Weekly’s Photo Challenge: Birds of a Feather

I’m participating in LetsBeWild.com’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge. This week’s Challenge is: Birds of a Feather!

 

Do you remember the old joke? Why did the chicken cross the road?  To which there are a plethora of answers.  However, the question that needs to be asked is why are the ducks crossing the sidewalk?

Of course, there can be several answers to that one.  Just don’t try to figure it out because geese just don’t make sense sometimes.

 

Here is a strange fellow.  Ever seen a duck like this?  I guess you could call this a strange duck.

 

Yes, that is a tuft on his head and it’s natural.  Not sure what type it is.

Here are some ducks lounging on the edge of the pool taking in the sights.

 

Of course here is the Mallard Duck sunning himself.

 

Here are some rare ducks that are native to the wetlands of Las Vegas, Nevada.  I’m just not sure what type they are.

 

 

Here is a type of goose, just not sure what type.

 

 

Ducks do have friends.  They are peacocks.  Birds of a feather do flock together.

 

Here is another look at the peacock.

 

Anyone hungry?  Although it’s not quite Thanksgiving yet, this one would make a family very satisfied.

 

 

And of course, just for fun.  This bird isn’t real, but it represents something that is much bigger than any of the birds above, it’s our National Symbol of Freedom.  The Bald Eagle.

 

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April 25, 2013April 25, 2013 by Kelly Guymon Photography Categories: birds, hiking, PhotographyTags: bald eagle, Birds of a Feather, duck, Feather, Goose, Las Vegas, mallard, Mallard Duck, nature preserves, Thanksgiving, wetlands 2 Comments

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A light to shine forth to the world.

April 21, 2013 by Kelly Guymon Photography Categories: Photography 1 Comment

Wild Weekly’s Photo Contest: Mountains

“I want to see mountains again, Gandalf! Mountains!” – Bilbo Baggins
I’m participating in the online adventure travel and outdoor photography magazine Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggersThis week’s Challenge is: Mountains!

I love the mountains! There’s just something special about mountains, either looking up at them, or down from them. They are majestic, timeless and breathtaking. Sometimes it helps to get away from it all in the mountains just to contemplate existence and life in general.

Here is a tribute to John Muir and his favorite place: Yosemite Valley, specifically Half Dome and Yosemite Falls.

Of course, a bit closer to home (but not quite) is the famous Horseshoe Bend. This is looking off the mountain at the Colorado River, just south of Glen Canyon Dam.

Here is a very famous vista of Zion National Park, the Watchman Mountain.

The only way to really appreciate the size and majesty of mountains is to get up close and personal. Here is a view of a mountain from the West Rim Trail in Zion. The ponderosa pine tree is about 60-80 feet tall. The cliff face is about 2000-3000 feet straight up. This gives a nice scale to Zion.

Here are a couple of mountains from the West Rim Trail:

This is the view from Deer Trap Mountain, one of the less popular trails in Zion. This is looking at Lady Mountain and into Heaps Canyon where the Emerald Pools are located.

Here are the Eagle Crags, just outside of Zion, one of my favorite cliffs.

April 18, 2013April 18, 2013 by Kelly Guymon Photography Categories: hiking, PhotographyTags: California, cliffs, Colorado river, eagle crags, Gandalf, Glen Canyon, Half Dome, hiking, horseshoe bend, John Muir, Ponderosa Pine, United States, West Rim Trail, Yosemite Fall, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley, zion, Zion National park 2 Comments

Wild Weekly’s Photo Contest: Clouds

I’m participating in the online adventure travel and outdoor photography magazine Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggersThis week’s Challenge is: Clouds!

Do you remember as a kid looking at clouds to imagine the shapes and objects you could find there?

Here is a dragon!

Clouds also means lighting storms.

You normally see clouds in the sky, but sometimes clouds do strange things. For example, have you ever seen clouds below the rim of the Grand Canyon? At sunset, during the winter? Doesn’t happen very often.

Sometimes storms can build very quickly, especially here in the desert. Here is West Temple in Zion National Park.

Now, here is the same mountain ten minutes later:

A couple of minutes later it gets even thicker:

Within ten to fifteen minutes, it looks like this:

Finally it cleared up about twenty minutes later.

Looking at this storm was an awesome experience, since it has been a long time since I’ve seen a storm like this. What I found out later is that the town of Virgin, Utah was flooded out and some friends lost their homes from this flood.

April 12, 2013April 12, 2013 by Kelly Guymon Photography Categories: hiking, PhotographyTags: Cloud, clouds, flood, grand canyon, inversion, lightening, Park, storm, sunset, Travel and Tourism, United States, Utah, zion, Zion National park 4 Comments