Since I acquired a long lens a while ago I started a project to capture images of wildlife at South Mountain Park. The landscape of South Mountain is a bit sparse, but there’s a surprising amount of wildlife to see even if it does stay hidden most of the time. Coyotes, cottontails, and quail are common, but there’s also javelina, roadrunners, jackrabbits, ground squirrels, and a wide variety of birds to be found.
This image is one of my favorite shots of a coyote so far. I was up on a ridge when I saw coyotes down below, all converging on the same point. As they gathered, they appeared to be playing with each other much like dogs do. After a few minutes the playing stopped, and they started moving out. I guessed they’d cross the bottom of the ridge and headed down so I could get closer (but still a good distance away). Sure enough, one by one the pack came over the ridge, passed through a wash, and then disappeared into the desert. Except this one. This one stopped at the crest of the ridge and watched the others go. When they were all gone, it turned around and slipped back over the ridge, returning from where it came.