Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

We have had a couple of new birds in the yard lately including a pair of Yellow-rumped Warblers who have been regular visitors for a couple of weeks and today this Dark-eyed Junco Oregon variety showed up and spent most of the day feeding in the front yard.

Dark-eyed Junco's were considered four separate species but have since been recognized as one highly complex species. You can learn more about Dark-eyed Junco's here at: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco/id
                               

This is the first junco that I have seen here at the house which is not at all near any forest. I have seen many of these in Madera Canyon and onMt. Lemmon but never here in the valley.

Cooper's Hawk

This morning I decided to take my camera with me on my daily walk through Tucson Estates. Some mornings I take it and see very little worth photographing. On other days I leave it home and see quite a few things that I would like a picture of. Yesterday was a good example of this phenomenon. No camera and an Anna's Hummingbird landed in a mesquite not more than five feet away and proudly proclaimed it's presence.
This accipiter is a regular who likes to chase doves throughout the complex so I see him quite often, usually as doves scatter to the wind as he approaches.
Today while chasing off a few doves he landed in a tree just as I was walking by. I thought for sure that my presence would spook him and I would not get an opportunity to photograph him as has happened so many times before. Today however he was not at all concerned by me and even with a 28-135 mm lens I was able to get this picture. It wasn't until he spotted another batch of doves that he flew off to scatter them once again. You can find detailed information on the range and habits of the Cooper's Hawk here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id

Abert's Squirrel

We spotted this Abert's Squirrel feeding in a Ponderosa Pine on a hill overlooking Summerhaven Arizona.   Information on the Abert's can be found at: http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/abertssquirrel.htm
It was actually the ears that caught our attention as squirrels where we come from are mostly Gray Squirrels whose ears are allot smaller and less defined.

Unfortunately my rental lens has been delayed until Tuesday and as you might imagine I'm a little bummed as I have to redo my schedule for the week. I had planned to be at Whitewater Draw on Tuesday but now I'll have to wait for the delivery instead.

I ran into my friend Geologist Richard Conway today at Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge and we may get together to hike to the saddle at Baboquivari Peak for a project he's working on. Richard will be doing a presentation on the geology of Madera Canyon in January. Information on the event taken from the Friends of Madera Canyon newsletter is listed below.

January 15, 2013 - Richard Conway returns to share with us more on the Geology of Madera Canyon. He intrigued us last fall with the geology of the Santa Rita Mountains and will make it specific to Madera Canyon this season. Richard, George Cottay, and Doug Moore have created a brochure on the geology of Madera Canyon that will be available at the program. The Geology Brochure joins our other brochures available in the canyon to advance education and the enjoyment of Madera Canyon.
All Nature Series Programs will again be held at the Community Performance and Art Center on Continental Road. Programs will be held in the theater and will begin at 2:00 PM. Tickets are $5.00 per person and will be available after September 15 either on the Friends web site (www. friendsofmaderacanyon.org) or at the Green Valley/Sahua- rita Chamber of Commerce.

Mountain Lions Spotted in Sabino Canyon

According to wildlife officials there are approximately 67 mountain lions in the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains and one lucky biker saw three of them near the Sabino Dam overlook last Friday. Hugh Garvey was able to photograph the three described as a female and two older cubs. I have not included the link to the story as I don't know how long it will be active but I easily found the story by searching Sabino Canyon Mountain Lions.

This is the view from the overlook taken in January 2012 when the stream was running. On our visit this last Sunday there was very little water and nothing behind the dam.

As it turns out Nan and I were a couple of days late arriving at the overlook on Sunday where we enjoyed the view and a snack before descending to the dam and hiking our way out along the mostly dry stream. Had I known that mountain lions had been seen in the area I would have been more vigilant  especially while at the overlook which is my usual resting spot on this hike.

This photograph was taken at the desert museum and is so far the only place that I have seen Mountain Lions. I was told of a Mountain Lion spotted near where I live in the Tucson Mountains some time last week but unfortunately I have had no corroborating information from any other source so it's impossible to know if it's a legitimate sighting or not. You can read more about Mountain Lions here at: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/mountain-lion/

As a side note I am very excited about next weeks trip to Whitewater Draw to photograph the Sandhill Cranes and whatever else happens to be there during my visit.

Ferruginous Hawk

I spent some time today at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum photographing hawks during their morning Raptor Free Flight Program.  I have rented a great lens (Canon Ef 2.8 70-200 IS USM II with 2x multiplier) for next week which will allow me to expand my range and I want to be ready for a solid week of photographing nature including hawks in the wild. We will be heading to Whitewater Draw to photograph Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese and to Madera Canyon which has been a great birding spot for us in the past.
I plan to spend a good part of a day on the Sandhills which has been an area of interest for me for several years. Whitewater usually has quite a few surprises From Ibises to Herons so it should be a great experience.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ferruginous_Hawk/id

For those of you who like to know about such things the definition of ferruginous is "Having the color of iron rust; reddish-brown."

Sabino Canyon WIldlife

We had a nice morning at Sabino Canyon which is nestled in the Santa Catalina Mountains about 40 minutes from where we live here in Tucson. The idea was to walk, do a little bird watching and enjoy the first really cool morning of the season. Within a few minutes we came across five White-tailed Deer browsing  the greenery along the trail.

There were two females and three little ones feeding fairly close to us. Deer in the canyon have learned to live with a huge number of visitors especially on the weekends and while not tame they are not as skittish as deer normally are. The desert here in the southern part of the state can dry out fairly rapidly even after a wet summer and we found very little water running in the stream and nothing behind the dam which is usually full.

We usually see allot of warblers and smaller birds around the water but it was relatively quiet with many Black-throated Sparrows but not much else.

This Mockingbird all but demanded to be photographed and was very curious about what I was up to. I have always enjoyed their vocal prowess. Mockingbirds as you may already be aware love to sing other birds song sometimes one after the other. It is really amazing to hear and they have fooled me a few times by imitating other birds. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/id

This Verdin was feeding in the mesquite along the road to the picnic overlook. There are slots of Verdins here and I see them almost everyday around our hummingbird feeders. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Verdin/id

Phainopeplas are hard to photograph and getting a good shot is not a sure thing . Their coloring can make for a very monotone picture but if you can get them in just the right light you can make it happen. More often than not you can't distinguish their eye color as it is almost as dark as their feathers. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Phainopepla/id

Desert Sounds

Every now and then I take a photograph that I don't expect to amount to too much but I was pleasantly surprised by this shot. This Curved-billed Thrasher was singing it's heart out which is what attracted my attention in the first place. It's simple and has nice muted color which is why I like it. You can read about the Curve-billed Thrasher and listen to it's songs here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Curve-billed_Thrasher/sounds

.

I'v been shooting with my old Canon xti while I wait for my rental lenses to arrive from BorrowLenses. It's much slower especially in the area of focusing and tracking a moving subject is much harder due to the auto focus. Not the results I've gotten used to but I have to admit it's still fun to shoot with this "old" technology.

Arizona Conservation Wins With Voters

                                                    Burrowing Owl in the Morning Light


Good news from the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection:

PROP 120 DEFEATED: 68% to 32%

Arizona voters soundly rejected Proposition 120, the “State Sovereignty” measure, by more than a two-to-one margin. Proposition 120 was referred to the ballot by the Arizona Legislature. It would have amended the Arizona Constitution to assert state sovereignty and to establish that the state has exclusive authority and jurisdiction over air, water, public lands, minerals, wildlife, and other natural resources within the state, in an attempt to both gain control of federal public lands and to undermine important federal environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.

"Arizona voters clearly saw this for what it was – the Legislature’s harsh and unrelenting attack against conservation stewardship and natural resource protection,” said Carolyn Campbell, No on Prop 120 Campaign Chair and Executive Director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. “These laws are the bedrock of an environmental legacy forged over the last 50 years and are critical to protecting one of the most ecologically rich regions of the country.”

Read the full press release on our website. http://www.sonorandesert.org

PROP 119 APPROVED: 62% to 38%

For years, conservationists across the state have been searching for meaningful State Trust Land reform, with the goal of protecting a small sub-set of lands that contain important wildlife habitat, riparian resources, wildlife linkages, and recreational and scenic values. This proposition makes a welcome change to the current method of State Trust land disposal and allows for a continuing discussion regarding how Arizona can best address its land ownership.
Prop 119 provides an avenue for accountability and transparency to the exchange process, a critical condition to ensure that the citizens of Arizona have a voice in the process.
Prop 119 requires two independent analyses of lands for exchange, public hearings regarding the exchange, and a statewide vote during general election concerning any proposed exchanges.
Prop 119 is good first step to modernize the methods for planning and disposition of State Trust lands, which will have positive ramifications for important conservation lands in the future.

Summerhaven Arizona Foliage

Deep woods on a beautiful morning.

 9 years after the Aspen Fire the mountain above Summerhaven has barely begun to  recover as you can see in the photos below. I have been traveling to Summerhaven for the last three years mostly to enjoy the views and the autumn foliage as well as escape the heat of summer in the valley.

I am amazed how some areas that were burred are well into  recovery while the areas above the village seem to be taking much longer to regenerate. The yellow areas are new Aspens starting to fill in which 20 or 30 years from now should be quite beautiful this time of year.

  Below is an area that was not burned and as you can see it is quite a stark contrast to the areas that were devoured by the flames. Here is a link to the New York Times article at the time of the fire. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/20/us/wildfire-destroys-homes-in-arizona-mountain-town.html

Just above Summerhaven is a ski area that has some beautiful aspens with a smattering of other deciduous trees that are quite colorful right now. As a native New Englander I'm very partial to fall colors and when I can't get home I like to visit the area around the ski area for that feeling of home.

Happy Autumn!

Autumn Comes to Madera Canyon

We made our first visit to lower Madera Canyon in quite some time and I have to say it is quite active as well as colorful. There is a somewhat short easy walking path that starts at the Elephant Rock overlook parking area and continues up to the Whitehouse picnic area that we like to meander along looking for birds and animals. We were not disappointed as there were birds everywhere and we even got a close up encounter with some feeding javelinas. In the first picture above you can see the Turpentine Bushes are in full display which really add a nice accent to the landscape.

There was still water in the stream that runs through the lower canyon and there was lots of activity in and around it. As you can see some of the vegetation has turned yellow and gold giving a decidedly fall look. Fall color is one of the things that I miss the most after living most of my life in New England so it's nice to walk here this time of year. I plan on heading up to the top of Mt. Lemmon early next week to see the changes there which is always fun.

 As we rounded a bend in the path it was clear that we were being watched with great intensity by around 8 or 9 Javelina browsing under a Mexican Black Oak tree. While they kept a good eye on us they were not afraid enough to give up their meal unless we came too close.

Hawks were in short supply during this trip but we did see this pair of Red Tails circling high above us with today's meal which was a snake that I could not identify even with binoculars.

The Santa Ritas are always magnificent especially when entering one of the many canyons. Madera is one of the best known birding sites in the continental USA and I have added many life listers on my visits here. I have also seen deer, javelina, squirrels, and brown bear on occasion.

The expansiveness of the southwest can be seen in the photo taken at the mouth of the canyon looking back towards Green Valley.

I was very excited to add this colorful Red Naped Sapsucker to my life list as I have never seen one even after living here for seven years. There were actually a pair of them mixed in with about a dozen Acorn Woodpecker which was also added to my life list here at Madera many years ago.

Photo Walks

Checkerspots are highly variable in their coloration, size and appearance. I spotted this one walking through the gardens at the Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum.

Walking at Sweetwater Wetlands I was able to get a good view of this Orange Crowned Warbler early in my visit. It thankfully sat still for about 15 seconds and allowed me to take several shots before vanishing. The orange crown that these birds are named after is rarely seen and photographed even less but I have a couple of photos that show it and if I can locate one I will add it here as it is quite beautiful to see.

Female hummingbirds are very hard for me to identify but I think this one is a Costa's. She came very close to me and stayed put so I got over a dozen chances to get a decent picture. I'm fortunate to live within a few minutes of the Desert Museum and I frequently go to their hummingbird aviary and hang out with these marvelously tiny creatures.

This picture is of a male Anna's Hummingbird that I have photographed a number of times. Due to it's fluorescing neck and head the camera most always makes it look fake or super saturated. This one came out fairly accurate and is a fair representation of what an Anna's looks like.

I take my camera with me on most of my morning walks including trips out to places like Madera Canyon which we visited yesterday. While we were there I shot the photo of Elephant Rock that is currently at the top of my blog. I plan on doing a post on Madera in the next couple of days so stay tuned.
I rotated this photo because I felt it was hard to distinguish upside down. Love the color, especially the plant.

Sandhill Cranes 2012

I hope to get to Whitewater Draw sometime this month to do a day long photo session. Watching Sandhills by the thousands is quite an experience for any birder who has yet to visit the Elfrida santuary.