An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

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AndyO'Connor
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:14 pm
Location: Pacific Northwest

An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by AndyO'Connor »

Here's part 1 and 2 if you didn't see them first; viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3929 and viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3944&p=46300#p46300
Part 3 is kind of a fizzle compared to the first two posts, so I hope nobody got their hopes up that I had 3 epic posts in a row or anything.

September was an exciting month for me, despite hotter than usual temperatures making it difficult to find anything, I found my targets and met some cool people and herped some great spots that will be visited this year.

September

Northern pacific rattlesnake
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One of the best rattles I've seen on a wild snake
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Great basin gopher snake (left teeth in my thumb, caused an infection... ouch)
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Night snake
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Zebra tailed lizard
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Western banded gecko
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Long tailed brush lizard (with a short tail) *Lifer
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Glossy snake
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California kingsnake
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Mojave rattlesnake *Lifer
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Not sure what happened in between flashes, but these 3 shots were taken within a single minute, and I didn't see the snakes mouth open or any strike until I reviewed the photos on my camera...
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October

Northwestern garter snake
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Pacific tree frog
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Puget sound garter with one of the above's buddies in his stomach
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November (Scales are nowhere to be found for me once again)

Red legged frog
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Western redback salamander
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eggs inside a female
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Since this post needed some meat, here's a few scenery and habitat and random shots from throughout the year in order...

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If you made it this far, and aren't bored to death, thanks.

Species posted total for the year: 68 (I didn't post every species I photo'd but close to it)
Lifers: 12
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MHollanders
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by MHollanders »

How close were you to that eagle?!
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Ross Padilla
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by Ross Padilla »

Great posts, Andy! You had a very good year. I like the oreganus in the third shot. :thumb:
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Great series. Thanks Andy.
MHollanders wrote:How close were you to that eagle?!
Um, for real. How the H#LL did you get that shot?
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AndyO'Connor
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by AndyO'Connor »

Well, we were cruising a dirt road and I saw the eagle a few hundred yards from the road. I only have 15x optical zoom on my camera currently so as I slowly approached the eagle, I took shots every few steps knowing it would eventually get spooked. I had no cover, it was a bare wide open field, and I think I got within maybe 100 feet or so before it took off, and that was when I saw it had been eating. The shot I posted was the second to last, the last one was right as it took off and it was blurry, and I did crop it a bit and resize it, but not a lot.

Thanks for the compliments.
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RenoBart
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by RenoBart »

I've gotten very close to some birds of prey while they are eating a catch. I think they really don't want to leave the meat unless they absolutely have to.

Nice shot of Pyramid Lake. Was the eagle around there?

Bart
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AndyO'Connor
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by AndyO'Connor »

Yeah it was on an outcrop on the way to the pyramid rock
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RenoBart
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by RenoBart »

Cool, yeah, I've seen quite a few Golden's out that way...

Bart
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DaneConley
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by DaneConley »

Impressive, beyond any year I've done...but then there's 2011...
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Joshua Wallace
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Location: Orting, WA

Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by Joshua Wallace »

Way to go Andy! What an awesome set of posts. It is awesome getting to look back at all the awesome trips that we took this year, and the amazing herps we found. I really love that picture of Sean and I at Conboy.

Here is Andy getting that perfect eagle picture

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And here is the dumb look Andy always has on his face when he is taking his great pictures

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Will Wells
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by Will Wells »

Nice shots, thanks for sharing!
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AndyO'Connor
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by AndyO'Connor »

Joshua Wallace wrote:...
Here is Andy getting that perfect eagle picture...

And here is the dumb look Andy always has on his face when he is taking his great pictures
Wow that makes it look a lot closer than I remember getting, but maybe it's a perspective thing?

And I don't always have that look on my face, are you still bitter about what I said about your new caller id picture on my phone? We should go find some snot lizards this week.

Thanks everyone that has enjoyed my posts, I take the photos for myself but I enjoy sharing them in posts.
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Chris Mac Donald
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by Chris Mac Donald »

Right on dog! very nice set of posts! super awesome, thanx for all the herpin memories last year it was a blast. Its almost time to make some new ones!!!!! :beer: ROCKOUT!!!!!
-mack
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David Hardesty
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:32 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by David Hardesty »

That is an outstanding year congrats. I am hoping for a year like that this 2011.
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TravisK
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Re: An almost perfect year... Part 3 of 3 DUW

Post by TravisK »

Nice work. It was nice to see your yearly finds all together.
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