Noah's Coati

Just before my trip to Yellowstone, my grandson Noah and I stayed at Cave Creek Ranch in the Chiricahua Mountains for two nights. Noah is 11. One morning, he wanted to sleep in and just rest from all the activities he's been involved with this summer. So I went out on my own looking for Coatis and Bears.

I returned to the cabin four hours later -- not having seen either a Bear or Coati -- and heard the following story from Noah:

"Granddaddy, I was sitting in a chair in the living room when I heard the screen door open and shut. I looked up and saw an animal trying to get in the cabin. He had a really long furry tail. (I knew right away what it was)."

So, Noah got up, used his notebook's camera, and took video of the Coati for the next couple of minutes.  The Coati continued to try to get in but then upon seeing Noah so close, ran up the tree right off the patio. Then Noah saw my iPhone on the kitchen table so took the following photos with my iPhone. When the Coati realized Noah just wanted photographs, he came down from the tree and wandered around in back of the cabin. More video for Noah.

He may be a Wildlife Photographer in the making:

Blue Throated Hummingbird - II

This was a fun experience. I was scouring the South Fork, Cave Creek in the Chiricahua Mountains looking for Bear, Elegant Trogon, and Coues Deer having a great time finding all three. But also a nice surprise was this Blue Throated Hummingbird. I looked ahead and saw these beautiful blooming Arizona Thistles, thinking sooner or later I might find a nice butterfly or hummingbird to photograph. So I waited. Not too long a Two-Tailed Swallowtail came by and fed on the very thistle I was next to. Moments later, a Blue Throated Hummingbird came and chased the butterfly away and started feeding as well. I was able to get lots of photos of both. Here''s the one I like best:

Blue Throated Hummingbird

Black Bear II

Continuing with my "5" Star Black Bears. This photo was taken in the Chiricahua Mountains (Arizona) in September of 2011. I had been photographing this Bear for about 20 minutes when all of a sudden he started walking toward me. I took that as a sign and slowly backed away in a diagonal direction. As I said yesterday, Bears must be respected. In this case, he told me he wanted to stay in the area but wanted me to leave. And, so that is precisely what I did. I said "thank you" for the photo opportunity and left. Of all those photos, the last one is the one I liked best:

Black Bear: Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

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