Fantastic Journey Photography

This photo will be the front page of my new website which will showcase my photography and serve as a means to sell my images directly to the public. Fantastic Journey Photography will officially open for business in April and will feature landscape, nature, portrait, fashion, and commercial projects. I can be contacted at rpg@thefantasticjourney.com.

It's a Super Moon

                This picture was taken on March 18th in Tucson Mountain Park in Tucson Arizona.

Wa:k Pow Wow-Tucson Arizona

We headed out to the Wa;k Pow Wow at the San Xavier Mission hosted by the Tohono O'odham Nation. We came early as we had never been to a Pow Wow and really didn't know what to expect.

The Wa:k Pow Wow is an intertribal dance contest that is put on annually to raise funds for the San Xavier community.

We were only able to stay through the opening ceremonies because by then we had all the sun that we could stand. We will know enough next year to go later in the day so that we can see the dance contest.

I hope you enjoy the photos and find the native dress as beautiful and amazingly ornate as I did.

Tucson Supports Wisconsin Workers

I decided to skip my usual Saturday nature walk and head over to the rally in support of the workers in Wisconsin and across the country. It's sad but not surprising that republicans who ran on an agenda promising smaller government and jobs instead have decided to use government to strip the people of their rights and to pursue a social agenda that can best be described as repressive to the extreme.

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On short notice a crowd of more than 1,500 people showed up to voice there support for Wisconsin workers rights and to express outrage toward the union busting agenda that is targeting teachers, nurses, firefighters, police, women and ultimately all middle class workers.

The signs speak for themselves! The people will be heard.



I was surprised by the age of the crowd and the constant honking of horns in support of the protesters at this busy intersection.
I'm glad I went and was a part of this because I believe that this is the beginning of the rise of the middle class not the end of the American dream. I firmly believe that it's time for the upper class to pay their fair share and that corporations need to ante up and stop free loading on the backs of our middle class workers.

As a side note I fail to see how putting more people out of work is going to solve the financial problems in this country. People need to work in order to by the goods and services that will return our economy to health.
Failing to collect taxes from the wealthy and corporations and then stripping the middle class of their future is immoral. It's un-American and it's not good for the country.

The current agenda is designed to enslave women, children, the elderly and all workers by making sure that they have no right to health care, no right to collective bargaining, no right to retire at a reasonable age and with a reasonable pension, and no social safety net what so ever.

It's good to see folks, ordinary folks speak out for their rights.

Whitewater Draw-Morning with the Sandhill Cranes

It might seem unusual for this post to start off with a picture of a large flock of Snow Geese but as we arrived in the parking lot these graceful flyers were in the air and in a very short time would be mingled with the in-coming Sandhills as they returned from feeding in the grain fields. With so many birds in the air at one time you would think that they would be colliding all over the place. It just doesn't happen and they manage to sweep and turn in unison or completely randomly without running into each other.

Once again our visit was timed perfectly and we arrived just at the beginning of the Sandhill Cranes returning to roost for the afternoon. They came sometimes by the hundreds and sometimes by the thousands and occasionally a few at a time. Their numbers were impressive but I did not try to count this trip as I just wanted to enjoy what is perhaps my last visit with the cranes this season. By the end of March they will have left for their summer breeding grounds and other important birds will take their place either to spend the summer or just passing through.

There were more visitors than we had encountered in our many visits to Whitewater this year but the cranes seemed oblivious to our presence. The way that the preserve is set up keeps most people on raised paths away from the birds. It is an arrangement that seems to work pretty well for both the birds and the watchers.

This trip had one major surprise in that the returning birds landed mostly in the first pool which put them in closer proximity to the people than you usually see at Whitewater. It was by all accounts a spectacular display and all of the people that I talked to were new to Sandhill watching and quizzed me once they realized that I knew a little about the birds behavior.

It has been a privilege for me to be able to observe the cranes on so many occasions this season and as a novice myself I did manage to learn a few things about their behavior.



The Snow Geese and the Sandhill Cranes seem very compatible even in flight and I frequently observed them together overhead twisting and turning before settling down to earth.

Snow Geese and a few Sandhills.
Sandhills.

I hope that all of you have enjoyed the Sandhill series as much as I have enjoyed doing it. It's time for me to choose a new project to share here at Sonoran Connection and I hope that you will come back from time to time and see what adventures lie ahead.
This lone Sandhill Crane challenged all that I know about their social behavior. It landed in a pool separated from all the other cranes. For the most part cranes stay together for their protection from predators and this is the one time all season that I saw one on the ground by itself. On occasion I have seen single birds in the air but never until now on the ground.

Listen to the calling of the Sandhill Cranes below.

Birds, Birds, Birds Tucson Arizona

Today was a day to walk and enjoy the weather and practice my photography skills on the sometimes elusive and always challenging birds of Sweetwater. It's as if Sweetwater was designed for practicing both your photography and your birding skills. There's always plenty to see including an occasional rare visitor or two. There are several observation platforms that hug the waters edge throughout the wildlife viewing area similar to the one pictured above.
Sweetwater is an urban wildlife area, a water treatment plant and an outdoor classroom in the middle of Tucson Arizona. cms3.tucsonaz.gov/water/sweetwater

There are many retention ponds which always have a variety of ducks with the most prevalent being the Northern Shoveler this time of year.


There always seem to be quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers present near the bridge. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/yellow-rumped_warbler/id
Black Phoebes are common here. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black_phoebe/id
Verdins are always fun to photograph as they never sit still for more than a couple of seconds at a time. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Verdin/id
I have seen the Orange Crowned Warbler on my last few visits. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/orange-crowned_warbler/id
As I said there are rare visitors on occasion and we were treated to this Female Black and White Warbler that was in the company of a Black-throated Gray Warbler. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-and-white_Warbler/lifehistory

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-throated_gray_warbler/id
This is one of the resident Harris's Hawks that made several rounds while we were there.

www.peregrinefund.org/explore_raptors/hawks/harrishk.html
Juvenile Northern Shoveler.
Adult male Northern Shoveler. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Shoveler/id
Mallard. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/mallard/id
Just being cute I guess!
American Widgeons are numerous here also. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Wigeon