If this were an actual class and the teacher asked me what have I learned so far I would have to say ” Oh honey grab you a drink and sit down…this is going to take a while…”
I live in Gold Canyon Arizona. It is at the base of the Superstition Mountain. Though there are golf courses and mansions all around there is still plenty of natural desert for all the native critters to roam. Our house sits on top and over looks 2.5 acres of desert. Home to coyote, javelina, jackrabbits the size of a dog, snakes, birds, and the list goes on and on.
The amount of nature plus stunning beauty out here is almost overwhelming to me. I want to photograph everything I see but it is not that easy when you are talking about wild animals and I work with an iPad. Instead of making the excuse of needing high-powered equipment, I push to see what I can do with what I have. ( read Intro to Wildlife Photography if you are confused)
The local coyotes I have recorded and posted numerous times. I wish someone would pay me to study them and the howls they make. They are beyond ridiculous. They yip and howl and party all night. Then, they do that gangsta style trot on the way home in the morning. I love them. But me taking a good picture of one is not going to happen unless it’s blind luck. Oh I see them in the day time quite often but has never been close enough or me quick enough. Honestly sometimes I’m still just in awe watching them roam that I don’t want to miss the random glimpse to run off and grab a camera. The most coyote I have seen in our back acreage at a time was six making their way over to a seventh that had been howling earlier. This was in the mid-morning and sunny out.Construction is happening over on the golf course and I think the coyotes were having a meeting about it.
The Javelinas deserved and got their own article posted “…wasting the day away in Javelinaville” They are a handful and I have no plans on getting closer for your entertainment.
Which leads me to having a huge tarantula on the front door. Another experience that prompted a full post ” Shut the Front Door!” 
I no longer hope to take a simple good picture. Oh no! Nature out here says ” You wanna come play? Let’s do this.”
The awareness of what is actually living in some of these holes has changed my flopping onto the ground with abandon. 
I have been circled by a bird large enough to do me some damage. Seven vultures one day made me question my dog Tucker’s safety. Again another post.
Zooming in requires me to now forget my surroundings. Ask the bunnies or the quail, pay attention to your surroundings.
I have learned about old wives tales and birds in your house. One in the house is supposed to fore shadow death! 
Not too sure what it means if it happens regularly except close the doors. Of course I wrote about that ” An Old Wives Tale”
I have learned patience.
Wild animals have their own rhythm. They do what they do.
If I’m lucky I see it. 
So for this semester I give me a B.
adesertviewwithstace 
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