Animals

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The Grand Canyon is far from a dead place. The river itself is alive, sometimes lying peacefully, sometimes twisting and kicking in its attempt to escape the confines of narrowed walls and boulder fields. The canyon is also home to myriad animals. Each possible camp site has its resident raven waiting to steal tidbits from an open pack, or some are smart enough to open closed packs and containers. The rocks themselves seem to take on life as they change colors and shapes with movement of the sun and clouds or just the simple act of floating around a corner of the river. Here are a few of the canyon's residents.

Click on images below for enlarged view.

Canon EOS 1Ds, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 400mm, ISO 100

Black Necked Stilts in flight.

These birds have the longest legs in proportion to the rest of their body size. We had just a few seconds to observe a small group on the shore that then took to the air as we floated by.

Canon EOS 1Ds, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS plus Canon Ex 1.4 @ 560mm, ISO 200

Desert Bighorn Sheep watching the interlopers.

This was the first good water year after seven years of drought. Since water was plentiful higher up, the bighorns stayed up in their preferred territory. We saw just this one, whereas the same time last year provided hundreds to see as they came down to the water.

Canon EOS 1Ds, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS @ 340mm, ISO 400

Collared Lizard

There were many of these fairly large lizards. This one was about 10" long. I caught this one doing pushups on a rock. I didn't notice the bright blue patch under his neck until after I looked at the picture.