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Thursday, October 30, 2014

Winter: Amazing light and mountain lions

Shyla and I have been making it out in time to see the sun crest the eastern hills early in the morning. I adore the color that the rising sun paints her fur.
With the sun so low in the sky, it makes sun puddles in specific spots on the edge of the forest, and the rest of the forest in dark behind them.
It is the only part of the shorter wintery days that I truly love - seeing this special warm light on my girl.

The other morning, at about the same time as Shyla and I were worshiping the sunrise, our favorite pair of mountain lions was deep in the forest.

You can see the light of the sunrise barely filtering through the trees as the mother mountain lion arrived in front of my camera.
 Soon, her kitten, who seems to be growing exponentially bigger, bounded onto the scene.
 They appeared to play like a pair of puppies (or perhaps "kittens" would be a better analogy).
 They rolled and nuzzled each other for a long time. I love seeing these two.
Like last time, I picked up their images at more than one site so I'll be sharing more footage soon.

When I first moved to mountain lion territory, I imagined that mountain lions were everywhere in the forest when it was dark. I also imagined that they were nothing but killing machines. My photos have shown me that they are fairly numerous but only in certain places. Moreover, they are complex beings with a strong social attachments and a love of playing. They are not simply the scary predators that we humans believe them to be.

I hope that they continue to flourish. Having a strong population of top predators is important to our ecosystem. I also personally think that it's good that we humans are sometimes not at the top of the food chain.

On a different topic, I'm feeling worried that I might be heading into another phase of cluster migraines. I'm going to try to head it off with extra rest so I may not be visiting quite as much as usual in the near future. I hope it's a short phase.

24 comments:

  1. beautiful shyla! and love to see the 'kitties' play!

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  2. Love the Shyla gold! Oh, and the kittens too!

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  3. I love seeing the lions so much! They're such beautiful creatures!
    DM

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  4. Shyla is so beautiful and I love seeing the pictures of the cougars from your trail cams!!

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  5. I love that light on Shyla as well! And your nature camera catches are always freaking awesome.

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  6. Oh Sweet Shyla, she really does know how to take in the sunlight. Do take it easy friend, a little extra rest time wont hurt you.

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  7. Superb lighting, so that Shyla glows even more. Rest well, the lions will play, and we will wait till you are on the road to betterness. (That's a new word for today!!). Hugs. Jean

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  8. One of these days I need to learn more about lighting and photography - these pics are gorgeous. Well, all of yours always are:)

    Hope you can ward off the migraines and feel better.

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  9. When I was a child in a small mountain town in Canada, I loved how respected our neighbor cougars and bears were. I wish that were more true here but the city sprawl into their territory makes them hated and feared "pests." Sad. I also suffer from migraines so I hope your bout isn't too bad... I have had a few good weeks recently (knock on wood!!!)

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  10. Love your pics, the way the sun shines on Shyla, your descriptions. You help me to feel like we are there too. Love it. Sorry to hear the migraines may be coming back. Those are horrible and I hope they don't last too long or are not as bad as usual.
    Barb and. The furkids

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  11. Mom said she would have a heart attack out there in those woods
    Snorts,
    Lily & Edward

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  12. Shyla, I loves seein' you in that light too! You are just glowing! And, you look ready to RUN! bol
    Oh, I do loves seein' those Mountain Lion pics!! I've never really been scared of them, butts I do have a healthy respect ~ you have to when you live in their territory.
    Oh, I am so sorry abouts the MyGrains! Oh man, Ma just went through a tough patch, so she knows how you feel. Yup, rest and exercise (well, at least that what helps Ma). Sometimes not enough,butt any little bit helps, right? Sendin' healin' vibes!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  13. KB, we sure hope your not into another phase with those migraines,, but we understand they hurt bad. We would do anything to make them go away from you.
    We will be right here- even though you cannot see us..
    The photos you capture in the morning sunrises are spectacular. The colors melt together into a rhythm- don't they?
    And the wildlife you love so much- thank you for sharing those photos.
    love
    tweedles

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  14. Hope you are feeling better soon!

    I wonder how long the kitten will stay with the mother? Have you studied them enough to know KB?

    The mountain lion will always be my favorite out of the wildlife photos you have shared.

    And Shyla is always beautiful as she glows in the sun's light and her own.

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  15. We love the colors of Shyla's fur too! The mountain lions are very interesting to watch, but we would definitely be afraid!! Sure hope that your headaches get better soon...they are the worst.

    Happy Halloween!

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  16. Love the photos! We hope you feel better soon, KB!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  17. I am wishing your migraines away! Feel better ASAP!

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  18. Shyla looks like a beautiful bronze queen of the mountains. Hope you can ward off the migraines, we will send some of our pug POTP for you.
    hugs
    Mr Bailey & Hazel

    Pee es
    we got the big bed at Bed Bath & Beyond
    it was $60 and we had a 20% off coupon! It is quite comfortable and it helps fill up the corner where Greta's crate used to be

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  19. We love the coppery look of Shyla at sunrise. Do the dogs know when you have a headache? My husband used to get cluster headaches (they stopped when he got into his 50's - something to look forward to!!) and our cat used to KNOW the minute one started and she would just come sit by him. Never on him, just by him, very quiet, until it passed.

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  20. They really are pretty!

    Monty and Harlow

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  21. Feel better!!

    The beauty and playfulness of the Mountain Lions never cease to amaze me!! Thanks for sharing!

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  22. Love the mountain lions. And crap, don't get sick again.

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  23. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures of Shyla and those beautiful lions. Hope you feel better soon.

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