Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival (April 24-27)
Let's begin with the 25th Annual Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival put together through Friends of the Verde River and hosted at our beloved Dead Horse Ranch State Park. This is our second time attending and my second year of volunteering my photographic services. The bonus this year? Camping with these beautiful people and having a wonderful mixture of hanging out with framily, volunteering and attending workshops.
Ellen met this guy, Loren, while both were volunteering for parking duty. And the friendly face on the right, Dawn Islas, is the fun loving volunteer coordinator we are privileged to work with.
Turkey Vulture
Sonoran Reptiles had my favorite tent at Family Nature Day on Saturday. It was my job to photograph the five-hour long event and capture some of the highlights. I think this was my favorite tent for two reasons. 1. A wonderful array of animals and 2. GREAT LIGHTING!
Blue Tongued Skink
A grandma getting up close and personal with a bull snake.
American Kestrel
These gals were camping near us and made their way to the event on bicycle and tricycle electric bikes. Such fun.
Such a great event for families. And Ali found Ellen her next hat! We had gone to a very interesting Turkey Vulture presentation on Friday.
Yup, we were aiming at each other...!! lol
There were food trucks, art and lots of sunshine. Such a beautiful weekend, except for the wind. It WAS windy.
May Day Protest in Flagstaff, AZ
On May 1st we attended the May Day Protest at our city hall. Here is a collection of images I shot. I shoot for Indivisible Northern Arizona and they then use them in press releases and marketing for upcoming meetings and events.
The NAU students arrived with flags and lots of enthusiasm.
Trying to resuscitate Lady Liberty. For real.
We walked to the protest with this lady and her husband. They joined us and were only in town for the night, visiting from Up State New York. Nice couple.
There's Ellen doing her part. And yes, Lady Liberty is up and moving. Such a great puppet. She required several puppeteers to function.
Paws 4 Hope, a fundraiser for the Cancer Support Community (May 3)
Our next volunteering opportunity came on Saturday at Bushmaster Park in Flagstaff. Ellen taught a one-hour yoga class and I took photos. Here are a few. Lot's of kids and puppies. Well, mostly puppies.
Babies and puppies, is there a better combo?
I've never seen this doggy stretch before! lol
No, we did NOT get a dog!
Rip from Yellowstone. In dog form.
A shivering Chihuahua and...Cookie Monster?
Ellen doing her magic...
There was also an art installation, some of which I photographed and posted below. I'm pretty sure these were created by survivors of breast cancer. Save the Tatas!
A morning walk at the Kachina Wetlands (May 4)
This morning we went for a walk at the Kachina Wetlands looking for this year's hatchlings. It took a while but we found them. No ducklings yet, just the goslings, and they were SMALL.
These two started trash talking and got into a baby fight.
A western bluebird that is part owl.
Taking the nursery away from the humans. They will storm the beaches shortly.
Wondering where everyone went!
Pretending to be getting along as the adults cruise by.
White-Faced Ibis. That don't have white faces...
That's it. That's partly what we've been up to the last couple of weeks. I hope all is well with you and yours and that you enjoyed the images. Until next time.
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Comments
Great images. Really like Kachina Wetlands
Liked all.
Love see the world around you.
Love Rip!! The Ibis are beautiful. Wow. Great pictures of the folks enjoying nature.