First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

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bgorum
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First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by bgorum »

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Coreopsis in a meadow in Ponderosa Pine Forest, AZ by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
In July I took a visit to Arizona, (guess New Mexico wasn’t hot and dry enough for me)!


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Plateau Tiger Whiptail, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Displaying male Chihuahuan Greater Earless Lizard by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Displaying male Chihuahuan Greater Earless Lizard by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Sonoran Sidewinder, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This is one of the species I definitely wanted to see. Luckily Bill Love knew some good roads to cruise them on.


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Chiricahua Leopard Frog, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A Chiricahua Leopard Frog from Ruby Road.


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Tiger Rattlesnake, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Thanks to the help of friends I was also able to see a number of Tiger ans Speckled Rattlesnakes.


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Milky Way and Saguaros, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Calling male Great Plains Toad, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Sonoran Desert Toad, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com




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Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Tiger Rattlesnake, (Crotalus tigris), Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Tiger Rattlesnake, (Crotalus tigris), Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Tiger Rattlesnake, (Crotalus tigris), Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Sonoran Sidewinder, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Western Black-tailed Rattlesnake, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
After leaving Phoenix I went back down to Ruby Road


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Monsoon Thunderstorm from Ruby Road, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Couses White-tailed Deer doe and fawn by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
This poor doe appears to have a cateract.


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Rain on Ruby Road, Santa Cruz co., Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Rainbow, Ruby Road, Santa Cruz co., Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Lightning, Ruby Road, Santa Cruz co., Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Neonate Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
And what did all the rain on Ruby Road bring out? A Diamond-back


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Sonoran Desert Toad soaking up moisture from road. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Tarantula, Ruby Road, Arizona by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Elegant Earless Lizard, Huachuca Mountains, Arizona by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Elegant Earless Lizard, Huachuca Mountains, Arizona by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Turkey Vulture, Huachuca mountains, Arizona by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Female Banded Rock Rattlesnake, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Looks aren’t everything, Arizona klaub.


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Milky way and distant thunderstorm, Arizona. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Sonoran Gopher Snake, Arizona by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Calling Red-spotted Toad, (Anaxyrus punctatus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
On the way home from Arizona I stopped in an area where we can cruise subocs, but ended up photographing calling Red-spotted Toads instead.


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Trash can raiding Raccoon by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Female Desert Box Turtle, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Velvet buck Rocky Mountain Mule Deer. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Rocky Mountain Mule Deer doe and fawn by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Small monsoon rain storm from the Ojito Wilderness by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Western Black-necked Garter Snake. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
I found this Black-necked Garter Snake out crawling through the desert in the Ojito Wilderness as a thunderstorm approached. No doubt this is how they show up in cattle tanks miles from the nearest water.


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Desert Cottontail, (Sylvilagus auduboni). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Trunk of an old One-seed Juniper. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Approaching monsoon storm, Ojito Wilderness, NM. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Female Rufous Hummingbird, (Selasphorus rufus). by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Mid-August and the Rufous Hummingbirds are showing up at Bosque del Apache as they through.


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New Mexico Whiptail eating a Hawk-moth caterpillar by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
I watched this New Mexico Whiptail deal with this Hawk Moth Caterpillar at Bosque del Apache. The lizard kept biting it right behind the head, then letting go. Occasionally it would give the caterpillar a good shake. I can only guess that it was trying to get rid of the head, which contain the chewing mouth parts, and is probably the only hard part of the caterpillar.


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New Mexico Whiptail eating a Hawk-moth caterpillar by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
The rest of the caterpillar goes down like a big sack of jelly!


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Male Desert Box Turtle, (Terrapene ornata luteola) by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Looking at the back end of this Diamond-back from the Ojito Wilderness made me hopeful that is was a gravid female. It was in a location where I frequently saw a grayish female during the summer a couple years ago and where a friend and I encountered a courting pair one August. However, after repeated visits I failed to relocate this snake.


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Female Rufous Hummingbird. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Mule Deer doe with Deer flies and Mosquitoes. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Rainbow through storm clouds, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Evening storm clouds over the Little San Pasquals by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Widmill and distant thunderstorms, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Cabezon, Sandoval co., New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
One of the more significant landmarks in my part of New Mexico.


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Monsoon rain storms, Ojito Wilderness, New Mex. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
Guess who decided to show up? The monsoons! Of course by the time they arrived school had started again and my ability to get out and enjoy them was severely curtailed. Next year!


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Horse in the Ojito Wilderness, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
A lonely, but friendly horse in the Ojito Wilderness. Wish I would have had a carrot or apple to give it.


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Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake, Crotalus atrox by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
One of three Diamond-backs I found in Quebradas on August 27th.


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Milky Way and Thunderstorm over T or C, New Mexico by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
On Labor Day weekend I met up with some other forum members for a field trip to the Gila Wilderness. I usually herp alone, sometimes with one or two other friends, and rarely with a group. This is largely due to the fact that the kind of photography I like to do requires spending considerable amounts of time watching individual animals, rather than the grab it now, keep moving, we’ll get pictures later sort of style most herpers follow. Still I thoroughly enjoy periodically getting together with a group of like-minded people and swapping tales, especially as a bottle of tequila is being passed around the campfire. The picture above is one I took when I drove out of the mountains to get a cell signal so I could send GPS coordinates for our campsite to a friend.


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Canyon Treefrog, (Hyla arenicolor), Gila Wildernes by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
I did photograph one herp on the trip!


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Canyon Treefrog, (Hyla arenicolor), Gila Wildernes by Bill Gorum on 500px.com


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Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Bosque del Apache by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
On my way back from the Gila I made a brief stop at Bosque del Apache to see if there were any male Rufous Hummingbirds at the feeders. No luck on the Rufous, but there was a nice male Broad-tailed Hummer.


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Female Black-chinned Hummingbird, New Mexico. by Bill Gorum on 500px.com
As well as lots of female Black-chinned Hummers

Thanks for looking!
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

Outstanding photography, as usual! What a rush!
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Calfirecap
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Calfirecap »

Amazing photography and great diversity. Thanks for sharing.
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Fieldherper
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Fieldherper »

Wow....those 3 posts are an overwhelming display of amazing photographic skills. The predation shots are great. The animals are cool, but the photogrsphy blew me away!!

FH
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Ribbit
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Ribbit »

I can never see enough of your beautiful in situ photographs. Just outstanding!

John
ramblon
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by ramblon »

Great series of images. From the wildlife to the landscapes to the herps, awesome stuff! Is it me or is that 2nd splendida just an absolute screamer?

Thanks for taking the time to put those together.
Jon-m
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Jon-m »

I think we all learn a little bit more about quality photography every single time you post. Great series Bill, thanks for sharing it with us.
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kevin h
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by kevin h »

Bill,

Amazing post!! I love your scenery shots with the falling rain. That's the type of stuff I'd pay money for.

Kevin.
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Chad M. Lane
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Chad M. Lane »

As normal fantastic post(s)! I've also been slacking, but I think I'm going to wait for a end of year review.

Fantastic photography, and observations!


Thanks,
Chad
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mfb
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by mfb »

Fantastic trio of posts! I always enjoy these. The mix of habitat and non-herp organisms is fantastic. One of the things that struck me this time was the color pattern on the heads of the painted turtles. So different from what I see in Ohio. Thanks!
Y.Morgan
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Y.Morgan »

Amazing shots - as always! My favorites in this batch are of the whiptail eating the caterpillar. Such detail...and patience! I'm pissed that you apparently found more localities of specks in a single trip than I've found in all of my poorly-aimed jaunts over the years. One day I'll figure them out. Thanks for all the effort that went into this post.
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ThamnElegans24
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by ThamnElegans24 »

Great stuff as usual Bill! Thanks for coming out and doing the presentation. It was an honor to meet you.
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Ross Padilla
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Re: First 3/4 of 2016- part three, to Arizona and back

Post by Ross Padilla »

Awesome :thumb:
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