tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90504111464799251882024-02-19T08:26:07.502-08:00 Sonoran ConnectionRay Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.comBlogger329125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-12886499661346339452016-07-08T14:14:00.000-07:002016-07-08T14:14:43.144-07:00 Desert Dweller's <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's no secret that as a photographer I enjoy capturing the precise moment when the stars align and a photo is as good or better than I had hoped. It happens often enough that after years of successes, and failures, I'm still out there making the effort. Every photographer has their own wheelhouse and I'm no different. For me it's all things nature and the environment. I do not however limit myself to any one area and I have been known to spend my days photographing buildings, people, or occasionally events. I do always gravitate back to nature like this sunset in Tucson Mountain Park which is one of my favorites from my earliest days with digital photography.</div>
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Because of my cameras I have had a special relationship with the Sonoran Desert and this has shaped my opinions about the state of it's ecological health. While the Sonoran Desert is one of the most diverse places imaginable it is not immune from the damaging effects of human beings and a rapidly changing climate. In fact the opposite is true.</div>
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The Black-tailed Prairie Dog is a perfect example of the effects of human intervention. <span style="color: #231f20; font-family: "timesnewromanpsmt"; font-size: 12pt;">Black-tailed Prairie Dogs were once estimated in the hundreds of millions across the western prairies, perhaps numbering in the billions and today their number is a tiny percentage of what it used to be, between 10-20 million.</span><span style="color: #363636; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a keystone species it's severely reduced numbers have had an extremely negative impact on many other species including the endangered Black-footed Ferret which once numbered in the tens of thousands and now only a few hundred remain. Prairie dog colonies create islands of habitat that benefit up to 150 different species. They are a food source for many animals, including coyotes, eagles, badgers and the black-footed ferret. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Arizona the Back-tailed Prairie Dog was extirpated from the landscape with poisons and the loss of habitat.There is an effort underway just east of here near Sonoita at Las Cienegas to restore the Prairie Dog to it's native grasslands. </span></span></div>
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Another endangered species that lives here in the Sonoran Desert is the Bighorn Sheep. All the usual interventions by humans are the cause of the Bighorn's decline. Hunting, poaching, cattle grazing, loss of habitat plus drought, disease and mountain lion predation have all combined to push this population to the edge of extinction.</div>
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Read more: http://<a href="http://www.desertusa.com/bighorn/bighorn-sheep.html#ixzz4Dl26llC7">www.desertusa.com/bighorn/bighorn-sheep.html#ixzz4Dl26llC7</a></div>
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Occurring over a wide range the American Kestrel in considered to be of Least Concern by the IUCN but there is evidence that the Kestrel is in rapid decline over the last three decades with the long-term loss at almost 50 percent of the population. That’s a big drop for a bird considered abundant in North America.The question is will the decline continue at it's current rate and how long will it take before it becomes endangered?</div>
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Not all creatures living in the desert are currently considered threatened or endangered but if the desert itself is threatened due to a rapidly warming climate how long before that changes? June 2016 was the hottest June in 122 years and we have been breaking records here for several years. One of the unfortunate side effects of warmer temperatures is extended ranges for insects that used to be kept south of here like the Africanized Bee's that have extended their range into Southern Arizona. Every year there are now reports of bee attacks, some fatal, in the southern part of our state. </div>
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Chihuahuan Raven's are an extremely intelligent bird that reside in the southeastern part of Arizona. Here in Tucson you are much more likely to see the Common Raven which is a larger. bird</div>
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Another animal currently doing well here in the desert is the Javelina. They eat a variety of native plants such as agave, mesquite beans, and prickly pear, as well as other green vegetation. Javelina's live in family groups usually around ten or less but have been known to travel in a group of more than fifty. I've encountered them in the wild on many occasions here in Southern Arizona in groups of a dozen or more at a time.</div>
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Chuckwalla's have an optimum body temperature of 100-105 and will lie in the sun until it is reached before eating. Strictly a plant eater Chuckwalla's are prevalent in southwest Arizona , California and into Mexico and grow up to 18 inches long.</div>
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Harris's Hawks hunt in family groups and are more successful in a larger group.They eat mostly small mammals such as rabbits and ground squirrels</div>
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You can find quite a bit of interesting information about the Harris's hawk habits at: <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harriss_Hawk/lifehistory">https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harriss_Hawk/lifehistory</a></div>
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Photography and nature are two constants in my life and I hope that you enjoy either or both in your life as they are truly an amazing form of meditation.</div>
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<br />Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-44577530737825433932015-10-14T09:55:00.000-07:002015-10-14T12:19:54.070-07:00 The Verde Valley and Verde CanyonWe traveled the 200 plus miles from Tucson to Camp Verde Arizona to ride the train into Verde Canyon and to visit a couple of the more well known Native American archeological sites in the area including Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot National Monuments. We had hoped to visit one of the monuments the day we arrived but the weather did not cooperate and low hanging clouds and rain made us seek indoor activities until we could check into our motel. Camp Verde is to my mind sort of a combination of desert and a more New England like ambiance with full sized trees and grass (there was actual roadside mowing) with gardens reminiscent of those in my native northeast.<br />
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As it would happen it rained throughout the first day and most of that night but we woke up to one of the nicest days that we have experienced in months. It started out almost cold with a mottled sky that promised much better weather for the day ahead. We were not disappointed as the day was sunny, on the cool side with a slight breeze.<br />
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<b><i> Montezuma Castle National Monument</i></b><br />
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We decided to visit Montezuma Castle in the morning as it was near by and I was anxious to put my cameras to work. According to Wikipedia "The dwellings were built and used by the Sinagua people, a pre-Columbian culture closely related to the Hohokam and other indigenous peoples of the southwestern United States, between approximately 1100 and 1425 AD. The main structure comprises five stories and twenty rooms, and was built over the course of three centuries."<br />
For the record Montezuma was born 40 years after the complex was abandoned and had nothing to do with it's construction.<br />
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There is evidence of an even larger structure nearby but all that remains is the foundation. There are also many caves at various heights nearby that were either used for living space or storage. A series of ladders that allowed public access to the site were removed in 1951 to prevent further looting of the national monument. Our visit was a short one due to our plans to ride the train into Verde Canyon which was slated to depart at one o'clock and we still wanted to stop off and see Tuzigoot National Monument which was on the way to the train station.<br />
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<b><i>Tuzigoot National Monument</i></b></div>
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Tuzigoot National Monument was on our way to our destination and even though we had less than an hour to spare we wanted to at least see it and get a few pictures because we don't know when we might return to this area again.</div>
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Tuzigoot is 110 room pueblo built on an outcrop in the Verde Valley near Clarkdale Arizona. It is the largest of the pueblo ruins built by the Sinagua people in the Verde Valley.</div>
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Tuzigoot commands a sweeping view of the surrounding valley and is situated overlooking the Verde River The name Tuzigoot is Apache for "crooked river" and was built between 1100 and 1450 A.D..<br />
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Nestled on the mountainside is the town of Jerome which I would like to visit some day as the views from there must be spectacular.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7Fwtfw5JAt-a7Ba7tbTouVVZ1Ar4nxsNvRaAcwMRI26mKnyHscBjbhBaDYl2Bppa9S3Hhubxw5Bx73muYsYT-zmxE5mDXxq-5_bq1I3vNd52TBYKOLPn3zqnEB5y8lsRI1brxJJJDHo/s1600/IMG_8837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7Fwtfw5JAt-a7Ba7tbTouVVZ1Ar4nxsNvRaAcwMRI26mKnyHscBjbhBaDYl2Bppa9S3Hhubxw5Bx73muYsYT-zmxE5mDXxq-5_bq1I3vNd52TBYKOLPn3zqnEB5y8lsRI1brxJJJDHo/s640/IMG_8837.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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While we were checking out the ruins we were entertained by a pair of Rock Wrens who seemed very used to having people in their space. This one came within a few feet of us searching for food hidden among the rocks.</div>
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<b><i>Verde Canyon Railroad</i></b></div>
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Our main objective was to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad which is approximately a four hour trip in and back out of the Verde Canyon. Nan hasn't been on a train since she was a small child and I haven't ridden the rails since I snuck to NYC as a 15 year old with my brother Tom and a friend. All of the photos in this section were taken from our observation car moving at between 15 and 20 miles per hour including the one's that show the train itself. The first photo was taken just after we left the Clarkdale terminals we rounded a bend and crossed the RR trestle. The observation cars were attached to our passenger car that was stocked with food, drink and comfortable seating that we barely used.</div>
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Although we didn't see much wildlife on this trip we were treated to these wild donkeys not long after we left the station. We also saw them on the return trip but not nearly as close as this. Other than that we saw a couple of hawks and and a few small birds although we spent a good deal of time looking for eagles the live along the river to no avail.<br />
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The train is the only transportation in and out of the canyon and it follows the Verde River fairly closely throughout the trip. Fairly impressive Cottonwoods line the river obscuring much of the river from view and making for great cover for wildlife but even though at times you can't actually see the river you almost always can tell it's path due to the lush greenery.</div>
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"The Verde River is a major tributary of the Salt River in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is about 170 miles long and carries a mean flow of 602 cubic feet per second at its mouth. It is one of the largest perennial streams in Arizona." Wikipedia</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVC-9CLWNgbSiTAVnSswMOXhMW6TNNj1k3M1MMaUkXWcTM2o8FUo8Y0gnMoKKQ09fs8RuQFqF0WG7jbMe1MvIn-UfktvyNP3SziJN7m3SEE1H_FmM5v66g8QRJX8qbDLTseRiQE4Pb7W8/s1600/IMG_0157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVC-9CLWNgbSiTAVnSswMOXhMW6TNNj1k3M1MMaUkXWcTM2o8FUo8Y0gnMoKKQ09fs8RuQFqF0WG7jbMe1MvIn-UfktvyNP3SziJN7m3SEE1H_FmM5v66g8QRJX8qbDLTseRiQE4Pb7W8/s640/IMG_0157.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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You can learn more about the Verde River from the Nature Conservancy at: <a href="http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/arizona/placesweprotect/verde-river.xml">http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/arizona/placesweprotect/verde-river.xml</a><br />
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The landscape is stunning, the views spectacular and we could not be more pleased with this area in general. My affection for this place is certainly helped by the fact that the river actually has water in it and is not just a dry ditch like so many so called rivers here in Tucson where we live. Below is a photo of our train entering the only tunnel along the route which is barely big enough to fit a train.<br />
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There was quite a bit of evidence of Native American culture along the tracks like this early storage cave.<br />
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It's the kind of place that you could spend an entire lifetime exploring and not see all there is to see. The following are photos taken from the train on the trip back to the statin which was as entertaining as the trip out. This is something that if you are in the area you should definitely consider doing just for the views alone.<br />
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-13574019832709857082015-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:002015-07-21T12:23:44.324-07:00Gallery Week, Equipment Week<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">I spent a week at the Ironwood Gallery helping to hang the Vanishing Circles exhibit one of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum's permanent collections dedicated to endangered </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">species here in the Sonoran Desert. This exhibit is a selection of works depicting disappearing wildlife of the Sonoran Desert. The Art Institute which operates the Ironwood Gallery has at the core of it's mission to expose people to conservation through art education which dovetails nicely with my mission of getting people interested in the natural world through photography. In addition to it's Art Institute the Desert Museum has many ongoing conservation projects including the reintroduction of the Mexican Garter Snake and the Tarahumara Frog to name a couple.</span></span><br />
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This was also the week I agreed to review the Aperlite YH-500C Flash Unit in exchange for flash unit that I had been looking to purchase anyway. I actually gave the unit a 5 star rating on Amazon because I ha already researched it and it did indeed perform extremely well when I tested it. My review is included here. The following three photographs are from my evaluation of the flash unit.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">By Ray Goodwin (Tucson, AZ, US)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">This review is from: Aperlite YH-500C Professional Flash Flashlight for Canon Digital SLR Camera [Supports TTL, Wireless S1 & S2 Modes] (Electronics)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">I’ve been looking for a reasonably priced TTL capable flash unit and the Aperlite YH-500C (for Canon) meets all of my requirements. As an event photographer I shoot lots of indoor, low light, difficult and fast moving venues and the Aperlite YH-500C performs beautifully, helping me to produce photos that are sharp, properly lit, with little if any grain. I recently photographed a gallery opening for a museum using the YH-500C and the resulting photos were of excellent quality and should they need to be, they can easily be made into very large prints or used in the museums published materials.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">The YH-500C’s controls are easy to use and changing settings is fast and the units recharge rate is very quick so I rarely miss a desired shot. Although TTL is my preferred mode the YH-500C offers Manual and Stroboflash modes as well as 2 off camera options which come in handy in a variety of different shooting situations.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">The YH-500C performs equally well outside in the world where I spend the bulk of my time photographing nature. Great for fill flash in mottled sunlight and deep shade this flash has allowed me to get the shots that I would have otherwise walked right by before I started carrying the Aperlite.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">The best reason’s to buy the Aperlite YH-500 flash is how well it performs in a variety of situations but on top of that is the fact that is is extremely reasonably priced, affordable for those of us who don’t have unlimited funds for equipment. The Aperlite YH-500C has great overall build, TTLMaster/Slave capabilities, fast recharge rate, very consistent TTL exposures and many, many other good qualities.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;">My overall rating for the Aperlite YH-500C is that it is an excellent flash unit at an excellent price!</span></span><br />
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I also purchased a new Canon EF 50mm 1.8 lens due to it's reputation for very sharp photographs and so far I ave been very happy with the results although it's taking a little time to get used to having to move back and forth to get the subject in the viewfinder. I do love this lens and here are a couple of the first photos that I took with the lens mounted on my Canon 7D.<br />
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Juvenile Arizona Gray Squirrels</div>
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Yucca Blossom</div>
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-77115178682742803912015-04-26T11:05:00.001-07:002015-04-26T11:07:04.109-07:00Palo Verde BloomMost everything that has already bloomed this year has been exceptional but without a doubt the most impressive and far reaching display of color this year has been the Palo Verde trees. Although there are four different Palo Verde trees in the Sonoran Desert two species are the most prevalent and widely known. The first to bloom is the Blue Palo Verde which is the more upright of the two and grows to thirty feet. The second is the Foothills Palo Verde also known as the Littleleaf Palo Verde which is shrubbier and only grows to about twenty feet.<br />
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Most of the photos here were taken at various points in or near Tucson Mountain Park over several days. Most folks I've spoken to say they have never seen the Palo Verde's bloom this spectacular and in the ten years i have lived in Tucson I have never seen a bloom this massive.<br />
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As we approach May the bloom will fade and be replaced with the Saguaro blossom which will once again bring me into the desert to try my hand at getting the quintessential Saguaro blossom for my database.<br />
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6 A.M.</div>
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6 P.M.</div>
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Taken from Gates Pass.</div>
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Looking south.</div>
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The above photo was taken just outside TMP in Saguaro National Park where the bloom had already reached it's peak.</div>
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On the way home I couldn't resist stopping and waiting to see the sunset in the park. Turned out to be worth the wait.<br />
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-11467362206439279122015-03-06T06:56:00.001-08:002015-03-06T07:42:43.987-08:00Mexico City Exhibit and Sabino Creek Portraits<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
February has been a busy month for me with two major photo projects completed.</div>
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The first and most important project involved providing the Arizona Sonora Desert Museums Art Institute with 120 photographs of plants, animals and landscapes taken here in the Sonoran Desert. Many of these photos will be used in a video that is part of the Sonoran Intersections exhibit at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. </div>
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<b><i>Sonoran Intersections, The Biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert, Portraits of Vanishing Wildlife </i></b>opens Thursday March 12th in the main gallery at Universum, the Science Museum of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, which is Mexico’s primary museum dedicated to promoting science and technology to the public . The museum has thirteen halls divided by theme dedicated to various permanent exhibitions. Sonoran Intersections will be exhibited in the main gallery of the museum.</div>
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Below are a few of the photos I submitted for use in the video and in a children's interactive game during the exhibit.</div>
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Boojum</div>
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Javelina</div>
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Kingsnake</div>
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Endangered Bees</div>
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The second project is five framed 13x19 photos of Sabino Creek taken on December 17, 2012. These are some of my favorite autumn photographs from here in the Sonoran Desert. Sabino Creek for those of you are unfamiliar is runoff from the Santa Catalina Mountains which during periods of heavy rain is quite a robust stream, even raging at times. At other times of year when there is little moisture here in the desert it can completely dry up.<br />
I have been fortunate to experience it in all of it's iterations from raging to completely dry but it is at it's most beautiful when there is steady flow.<br />
When photographing the canyon because of its vastness the obvious way to capture its essence is to get as much into the frame as possible. However for this series I wanted a more intimate view of the canyon, to look away from the sweeping panoramas and share the detail of it's autumn splendor.<br />
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-51654773370812253122015-01-29T09:47:00.000-08:002015-01-30T13:43:47.152-08:00Silverbell Lake Tucson, Arizona<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On my way to Sweetwater Wetlands as I approached Christopher Columbus Park the morning light was an amazing golden yellow so I decided to stop in and check out Silverbell Lake which is located inside the park. I arrived just as the sun was peaking out from behind the horizon so I decided to spend some time and see what was around for wildlife and walk the perimeter of the 13 acre "lake".<br />
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I have to admit that I have a hard time thinking of 13 acres as anything but a pond having hailed from New England where there are some pretty large bodies of water but here in extreme Southern Arizona I have encountered a number of small bodies of water that are referred to as lakes and there is so few of them that I guess I can go along with that designation.<br />
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The first large bird I encountered was this Great White Egret wading just off shore. Birds here are used to the presence of humans but they still manage to keep their distance. I had a 135 mm lens on the camera and was primarily interested in landscapes so my first walk around the lake was with this one lens. The light at this time of day changes rapidly and within a few minutes the whole scene can change completely so I moved quickly around the lake taking hand-held photos to use here on my blog.<br />
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There are quite a few big trees along the water's edge including this one which I believe is a eucalyptus. It has taken quite a bit of abuse in the form of carvings but still looks extremely healthy in spite of the vandalism. Most of the ducks were common varieties but I still enjoy seeing them here in the desert.<br />
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This island has two rather large trees on it and although you can't see them well from this angle there are four Great Blue Heron nests in the largest of the two. I counted eight Great Blues altogether mostly in or around the nests with occasional trips out for food or nest building material. This is a place that's really worth a visit especially during the early hours of the day. I'm thinking of taking a trip there for sunset because the best view of the birds and nests is from the west side of the lake.<br />
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I have always had a soft spot for large trees and especially so here in the desert where there are so few of them. Most of the truly big one's that I have seen are along rivers and streams or next to man made bodies of water like these.<br />
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The tree on the left was home to many cormorant's including Double-crested and in the past I have seen Neotropic Cormorants here. I left my binoculars home so I can't say if there were Neotropics or not.<br />
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Every time I have visited the lake there have been people fishing for catfish, trout, sunfish and white amur. The lake is also a very popular picnic area on week-ends and can be quite crowded during nice weather.<br />
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Some trees here in the desert hold their leaves year round others drop them and there is quite a variety of looks during the winter. Some green and vibrant, some completely nude and some part way.<br />
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These are a few photos of the nesting site which is well camouflaged in the tree and the birds themselves are difficult to pick out from a distance but these are huge nest's and large birds.<br />
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This Vermillion Flycatcher just lit up in the morning sun and even though I wasn't able to approach too closely I spotted it from a great distance. If I'm not mistaken this ones an immature male.<br />
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After leaving Silverbell I headed over to Sweetwater, my original destination and was greeted by this Great White Egret just as I entered the facility.<br />
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-32357042501948449382015-01-18T12:51:00.000-08:002015-01-18T12:58:27.426-08:00Snow in the Sonoran DesertOn January 1st 2015 we woke up to snow on the desert floor. I got up at 4 A.M. and headed out before sunrise to enjoy this unusual event and of course to get some photographs to share here at Sonoran Connection. As you can imagine not too many people are out that early and as a matter of fact I had to stand around,camera mounted on my tripod and wait for the light to find me. Even though I dressed warmly it was still a challenge to stay warm as I am not that used to cold weather anymore. My hands were the hardest to warm even with gloves partially because my tripod is metal and iT got very cold lugging it around.<br />
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This a photo of Golden Gate Mountain which rises 1500 ft above the desert floor.<br />
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Gates Pass in the distance.<br />
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Tucson Mountain Park is loaded with hiking trails.<br />
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Tucson Mountains<br />
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Even though it was fairly cold the snow began to melt as soon as the sun was up and was almost totally gone by 11:00 A.M.<br />
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Fog shrouded the mountain as the sun began to melt the snow. it was quite beautiful but hard to capture.<br />
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-27948921026382944872014-11-16T11:29:00.000-08:002014-11-16T14:26:09.682-08:00Madera in the Morning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For the bird watchers out there this is an excellent time to head to Madera Canyon. There is strong stream flow and lots of fall colors as well lots of song birds flitting in the trees along the stream. We spotted a Painted Redstart, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Townsend's Warbler all at different locations along the stream. We came to walk and I in particular came to take some landscape photographs. Even though I wasn't expecting much for color I was pleasantly surprised. We stayed in the lower canyon during our visit hoping to get a look at a few deer or maybe Javelina which we have seen on many visits but it was not to be on this day. The weather however was perfect, the air was refreshing and we had arrived early enough that the canyon was not yet over crowded as it sometimes can get when it's this nice on a week-end day.<br />
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Read about the <b><i>Painted Redstart</i></b> here:<a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Painted_Redstart/id"> http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Painted_Redstart/id</a><br />
<b><i>Ruby-crowned Kinglet</i></b> here: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruby-crowned_kinglet/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ruby-crowned_kinglet/id</a><br />
<b><i>Townsend's Warbler </i></b>Here: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/townsends_warbler/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/townsends_warbler/id</a><br />
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I have always been fascinated by riparian areas and especially the magnificent trees that manage to grow to incredible size like the Arizona Sycamore. Madera Creek does not flow year round and is dependent on snow melt, monsoon and winter rains that all vary from year to year. We have visited when the creek bed was completely dry and when it was flowing quite strongly. Here is information put together by The Friends of Madera Canyon that you will find very helpful. <a href="http://www.friendsofmaderacanyon.org/sky_islands.html">http://www.friendsofmaderacanyon.org/sky_islands.html </a><br />
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<b><i>Madera Creek</i></b></div>
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<b><i> Sycamore Leaves</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmfXwWpISsHQblDkiudG6JgpxLzBHxKj-PsKta_39jHbWcJec21yagKtMfZ-iCmK6aDL9_ZiMIn8zYGmSCsrKhz1kiJV1WuF_486bKbN1R7ANe9dSf2wO3bbj5FCGGnS5iMkff38F2ww/s1600/IMG_0034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKmfXwWpISsHQblDkiudG6JgpxLzBHxKj-PsKta_39jHbWcJec21yagKtMfZ-iCmK6aDL9_ZiMIn8zYGmSCsrKhz1kiJV1WuF_486bKbN1R7ANe9dSf2wO3bbj5FCGGnS5iMkff38F2ww/s1600/IMG_0034.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Learn about bats and bat houses here: <a href="http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-involved/install-a-bat-house">http://www.batcon.org/resources/getting-involved/install-a-bat-house</a><br />
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<b><i>Bat Houses by Friends of Madera Canyon</i></b></div>
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I never tire of visiting Madera but I especially like to go very early in the morning because I only have to share it with one or two others and frankly I tend to see more wildlife. It's also very quiet at that time and while I have had some very interesting conversations with visitors over the years a little solitude once in a while is good for the spirit.<br />
Learn more about the Arizona Sycamore here: <a href="http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/2155/platanus-wrightii-arizona-sycamore/">http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/2155/platanus-wrightii-arizona-sycamore/</a><br />
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<b><i>View out towards Baboquivari and the Quinlan Mountains</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Elephant Rock</i></b></div>
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We saw a flock of a dozen Wild Turkey once on the way in and again on the way back out. Read about the Wild Turkey here: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wild_turkey/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wild_turkey/id</a></div>
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<b><i>Wild Turkey</i></b></div>
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-42098928333817912722014-11-03T09:09:00.002-08:002014-11-03T09:09:38.362-08:00Tucson Mountain Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Golden Gate Mountain</div>
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The other day I was returning from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum's Ironwood Gallery which is located within the confines of Tucson Mountain Park and I decided to stop along the way and take a few photos of the mountains. It was around 4:30 in the afternoon and the light had a nice golden color and was already fairly low in the sky producing some very nice long shadows. Golden Gate is in the Tucson Mountain Range and is part of the 20,000 acres that make up TMP which includes 62 miles of trails open to hikers, horseback riders and mountain bike riders. TMP is the largest natural resource area owned and managed by a local government in the United States.<br />
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I live just outside the park boundary and have a nice view of Golden Gate from the house and I often marvel at how different the mountain looks from my side. There is a trail that leads from my house through the saddle to Gates Pass that is a good hike with some pretty fantastic views back towards Tucson and once you get the Gates Pass you can see expansive views of TMP. Trail maps can be found on Kinney Road and at Gates Pass overlook. Great place to hike this time of year.<br />
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-41570999023241054112014-10-22T09:19:00.000-07:002014-10-22T09:31:12.083-07:00Along the Southern Border in ArizonaNan and I just returned from a trip down along the southern border with Mexico. Without a doubt there are some great places to go bird watching in the southern part of the state including the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area and Whitewater Draw Conservation Area both within a few hours of Tucson. San Pedro is just outside Sierra Vista and encompasses nearly 57,000 acres that stretch from the border to St. David Az. where the river meanders for nearly 40 miles. San Pedro is considered one of the most important riparian areas in the United States and is home to 100 species of mammals as well as 100 species of breeding birds. Even though our visit was brief we spotted this Western Screech Owl in an ancient Cottonwood.<br />
Learn about the Western Screech Owl at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Screech-Owl/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Screech-Owl/id</a><br />
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Western Screech Owl</div>
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After leaving San Pedro we headed to Bisbee, Arizona for lunch at the Copper Queen Hotel which was built between 1898 and 1902 by the Phelps Dodge Mining Company. Unfortunately the dining room was closed when we arrived but they did offer a complete menu in the Copper Queen Saloon. Nan and I both love spaghetti so it was an easy choice for us and I have to say it was delicious. Everyone we met at the Copper Queen was friendly and they had no problem with me taking a few photos while we waited for lunch to be ready.</div>
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The Copper Queen is like stepping back into history which is something I like to do from time to time and I have to admit that I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere in Bisbee which become a haven for artists and artisans over the years.</div>
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You can read more about the Copper Queen here: <a href="http://www.copperqueen.com/about-us.html">http://www.copperqueen.com/about-us.html</a></div>
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Parlor at the Copper Queen Hotel</div>
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After lunch we decided to head to Douglas via route 80 which takes you past the Copper Queen open pit mine which in it's day was considered the countries best producer of copper with smaller amounts of gold and silver as well. Sadly open pit mining is not kind to the earth as evidenced by the photo below. It should be abundantly clear to everyone by now that if we continue to allow the currant rate of population growth more and more destruction of the planet in search of resources will be a given.</div>
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Copper Queen Mine</div>
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The road to Douglas has some interesting geological formations along the way and as you approach the town you can see a large section of the border fence just to the south of route 80. I can't help but wonder about the disruption to wildlife that the fence causes and what the long term consequences might be. Not only does it isolate the people who lived here together for centuries from one another but it also prevents the natural passage of animals from one country to the other. It cuts off some animals from their water sources and I'm certain it has had a great unbalancing effect on nature all along it's massive length. </div>
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Tiffany Stained Glass Windows at the Gadsden</div>
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We stayed overnight at the Gadsden Hotel which opened a little over 100 years ago in 1907. I enjoyed photographing their magnificent lobby with it's Tiffany stained glass windows and huge stately columns. We were pretty tired when we arrived at the hotel so we decided to go to the store and get water for the trip to Whitewater Draw in the morning. We drove past the Port of Entry and could see how the fence had cut the town pretty much in half. It must be very strange to live for hundreds of years side by side an then all of the sudden have a fence take that away.<br />
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Sandhill Cranes Return to Whitewater</div>
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We headed to Whitewater Draw to hopefully photograph the Sandhills but the picture above is as close as we ever got to them because of huh water forcing them to land a great distance from our location. We did observe about 150 of the birds returning to roost while we were there. We will more than likely plan a trip to the conservation area late December when the water has receded some and the shear numbers of cranes will give us a chance to get much closer.</div>
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White faced Ibises</div>
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This flock of White Faced Ibises circled our location for quite a while trying to use a thermal to gain height before disappearing to where ever they where off to. We also watched a Belted Kingfisher feeding from an observation platform and a Western Grebe darting in and out of the marsh grasses, diving for food.</div>
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Learn about the Western Grebe at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Grebe/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Grebe/id</a></div>
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White-faced Ibis at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-faced_Ibis/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-faced_Ibis/id</a></div>
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Belted Kingfisher at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/belted_kingfisher/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/belted_kingfisher/id</a></div>
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This did not turn out to be the photo opportunity that I had hoped for because most of the birds kept their distance probably because they haven't gotten used to to birdwatchers invading their space yet. I suspect that later in the season they won't be so skittish as their numbers increase along with the number of people watching them does too. Nan was fortunate enough to see a pair of Red Tails latch onto each other and spiral downward toward the earth and releasing just before impact and soaring back into the sky.<br />
Read about Red-tailed Hawks at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id</a><br />
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Whitewater Draw</div>
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Sometimes it takes more than one trip to accomplish decent photos but Nan and I were both happy to be out in nature alone as there were no other people there during our visit. On our next visit I hope to see Sandhills in the thousands, flocks of Snow Geese and hundreds if not thousands of ducks.</div>
Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-15996383000914597382014-10-12T20:03:00.000-07:002014-10-12T20:03:46.357-07:00Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens for CanonIt's finally October and I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a rental lens before heading out to photograph birds and animals along the southern border with Mexico. I chose a Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 lens to try on my Canon 7D because I had heard good things about the lens and I don't have anything in my camera bag that comes even close to this focal length. <br />
Nan and I will be heading to Whitewater Draw Conservation Area which is east of Bisbee Arizona and is the wintering home for thousands of Sandhill Cranes. We're taking a big chance as the earliest we have seen Sandhills at Whitewater is October 8th but we will be arriving later in the week and hopefully there will be plenty of activity by then. Cochise County where Whitewater is located has had substantial rain this monsoon season which should make for some interesting birding even if the Sandhills have not arrived. I'll keep my fingers crossed.<br />
I have been away from wildlife photography for about a year now so I'm a little rusty but this actually adds to the excitement and Nan and I have made a few trips out to places like Madera Canyon, Sabino Canyon and the Santa Catalinas so I can practice. In my travels I was able to see and photograph a Starthroat Hummingbird as well a few more not so common hummers and although I saw quite a few deer I wasn't able to get any usable photos but it was nice to see a couple of Couse White-tailed bucks and later a doe and fawn.<br />
The lens has arrived and we headed over to Sweetwater Wetlands on Saturday and then I followed up with a visit to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum on Sunday so that I could get a feel for the lens and it's capabilities on the Canon 7D. My comments are only about how the lens performs on the APS-C sensor which has a 1.6x crop factor. The lens extended to 600mm on the 7D will be 973mm. Here are a couple examples of the results from Sweetwater.<br />
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Bull Frog an Invasive Species</div>
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Coopers Hawk<br />
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The lens is very heavy compared to what I'm used to but so far that is my one criticism. All these photos are hand held including the batch from the Desert Museum below.<br />
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Grey Fox</div>
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Barn Owl<br />
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I am impressed with the performance of the lens shooting handheld and I look forward to seeing the results on a tripod. I have photographed the Sandhill Cranes several times and I can't wait to do so again with this lens. Auto focus is very responsive which you can see if you look at an enlarged version of the barn owl's eye. I am also impressed with the price of the lens which can be bought for just over $1000.Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-68963715475916773452014-09-18T15:46:00.000-07:002014-09-18T17:12:57.616-07:00Mid September, The Return of Sonoran Connection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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ORB-WEAVER<br />
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Lately I been feeling a little like a spider waiting for a meal to come along. With the intense heat and high humidity of the Southern Arizona summer my outdoor activities have been somewhat curtailed. I'm a morning person. I like getting up at 4 A.M. but I've been waiting for temperatures to cool so I can get outside and once again spend more than an hour or two communing with nature in this very diverse part of the world.<br />
Now don't get me wrong I haven't been totally lazy this summer. I completed 500 hours of volunteer work at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum's Ironwood Gallery. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the gallery it's exhibits are geared toward educating the public about nature and it has had some first rate exhibits in the last year including the works of Sheridan Oman who was an accomplished animal artist from Tucson. We also had an exhibit by the Sonoran Desert Florilegium Program that I was not only able to work with the gallery on but was also able to work with the florilegium program on their online exhibit doing photography for both groups. We also had a terrific scratchboard exhibit by John Agnew who is recognized as one of the premiere scratchboard artist in the world. John traveled to many parts of the world to study and draw crocodiles and alligators. We also hosted "Art and the Animal" by the Society of Animal Artists and currently are showcasing "America's Parks of the Southwest"<br />
I have also been doing a project on the architecture around Tucson especially the University of Arizona which is basically me taking off early, early morning to photograph buildings. I actually started doing this for the exercise but surprisingly I really kind of enjoyed photographing interesting parts of the central city before sunrise when I have the place to myself except for some street folks and the exercise crowd<br />
Now that summer is on the wane I fully intend to take advantage of the good weather and get back to my roots which is as you know nature and landscape photography. As I have said before the best part of photography is the adventure of going new places, seeing and recording nature and spending time in the great outdoors. With that in mind I have some exciting projects in mind this fall and winter including an attempt to once again photograph the wonder of the Sandhill Cranes in the Sulphur Springs Valley which is located in Cochise County home of Tombstone, Arizona and Cochise's Stronghold. In early October Nan and I will make a trip to Douglas, Arizona to stay over night at the Gadsden Hotel where I will attempt to photograph the lobby which has a huge Tiffany stained glass window at the top of a grand staircase.<br />
I will also continue to write about the Yellowstone Buffalo and the horrendous treatment they receive at the hands of the State of Montana and the Federal Government and I will continue to advocate for wolves in general and Mexican Gray Wolves in particular. I will also do my best to share what I see so that we may all learn a thing or two about this rapidly changing world of nature.<br />
Talk to you again soon.<br />
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Regards<br />
Ray Goodwin<br />
<br />Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-66935165379089533222014-07-25T12:36:00.001-07:002014-12-09T06:56:37.154-08:00Climate Responsibility Four years ago BP spilled millions of barrels of poison into the Gulf of Mexico, the largest crude oil spill in history. The Colorado River no longer reaches the Gulf of California. In February millions of gallons of toxic coal ash were spilled into the Dan River in North Carolina. In July 2011 an Exxon pipeline spilled 63,000 barrels of crude fouling 70 miles of the Yellowstone River in Montana. 25 years after the Exxon Valdez spilled hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil into Prince William Sound fouling 1,300 miles of coastline and covering 11,000 square miles of ocean surface it's clear that even after the oil is completely gone (which it is not) the Sound will never fully recover. The nuclear disaster at Fukushima is still not under control and even if it was there is nothing to prevent another tsunami and a repeat of the disaster. The worlds bees and other pollinators are dying off due largely to the use of pesticides in agriculture and at home. The litany goes on and on and on. With a little research anyone could come up with a list of thousands of examples of human impact on the planet. And yet a majority of Americans are skeptical of, if not down right hostile to the idea that humans are the cause of climate change. All the examples that I have given have had devastating, long lasting impacts on the planet and nobody can claim that they were not caused by humans.<br />
So why in the world are so many refusing to connect the dots when it comes to climate change? Could it be that the problem is so large and unmanageable in the minds of many that it is easier to reject science altogether than to admit that humans are the cause of the changing weather around the world.<br />
Direct human intervention is the cause of almost all declines in animals, birds, fish, and plants. Loss of habitat, over grazing, cultivation, urbanization, deforestation, suburban sprawl, mining, war, over pumping of ground water, excessively high use of toxic chemicals, and yes fossil fuels all contribute to a rapidly declining planet earth as the climate reaches a tipping point.<br />
Perhaps the biggest unaddressed problem of all, the elephant in the room, is population and a world wide lack of recognition that we will never solve our problems as long as we base our economies on growth to keep up with a burgeoning population. Growth of the population will exacerbate the warming climate, sea level rise, food instability, refugee status, drought, floods, and a seemingly endless parade of bad outcomes. Growth demands more, more of everything and that means more pollutants in our atmosphere, more fossil fuel disasters, higher temperatures and more wars. On the flip side it also means less, less bees, less birds, less mammals, less clean air, less clean water, and less of chance of survival for future generations. That is unless we change our ways and move from a growth based world economy to one of sustainability.<br />
Take a step back and consider weather we need fewer wetlands, fewer forests, fewer mountain tops, less clean air, less clean water, fewer bees, fewer birds, fewer mammals, and more chemicals in the environment........ and more and more people using an ever increasing amount of the earths decreasing natural resources.<br />
Along with the rapidly expanding population we must also combat apathy and the outright hostility to the idea that humans are responsible for what's happening to the earth. Here in Arizona the population growth between 2000 and 2010 was 24.6% while in the rest of the country the number of people using resources grew by 9.7% (national average). There are powerful forces in this country who care little for the environment. They spread lies about the role humans play in climate change and try to blame natural events or even God. Meanwhile the sea is rising and fresh water is being used at alarming rates. Severe droughts and forest fires are more devastating than ever and the earth is careening towards certain disaster.<br />
My fervent hope is that we are better than this and can rise to the occasion and solve these problems before it's too late.Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-54383577469162553512014-03-24T11:49:00.000-07:002014-03-24T14:52:02.623-07:00Next Generation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hummingbirds are one of my favorite birds to watch and this has been a banner year so far. I stepped outside my front door and was able to get this picture because the mother bird is used to having me around and doesn't seem to mind my presence. I will watch these (two, one not visible) over the next couple of weeks to see how they are doing. </div>
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<br />Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-20250087447549663012014-03-24T10:58:00.000-07:002014-03-24T11:55:07.562-07:00Fledged Today<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As I suspected the nestlings in the Palo Verde in the front of the house have begun to abandon the nest that has been their home for the last few weeks. The mother has really done an excellent job caring for her two offspring with a well built and well placed nest that has held together through a couple of very windy days, one accompanied by rain. The main solidifying ingredient in a hummingbirds nest is the spider webs that hold the nest together and also attach it to the tree or shrub where it is located.</div>
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This is the first fledgling to actually leave this nest. The other one is still in the nest but is displaying signs of being ready to vacate very soon. It's was on 3/10/14 that I spotted the first beak sticking up out of this nest, so just a little over two weeks for this remarkable transition.<br />
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After leaving the nest the fledgling has taken up residence in a nearby Texas Ranger where the mother continues to feed it for as many as a few days before it must make it's way in the world on it's own. I expect that the other one will find it's way to the same location very soon, perhaps some time today.<br />
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Not quite ready to make the leap this one is sitting on the side of the nest and exercising it's wings and waiting to be fed. Once it leaves the nest none of the family will return to the nest. As a side note the male does not participate in the building of the nest or the raising of the chicks or any of the care or training. All the work is left to the female who drives all other hummingbirds away if they approach anywhere near the nest.</div>
Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-15450380502077059472014-03-01T09:42:00.001-08:002014-03-23T13:36:46.406-07:00Museums, Hummingbirds, and Photography<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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ART AND THE ANIMAL EXHIBIT<br />
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It's been quite some time since I last sat down at the computer to write about life here in the Sonoran Desert. There's not really a good reason for my absence other than to say I felt like I needed a break from the blog and I wanted to get involved in something new. Knowing that at some point I would return to the pages of Sonoran Connection I have concentrated on improving my photography, volunteering, and just plain enjoying life here in the desert.<br />
In August 2013 I began volunteering at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum Art Institute in the Ironwood Gallery. I chose the gallery because it would afford me the opportunity to meet and work with people involved in educating others about the Sonoran Desert. I am filling a number of roles as a volunteer including assisting with the set up of new exhibits which I enjoy immensely, working the Sunday morning shift as a gallery attendant and as luck would have I have been tapped to photograph the galleries exhibits and museum events. The current exhibit is "Art and the Animal" which is a traveling around the country from Vermont to Georgia. Art and the Animal is a project of the Society of Animal Artists and you can read more about them here: <a href="http://www.societyofanimalartists.com/info.html">http://www.societyofanimalartists.com/info.html </a>Also as part of my work with the gallery I have been involved with a project of "The Sonoran Desert Florilegium Program" whose mission is to promote and preserve botanical illustrations of the Sonoran Desert region. You can find the project at <a href="http://www.sonorandesertflorilegium.org/">www.sonorandesertflorilegium.org</a> .<br />
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One of the benefits of volunteering at the Desert Museum is that every Sunday before my gallery shift I get to walk the grounds with my camera. For those of you unfamiliar with the museum it is a world class facility that includes a zoo, botanical gardens, art gallery, educational facilities, an aquarium, as well as aviaries and research projects. Currently I am working on a portfolio of photo's exclusively from the museum including animals, birds, and plants.<br />
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HUMMINGBIRDS<br />
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Not quite fledged from the first nest of the season<br />
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Another project that I enjoy takes place right here at the house. It is my hummingbird feeding stations that I keep on both sides of the house. In early January I spotted my first nest in the oleander near the carport. The nest could be easily observed from inside the house so I was able to watch as the Black-chinned female fussed over the construction, laid her two eggs, fed and raised them and finally as they fledged. The two little ones hung around for a while before moving on to their new unknown territories.<br />
At the present time I have two more active nests close to the house. One is located in an oleander on the opposite side of the house near the front door and the other is located in a Palo Verde tree on the west side of the house. Right now I feel bad for the two Mom's who are sitting on their nests riding out a rain and wind storm that just blew in. We are going to have rain on and off for the next 24 hours so I'm hoping that the day is not to hard on them. Sometimes nature is very difficult to watch but my guess is they will be alright.<br />
I wanted to mention that if you are planning to provide feeders for the hummingbirds please don't use the commercial red food dyed mixes you see everywhere. They are not healthy for the hummers who should be fed a clear 4 parts water 1 part sugar mix that is changed out every two or three days. I boil my mixture for a couple of minutes and let it cool to room temperature before bringing in the feeders and cleaning them with Dawn and hot water.<br />
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Fledged<br />
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It's important to note that the weather here has been for the most part very warm and everything seems to be early including nesting activities. I'm not actually sure just how many hummers there are here in the yard as it varies from a few to as many as 8 or 9 at a time. The most likely visitors are Anna's, Costa's Black-chinned, as well as an occasional Magnificent and Rufous. Some stay for extended periods and some are migrants. All in all it's quite active and extremely entertaining.<br />
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UPDATE 3/10/14<br />
It's been a seemingly endless wait but just now I spotted the mother feeding at least one newborn chick in the nest located in the Palo Verde tree out front. Yesterday was an unusually windy day and I worried that the nests could be disrupted at a critical time but I see no evidence that this was the case. Hummingbird nests are fortified with spider webs which is one of the reasons our yard is so popular We do not use pesticides so there is lots of this critical building material readily available.<br />
I also witnessed the other mom defending her nest from a sparrow that landed too close. She confronted the sparrow repeatedly darting in and making contact with her beak and at one point she knocked the sparrow to the ground. That would be like a person confronting a bear and winning.<br />
I'll post a picture as soon as I feel comfortable getting close enough to the nest. The females are used to my presence in and around their territories but I try not to intrude too often.<br />
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UPDATE 3/14/14<br />
I spotted for the first time today a second little black bill sticking up out of the nest in the Palo Verde. This makes 4 chicks so far this season. The nest in the oleander is still active but no sign of hatchlings.<br />
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UPDATE 3/22/14<br />
We now have at least one nestling in the nest in the oleander as I saw the mother feeding a youngster. Sometimes the eggs hatch several days apart so as soon as I know for sure that there are two in the nest I will report that here. The two in the Palo Verde are approaching fledgeling stage and I expect that it won't be too long before they leave the nest. There is nothing more satisfying than having a hummingbird land on a feeder while it's still in your hand which happens a lot to me as I change the liquid every 2 or 3 days.<br />
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UPDATE 3/23/14 Definitely two in the nest in the oleander out front.Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-81858831564169929422013-07-29T15:14:00.001-07:002013-07-30T06:42:38.295-07:00Broad-tailed Hummingbird<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9tcgMywki957R0bQMBy-JDThcsBIxlGuU7DhTqhimIJDHUoojt5bBRSJ9LmLKIK3x7_pXPIh4ONjWKWcoGDiNOOJqBaCYmV8ia5q5fjz7-N2Ur31b1JUHCnIKXlh3GFmaodZjeejztE/s1600/_MG_0002+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9tcgMywki957R0bQMBy-JDThcsBIxlGuU7DhTqhimIJDHUoojt5bBRSJ9LmLKIK3x7_pXPIh4ONjWKWcoGDiNOOJqBaCYmV8ia5q5fjz7-N2Ur31b1JUHCnIKXlh3GFmaodZjeejztE/s640/_MG_0002+-+Version+2.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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I went to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum this morning to look into doing some volunteer work and while I was there I spent half an hour in the hummingbird aviary. It happened to be pretty quiet at the time which is when it's the most enjoyable for me and the birds I'm sure. This Broad-tailed Hummingbird was pretty active allowing me to get fairly close but chasing away the Costa's when ever they ventured too close.<br />
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This photograph does really good job of showing all the identifying characteristics. As you can see this little guy has been banded on his left leg. For this species more than 2/3rd's of Arizona is in it's summer or breeding range. More information on the Broad-tailed Hummingbird can be found at: <a href="http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/221/overview/Broad-tailed_Hummingbird.aspx">http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/221/overview/Broad-tailed_Hummingbird.aspx</a></div>
Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-44531529257115813812013-07-29T08:09:00.000-07:002013-07-29T08:18:13.030-07:00Wilson's Phalaropes and Rufous Hummingbird<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had to deliver an order of Nancy's handmade soaps to Apple Annie's Country Store in Willcox Az. which is about 100 mile drive one way so when we go I make sure to get a piece of apple pie and make a stop at Twin Lakes to check out the wading birds before heading home. I did a little exploring while at Twin Lakes which is more like a couple of ponds (one fairly large and one not so big) and checked out the two blinds on the large pond and an overlook that looks fairly new on the smaller pond. Clearly this place is set up to encourage birding and I always see plenty of wader's like Stilt's and Avocet's. On this trip however the big lake was loaded with Wilson's Phalaropes, perhaps a hundred or more. Because there is absolutely no cover around the big pond it was hard to get any decent pictures except for landscapes. As you can see it was a beautiful morning and I wish I could have spent more time there. You can find more information on Wilson's Phalarope at: <a href="http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/520/overview/Wilsons_Phalarope.aspx">http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/520/overview/Wilsons_Phalarope.aspx</a><br />
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Also this week I had my first visit of the season from a Rufous Hummingbird at my feeder in Tucson. I see Rufous several times each migration and have had them stay in the yard for weeks on occasion but this was just a couple of days and I haven't seen her for a couple of days now. Rufous migrate from as far away as Alaska and generally from the northwestern US. Read more about Rufous Hummingbirds at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rufous_hummingbird/lifehistory">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rufous_hummingbird/lifehistory</a>Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-34757588232473075082013-07-22T11:45:00.002-07:002013-08-08T14:28:57.375-07:00In The Presence of Buffalo by Dan Brister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Working To Stop The Yellowstone Slaughter</span></i></b></div>
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I just completed reading Dan Brister's new book and I have to say in all my sixty-four years I have never read a more moving and educational offering on the treatment of the Yellowstone buffalo. Dan takes you through the brutal history of the cattle industry in Montana and his own 15 year journey dedicated to stopping the slaughter of buffalo that wander to their ancestral lands across the border into Montana from Yellowstone National Park. His commitment to the buffalo and the commitment of many others who volunteer at The Buffalo Field Campaign shines a light on the abhorrent treatment endured by the buffalo at the hands of the Montana Department of Livestock, National Park Service and the State of Montana.<br />
I have followed this tragedy since the late nineties when the Interagency Bison Management Plan was still in the talking stages and was one of the original commenter's siding with the buffalo who under the plan finalized in 2000 had no good options for the buffalo. Dan's and the Buffalo Field Campaign's story is an inspiration to all of us who cherish wild creatures and shows that we can stand up against those who would destroy them. If this book doesn't move you to take action, nothing will. Perhaps the truth will set the Yellowstone buffalo free.<br />
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In The Presence Of Buffalo by Dan Brister can be purchased at<br />
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<a href="http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/update1213/070513.html">http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/media/update1213/070513.html</a><br />
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Proceeds go directly to The Buffalo Field Campaign<br />
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Note: I sent a copy of Dan's book to the Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell with the follwing letter attached.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Secretary of the Interior Jewell 8/2/2013</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Department of the Interior</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1849 C Street N.W.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Washington D.C. 20240</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Dear Secretary Jewell,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am writing to today both to congratulate you on becoming Secretary of the Interior and to make you aware of the mistreatment of the Yellowstone buffalo at the hands of the Montana Department of Livestock, the State of Montana, and the National Park Service.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The mistreatment of the only remaining wild bison herd in the United States under the terms of the Interagency Bison Management Plan is nothing short of a stain on the good name of the National Park Service which is tasked by the American people to protect all park resources including the buffalo of Yellowstone. Under the IBMP the buffalo are hazed and run for miles, shot, trapped and slaughtered to keep them from their ancestral grounds in Montana because of a non-existent threat of disease. While the enemies of the buffalo will tell you that it’s because of brucellosis their real motivation is grazing rights and to illustrate this point elk contaminated with brucellosis are allowed to freely move back and forth into Montana.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have enclosed a copy of Dan Brister’s book <b><i>In The Presence of Buffalo, </i></b><i>Working to Stop the Yellowstone Slaughter which I sincerely hope you will read as it lays out the misery that the buffalo of Yellowstone National Park have endured for more than fifteen years.</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Regards</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Ray Goodwin</i></span></div>
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<i style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Tucson Arizona </i></div>
Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-46929337590827566402013-06-24T08:58:00.000-07:002013-06-24T14:00:03.309-07:00Super Moon Over Kitt Peak National Observatory<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38QqrXYapAS0PL90shpS2GM1E15RzBf52DW4MllTHguSOuNkDEcb2o9obWQaQP7n2iXpob80jNgn-jpXk8kWh-ftDtj2W38HWKA7OtE4UYttjOffFJN6_E_WlMf0uEL6Py72krPDlphA/s1600/IMG_0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38QqrXYapAS0PL90shpS2GM1E15RzBf52DW4MllTHguSOuNkDEcb2o9obWQaQP7n2iXpob80jNgn-jpXk8kWh-ftDtj2W38HWKA7OtE4UYttjOffFJN6_E_WlMf0uEL6Py72krPDlphA/s640/IMG_0035.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kitt Peak National Observatory is located 56 miles southwest of Tucson Arizona in the Quinlan Mountains. I live more than 50 miles away from the observatory but I can see it from where I live. Kitt Peak is home to the worlds largest collection of telescopes including the Mayall 4 meter telescope and the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNXCTe0ViuGM3V5UuKVnIkqmTIHnQhQnCHLS1PjUOf46tJnX9SIPVUSEUFxlpRQRETeicVrXeA7CnT7wtro-uuuy1rEnlTe8EDM02JRmNE1dfqmYCPXGvI76Il-f7pq_TOHLxyhXPJQM/s1600/_MG_0154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNXCTe0ViuGM3V5UuKVnIkqmTIHnQhQnCHLS1PjUOf46tJnX9SIPVUSEUFxlpRQRETeicVrXeA7CnT7wtro-uuuy1rEnlTe8EDM02JRmNE1dfqmYCPXGvI76Il-f7pq_TOHLxyhXPJQM/s640/_MG_0154.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope</div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I have made several trips to Kitt Peak for the amazing views and to be able to check out the telescopes and one of my favorite things to do while I am there is visit the observation deck of the Mayall telescope which is open to the public and affords a 360 degree views of the surrounding Sonoran Desert.</span></div>
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I highly recommend that if you are in the area you take a trip to the observatory. You can access a virtual tour of Kitt Peak National Observatory at: <a href="http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kptour/">http://www.noao.edu/outreach/kptour/</a>. The entire trip from Tucson can be done in 5 or 6 hours and I recommend you take a picnic lunch and be prepared to see some spectacular scenery as well some very fascinating science.</div>
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Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-38233916335556148812013-06-23T19:52:00.000-07:002013-07-29T18:23:17.694-07:00Arizona- Sonora Desert Museums Newest Resident<br />
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Presently 6 1/2 months old this male was rescued in San Jose, California weighing only 15 pounds. The Desert Museum has provided the following information on it's new resident: <a href="http://www.desertmuseum.org/ml/background.php">http://www.desertmuseum.org/ml/background.php</a></div>
Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-89636271644989714462013-06-22T19:00:00.000-07:002013-06-24T09:05:10.500-07:00Bird Watching at Cochise Lakes Willcox Arizona<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We took a ride out to Willcox Arizona on business and to get a piece of apple pie alamode at Apple Annie's new country store and decided to make a quick stop at Twin Lakes to check out the birds. I've only been here a couple of times but each time there were plenty of birds to see. Black-necked Stilts were in abundance, perhaps 30 or 40 in all. According to the maps in Sibley stilts summer in a small area of south eastern Arizona and migrate throughout the state. I have seen many here in Tucson at Sweetwater Wetlands. Check out Black-necked Stilts at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-necked_Stilt/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-necked_Stilt/id</a><br />
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There were Kildeers and what looked like plovers but the lighting was very difficult so I can't be sure of an I.D. Also spotted a single White-faced Ibis feeding along the sand bar which can be seen in the photo below. Information on Kildeers: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/killdeer/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/killdeer/id</a><br />
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The following is a description of the area by the Southern Arizona Birding Organization.<br />
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"At the northern end of the valley, on the east side of the city of Willcox, is Cochise Lakes (a.k.a. Twin Lakes) a pair of effluent ponds adjacent to the municipal golf course on the east side of the city of Willcox. These ponds, ranging from shallow and ephemeral to deep enough for grebes and diving ducks, provide habitat for a variety of migrant and wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. The ponds are deep enough to support diving species such as Canvasback, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Common Merganser, and Western and Clark's Grebe. In winter, Sandhill Cranes can sometimes be seen loafing in the grasslands nearby in the afternoons. This is a very popular birding stop from August through May, but be aware that the route around the lakes is not paved and is treacherous when wet. The city of Willcox has recently begun to develop visitor access to this site; please sign in at the visitor register at the entrance.<br />
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As you can see the town has provided blinds for close up watching. The birds on the island are mostly American Avocets which also summer in a small area of southeastern Arizona. Read about American Avocets at: <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Avocet/id">http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Avocet/id</a>Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-82690659200333389922013-06-06T10:06:00.000-07:002013-06-22T19:41:55.196-07:00Female Costa's Hummingbird Building NestIt's been a busy week here in my Sonoran Desert yard. Some of you may already know that I live on the border of Tucson Mountain Park in Tucson Az. not far from Saguaro National Park West. It's been above 100 degrees here all week so I get outside around 6 A.M. to do my yard work and make sure that water is available for all my daily visitors. First I make sure that the bird bath which is placed on the ground is clean and filled. If it's starting to grow things I use bleach and a tooth brush to scrub it and then I rinse it exceptionally well before filling. Because we get so little rain this time of year I have a varied and a sometimes unusual parade of visitors hoping for a drink. As you can clearly see I live in a residential area that was carved out of the desert many years before I arrived here in Tucson. Nearness to the park puts us in a locale that has close proximity to wildlife so visitors like these Mule Deer while not the norm pay us an occasional visit. Today promises to be 106 degrees maybe more so it will be important to keep the water filled. I usually change it 3 or 4 times a day as needed.<br />
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<span id="goog_2122516038"></span><span id="goog_2122516039"></span>It has been an unusual season for Diamondback Rattlesnakes having encountered two here in the yard and one at the Desert Museum. The two in the yard were very young perhaps from the same hatch so I suspect that their might be a den somewhere nearby. Young rattlesnakes can travel up to a mile from their den and adults up to three miles in search of food.<br />
Gambel Quails have been visiting the watering hole for a couple of months in pairs and family groups and only rarely solitary individuals. This week they have started showing up with the tiniest of chicks in tow. I have seen 2, 3 and 7 chicks in different family coveys.<br />
We have the usual assortment of Mourning and White Winged Doves, House Finches, English Sparrows, Lesser Goldfinches, Goldfinches, Verdins, Northern Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Gila Woodpeckers with occasional visits from Phyrraloxia, Phainopepla, Hooded Oriole, Bullocks Orioles, Cottontail Rabbits, assorted Lizards and a very disruptive Coopers Hawk. My favorite visitors are however the hummingbirds.<br />
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At this very moment a female Costa's is building a nest outside my workroom window. Females are really hard to identify and I have spent the last couple of days trying to decide if she was a Costa's or a Black-chinned. I finally concluded she was a Costa's for two reasons. She has faint spotting on her breast and there is a male Costa's hanging around who is not being aggressive towards her. Males are very aggressive toward any other hummingbird that is in their territory. There is a daily battle raging as other hummers try to get a drink at the feeders.<br />
Here in Arizona there are 17 different hummingbirds. Some are rare and localized and some are common depending on the time of year. So far I have managed to see 8 different varieties including a Blue-throated Hummingbird in Patagonia. There are at least five different hummers who frequent my three feeders here at the house and I have seen two other attempts to nest in the yard but both were unsuccessful due to high winds. Hopefully this time i will get to watch the entire process from nest building to egg laying and hatching and finally fledging. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.<br />
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Note: Sadly the hummingbird nest was abandoned with two tiny eggs after several days of temps above 105 degrees. Mama spent all day each day sitting in the sun keeping the eggs shaded but I suspect that it was too much for her as she just disappeared. It's possible that some other harm befell her but I will never really know for sure. Of the three attempts that I have witnessed of hummers nesting in the Oleanders all three have failed. I am beginning to wonder if Oleanders are unsuitable nesting sites perhaps because as they bloom they sag under the weight of the blossoms exposing the the nests to the elements.Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-13934380498230355502013-03-29T11:24:00.000-07:002013-06-24T15:11:52.360-07:00Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery 15 Years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Each and everyday my inbox is filled with both good news and bad news from environmental organizations. More often than not though when it comes to wolves the news is bad. Genetics, poaching, and outright hostility by some segments of the cattle industry and their supporter's still plague wolf populations around the country. Recently wolves in some states have been subjected to hunting once again after being de-listed by the Interior Department resulting in the slaughter of over 1100 wolves. An effort is underway by those who care little about the improvements that wolves bring to the ecology to undo all the efforts made to return a healthy wolf population to the lower 48. It still breaks my heart to think about the destruction of Yellowstone's Cottonwood Pack on a mid October morning in 2009 just outside Yellowstone National Park where thousands of people visit each year to see these magnificent animals roaming free and where the environment is recovering thanks to their presence.<br />
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Today is the 15th anniversary of the effort to reintroduce the Mexican Gray Wolf, a subspecies of the Gray Wolf, to Arizona and New Mexico. Unfortunately there is still much to be done if we are to save this "most endangered" wolf from extinction. As a supporter of wolf reintroduction the news that there are now 75 Gray Wolves in the wild on the surface is good news but underlying that fact is that all 75 animals are descended from just seven animals. With a genetic pool this shallow the Mexican Gray Wolf is as endangered today as it was when the program started 15 years ago. With only three breeding pairs in the wild much more needs to be done to ensure the survival of the species. Along with genetics, poaching also continues to be a major problem for the program in-spite of huge rewards offered for the capture of those responsible for the deaths of protected Mexican Grays. I was unable to embed video that I took at the Desert Museum of one of the female Mexican Gray Wolves housed there but have added a link to Howling For Justice that has some excellent information on these animals as well as some stunning video that everyone interested in wolves should see.<br />
<a href="http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/category/mexican-gray-wolf/">http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/category/mexican-gray-wolf/</a><br />
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Also in my inbox this morning was this plan from Defenders of Wildlife that prods the US Fish and Wildlife Service to release more wolves to address the genetic instability among the Mexican Grays and to improve their overall chance for survival. It sounds like a very good start.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>In order to move Mexican gray wolves back from the edge of extinction, Defenders has created a three-point emergency rescue plan:</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>1 Release more captive wolves into the wild in order to address the genetic problem. The wolves to be released must be the right wolves genetically, and the releases need to be the first step in a more rigorous genetic improvement plan.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>2 Complete a scientifically sound recovery plan. USFWS must complete this essential road map to recovery, and then implement it.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>3 Establish at least two additional core wolf populations — and do so right away. Additional core populations of Mexican gray wolves will allow them to expand and give them a better chance for long-term survival.</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">On a further note from Defenders the message is clear.</span></div>
Time is not on the Mexican Gray Wolf's side, but there is still hope if we act today. Wildlife lovers like you have helped bring back the peregrine falcon, the grizzly bear and a host of other endangered wildlife back from the brink. With the right energy and focus, Mexican gray wolves can join the list of species that have become conservation success stories.<br />
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I also received an e-mail from the Arizona Fish and Game Department today about the effort to have Mexican Gray Wolves de-listed ostensibly so that the state can take over the reintroduction effort. I strongly object to any de-listing effort as the State of Arizona Conservation Commission is controlled by hunting interests including a member with ties to Safari International. While the people of Arizona usually speak loudly and clearly for protecting the natural heritage of the state, elected officials record on the other hand has not always in the best interests of conservation.<br />
Wolves Belong here in Arizona and deserve the protection afforded them by the Endangered Species Act.<br />
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For the wolves,<br />
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Ray<br />
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<br />Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9050411146479925188.post-17562244327262586742013-03-11T07:25:00.000-07:002013-03-11T07:36:35.363-07:00Predators Balance Nature<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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MOUNTAIN LION </div>
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<a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-lion/">http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-lion/</a></div>
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When large predators are removed from the environment negative consequences follow such as deer and elk populations exploding. This is then followed by over browsing of plants, which can cause streams to erode and populations of plants, birds, animals, fish, insects, and amphibians to dwindle with some vanishing forever. Take wolves from the environment and coyotes proliferate reducing populations of rabbits and hares. At the same time deer and elk herds grow beyond the ability of the forest to sustain them. Trees and shrubs are unable to reproduce adequately due to over browsing and some vanish from the landscape. Habitat that supports birds and insects is lost and their numbers plummet. By removing wolves from the environment a chain reaction is put into play that is the beginning of a major ecological degradation.<br />
Here in the west wolves, mountain lions, bears and eagles were hunted almost to extinction to make room for domestic cattle and sheep. Unable to comprehend the contribution of large predators to the ecology bounties placed on predators almost completely removed wolves from the lower 48 including our public lands. Today wolf reintroduction programs are seriously impacted by those who misunderstand the role that these predators play in the health of the environment.<br />
Recently protections for wolves have been removed by the Interior Department allowing them to be slaughtered by the hundreds in the Northern Rockies and I believe they will try to remove protections from almost all wolves across the country before Secretary Salazar leaves the agency once again leaving wolves to be leg trapped and shot back to the brink of extinction.<br />
Mountain Lions are being killed in South Dakota, Wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota are being killed at an alarming rate (0ver 1000) since August 2012. Threats to these animals include hunting, habitat loss and poaching.<br />
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MEXICAN GRAY WOLF<br />
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Even though the Mexican Gray Wolf has been protected by the Endangered Species Act since 1976 twenty of the animals released along the Arizona/New Mexico Border have been killed. Currently there are only 58 Mexican Grays in the wild making them the most endangered mammal in the country.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;"> Around the world thousands of species are either extinct or endangered due almost exclusively to the activities of humans. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was approved by Congress with the force of law aimed at protecting plants and animals that are in danger of extinction. Today we still have great challenges including legislators on the right that try to weaken and even end protections for our most vulnerable species based on politics with little or no regard for science. Clearly this assault from politicians is driven by campaign cash and unfortunately ignorance. Senator Orrin Hatch has introduced a bill that would remove protections from all wolves allowing them to be slaughtered throughout the entire country including in Arizona/New Mexico where reintroduction efforts would be devastated and the Mexican Gray Wolf would disappear from the landscape forever.</span></div>
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Wolves and Mountain Lions provide a natural and necessary function in nature. We made the mistake of removing them in the past and our ecology suffered enormously. Now with the science clearly showing how these animals help an ailing landscape forces are poised to repeat the tragic mistakes of the past. If this battle is lost then hundreds if not thousands of other efforts will fail along with it. We must prevail in our efforts to save these remarkable animals or suffer grave consequences.Ray Goodwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16295272900050425502noreply@blogger.com1