On my recent trip to my hometown of Las Vegas I was astounded by the variety of wildlife that I encountered. Since I have been focusing on shooting birds and other wildlife for the last year, I thought I would take the opportunity to shoot some of the strange and wonderful species found in the western desert.

I stopped in at Floyd Lamb State Park.

Tangent – you might wonder who Floyd Lamb was. He was the brother of Ralph Lamb, who has become a household name in the US since the premier of the show Vegas last fall. If you watch the show you probably know that Ralph’s TV brother’s name is Jack – me thinks Ralph didn’t want to share the spotlight – that’s OK because Floyd has an awesome park named after him – kinda trumps a TV crime drama if you ask me. End of Tangent.

Back to Floyd’s park – so many birds…

This guy is a white crowned sparrow – I saw these all around Las Vegas…

So much flashier that my Ozark sparrows…

But then again it is Vegas.

In a nearby bush I spotted a thrush. Not common in the desert…

I bet he was probably just visiting.

Over at Floyd’s pond I was overrun by mud hens, or coots as some call them.

Their feet aren’t exactly webbed…

Still they work pretty well for swimming…

And they do the job on land pretty well too.

I noticed some larger birds diving into the pond and coming up with fish…

I spotted a few of them bracing themselves from the wind up in a tree. These are crested cormorants – juveniles so they don’t have crests yet…

Their green eyes were pretty striking…

And they can scoop up a pretty sizable fish with those bills…

These guys have huge webbed feet with wicked looking talons.

From Floyd Lamb Park I moved a bit closer to home. I get shots of birds at my house all the time, I should be able to get some good shots at my brothers house…

First I was attacked by this wild creature…

I stepped back as it assumed a defensive posture between me and the Christmas tree…

He puffed himself up to make it clear that it was NOT OK for me to pass…

The scariest thing about this wild beast was not it’s impressive beak, it was its eardrum shattering voice. After a while the Christmas spirit took over and he permitted me to enter the living room.

Not all the wildlife at the homestead was so aggressive….

Some of the beasts were almost serene…

Playful…

Zen like…

Some beasts were a symphony in color…

I found it hard to imagine a beast more colorful…

He brings to mind an explosion at a crayon factory…

All the best colors mixing together.

This creature made me think of a dingy mop…

Aglow in the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree.

The last creature I encountered was very unusual…

Her eyes appeared to be a bit in front of her nose…

And she had a fierce anger, she tore into the closet…

And made off with her prey. To the victor go the spoils, no wire hangers for this fearsome beast!

I am glad to be back home in the safety of the woods where I am not accosted by scary beasts that screech in the night or steal my hangers, by my, what an adventure it was.