October Theme: Backyard Photos

In this month's theme, stay close to home to post photos taken in your own backyard. Photos can literally be taken in the backyard of your residence or simply at a location that is close to where you live. There's a variety of wildlife that lives right under our noses and landscapes that we often don't pay attention to since they are so familiar. This is your chance to show us the diversity of your neighborhood.

Here's one that was taken not in my backyard, but actually in my front yard. Just had to get a shot of this vivid sunset even if I was very close to home.

Well, this month's theme is right in my wheelhouse, it seems like about 75% of the photography I've done in the last 5 years was from my yard in Colorado Springs. We've moved on from there but I'll always have very fond memories of wandering around shooting images in the yard. So this will be the first of about 50 postings... Early frost on the scrub oaks.

Scrub Oak in Snow

Deer Antlers

100 yards from my back porch. Great sunset last November.

Papago Park - A few miles from me in Tempe.

Black Bear up a tree eating berries (behind him). I was taking our dogs on a walk and as we were walking by our yard going from one field to another we saw this bear about 20 feet up a tree eating berries. I scrambled up the hill in my yard to get clear of the foreground bushes and shot a few quick frames and then left quickly after Inoticed he had already been tagged and a second bad encounter could be the end of him. He was about 30 feet on the other side of private drive that ran along the lower part of our property.

Sunrise, taken from my bedroom window.

I live at the edge of Pike NF so I have fairly frequent opportunities to shoot a variety of wildlife. I was not prepared mentally for this interaction as I was eating breakfast when I heard a commotion on the deck behind me. I turned to see a bobcat with an Abert's squirrel pinned on a large bowl of sunflower seeds. I ran for my camera, returned to see the bobcat had walked off with its prize into an aspen grove. When I stepped outside, the cat looked at me. This was taken about 12 years ago on film.

Evening Grosbeak, males. Taken off my upper deck

Beautiful image Dan.

This one is taken literally at my backyard, you can see the fence as well ..

.. and another one ..

I woke up one morning to find 3 deer on the hillside outside my bedroom window. The night before I had downloaded my memory card from my camera and the camera was still sitting on the night stand by the bed. I was able to get off 3 shots while still laying in bed but when I got up to try to get a better view the deer ran off.

This was taken from my back patio one evening right after sunset. This huge supercell drifted across Colorado Springs dumping hail and heavy rains.

This little fawn and its twin frequented our yard the whole summer but were very skittish and ran whenever anyone came around. Towards the end of the summer I was coming home from work and going up the drive and found the fawns and their mother grazing about 20 feet from the drive. This time they didn't run, although you can see by its posture it was ready to.

This was taken a block down the road from my house. The Thompson Ridge fire in the Jemez mountains at sunset.

Wilson's Warbler bathing in a waterfall/pool I built in my backyard, taken from a blind.

This Western Wood-Peewee nest was about 20 feet from one of my upper decks.

A bear cub watching its mom about 60 feet to my right. I was on my upper deck and my wife was holding a flashlight on the cub so I could focus.

Took this last night at about 10:30 on my back deck. It's my very first attempt at capturing the Milky Way. I have a lot to learn!!

Here's one from my garden:

One from my driveway: