soon as I can get them edited.    

Till then.