Hooded Skunk

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Hooded skunk, Marana, near Tucson, Arizona.

Unusual to see a skunk before total darkness.

Desert Photo Retreat 2022

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View from the Reflection Table Blind and the new extra wide perch stand.

I have finished all the work I was gonna do in the Desert Photo Retreat for this season! Repaired the washed out road. Replace the roof and door on the lower Photo blinds along with new camo canvas on the front. Painted and rebuilt the perch tables. Put a new liner on the reflection blind table and built a new perch stand at the table. My first perch stand was 12 feet wide and I didn’t like how the ends were reflecting on the water table so I just replaced it with a 16 foot wide perch stand. Been having our first visitors and lots of birds and off and running for the remainder of the season!

This is the building that blew over last summer. Now has new roof, door and camo canvas. Lots of birds this year, especially pyrrhuloxia!
Perch tables. Keeps food out of reach of the javelina, and allows me to move them forward or back depending on folks minimum focus distance.
I now have real stairs and railings into the reflection blind.

NFT Photo

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Aurora Borealis over the Brooks Range, Alaska.

My first Non-fungible token (NFT)  Lots to learn!  Captured during an amazing night in the heart of the Alaska Brooks Range. Open Seas Aurora NFT

Pyrrhuloxia Photo

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Male Pyrrhuloxia, Marana, near Tucson, Arizona.

A Pyrrhuloxia last night at the lower photo blind. The alpenglow on the distant mountains makes for such gorgeous backgrounds along with this beautiful bird.

My Favorite Photos from 2021

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Here are my favorite images captured during 2021. Details with each caption. Always fun to look back at the past year. Gosh, it was another awesome year! Especially for bears.

A recent photo of a bobcat from our desert photo Retreat.

Black bear cubs in a tree at Anan Creek in Southeast Alaska. I had a lot of photos I liked from Anan – it was hard to narrow them down.
A black bear looking over Anan Creek.
Waterfall in Girdwood, Alaska.
A brown bear mom and cub from one of my Bear and Whale trips.
This will get your attention! A brown bear chasing a salmon at Katmai National Park. We saw so much of this behavior this year, but I think this is my favorite.
A humpback whale breaching in the Inside Passage. Always amazing to see!
A brown bear and cub along with an eagle all looking for salmon. Southeast Alaska.
Brown bear in evening light from one of my June bear trips.
Such a unique situation. Bear cubs from two different seasons nursing at the same time. The mom adopted one of them.
Beautiful morning at Aialik Glacier from my Kenai Fjords National Park tour.
A king eider at the Alaska Sealife Center in Seward.
A hooded skunk captured with a camera trap. This guy was using a javelina trail – was a nice surprise to see something else using the trail. Used 4 different flashes to help light the landscape and the skunk.
A bat from last winter at the Desert Photo Retreat.

For those interested, here are more: Favorite photos of 2020, Favorite photos of 2019, Favorite photos of 2018, Favorite Photos of 2017, Favorite Photos of 2016, Favorite Photos of 2015,  Favorites of 2014, Favorite photo of 2013, Favorite photos of 2012 – favorite photos of 2011 – favorite photos of 2010  –  favorite photos of 2009 and finally, favorite photos of 2008. Guess I have been doing this for awhile.

Abert’s Towhee

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Abert’s Towhee, Marana, near Tucson, Arizona.

An Abert’s Towhee from a couple of days ago. We have Abert’s and Canyon Towhee which looks fairly similar, but without the black on the face.


The Desert Photo Retreat will be open for the season beginning next week – it will be fun to have guests here again!