Raven at the Grand Canyon

While driving along the road towards the South Rim I spotted this raven (I hope I am correct, as I am no ornithologist!) horsing around with a buddy in one of the turnouts. I got out of the car to get a few photos, and they flew to the trees at the edge of the canyon.

I did my best to get a clear shot of either one of them, but they were too sneaky for me! I eased around as quietly as a 240 lb man can while crouching low enough to see where they had gone to, and got this photo of one of the pair.

We saw a coyote, a young deer buck, and a few ravens/crows while we drove along. Mostly they were just wandering along the road. We could tell where they were by the cars that lined up along both sides of the road while the tourists like ourselves took photo after photo.

This photo is for Heather, who has ravens in her back yard. To see some fascinating movies of her "pets," go see the Heather -Raven Lady blog. There are photos and a couple of movies!
I think you'll enjoy them.

More later. Hope you're having a great day!
Mike Z

PS Rockadee identified my photo bird as a raven by its' wedge shaped tail and the location the shot was taken. Thanks Rockadee! To see his Flickr page check out Birding in the Wild. Great photos!

We're back from the long voyage!

We're back from the long trek from Washington State to Texas! It was an amazing 6 days, and was more fun than the trip up there two years ago. We had driven Amy and the boys up to Ft. Lewis near Tacoma WA so they could move into their new home on post. Now that Chad is back in Iraq for the second time, Amy gave up her house in Washington to be nearer family in Texas while Chad is deployed. On the way back, we knew a lot more about where to stay and made it a point to do all the things we said we'd do if we ever had the chance again. My hat is off to my daughter Amy who is a wonderful trip planner, navigator, and driver. She drove long hours across several states, and allowed me to take the photos you will see in later posts. Thanks Amy!

We had many adventures, and saw more beautiful places and wildlife than we had going up to WA. We stayed at a restored historic hotel in Oregon, went back to our favorite cheese/ice cream store in Idaho, saw breath-taking rock formations in Utah, saw the Grand Canyon and the Meteor Crater in Arizona, and even stopped by the "real, authentic" burial place of Billy the Kid. We stopped by a Quilt display and saw some wonderful handmade (and machine made) quilts, and stayed in a cabin in the National Forest near the Grand Canyon. What an adventure!

To see some photos of Shoshone Falls in Idaho and mesas in New Mexico, that I took on the trip up to Washington, click on the links to see some of My Old Photographic Memories.

I will be posting some photos of all the high points in future, but this one I wanted to devote to two of my favorite photos of the Grand Canyon. I still can't believe I was actually there. To say that no photo can do it justice seems trivial but I believe it's the absolute truth. I hope you like the photos above. There are plenty more to come! Stay tuned....

Mike Z

PS Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there. I am truly blessed to be counted in that number!