Month: March 2021

Holy Bats, Batman

I went back to Valentine Well last night. I got set up for an evening of bat photography and tried a little different arrangement, hoping to get shots of bats flying straight toward the camera. I had little idea that this would be the best night of bat shooting I’ve ever had! I got at least three species and maybe four. Best of all, I finally got a good shot of a Townsend’s Big-eared Bat. I got one last spring but it was out of focus just enough to make it a photo I didn’t really want to show anyone. Anyway, it was fun and I will back out there tonight. I have some ideas on how improve and will see if they work.

My Townsend’s Big-eared Bat, coming up off the water just after getting a drink. I could be a little sharper but it is pretty good!

Pallid Bat, I got three pretty sharp images. I like this one for the reflection on the water.

Another Myotis sp., maybe a California or Small-footed Myotis.

Pallid Bat. As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab to see a larger version.

Birding Photography

New Birds and Some Old Birds

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 24, 2021

The numbers of birds isn’t going up much but it seems there is something new almost everyday now. A big windy storm system is moving through tomorrow and I am hopeful that will really pick things up. It looks like a big warm up for next week so maybe the herps will finally start to move too. I just hope it doesn’t get so hot I have to leave!

My first Western Kingbird of the spring.

A Townsend’s Solitaire at Bud Walker Park.

Male Northern Harrier at the golf course. This was a terrible photo, taken in very poor light, but a little Photoshop work and it looks presentable.

A pair of ravens are building a new nest at the golf course.

A Bendire’s Thrasher at Bud Walker Park. A pretty rare bird in this part of Arizona.

Well, I said in my last post that there was nothing I could do about the background in this photo, but I messed around with it in Photoshop and I guess there is something I can do about it. Anyway, that ugly metal rim is gone!

Astrophotography Bats Photography

Bats!

It was a warm day, up near 90 F., so I decided to check Valentine Well for bat activity. It still is cooling down at night a little too much for good insect and bat activity, but at Valentine Well, there were lots of bats shortly after sunset. It is probably the only source of water for miles in any direction, since all of the ponds and natural tanks are dry. This is what I need, lots of bats, so I get lots of shots and then hope for a few good ones. Bats tripped the laser trigger 33 times and I got at least two very good images.

Another pretty good shot but not quite sharp. Almost, but not quite. Yuma Myotis.

From a few nights ago, M106, in Ursa Major. First time shooting this galaxy now that I’m guiding.

M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules. Imaged with the C8 and guiding.

Astrophotography Birding

Wilson’s Warbler

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 13, 2021

It must have been a pretty boring birding winter if a Wilson’s Warbler seems exciting. Yesterday, I actually saw around a dozen of them in a wooded area behind the Ajo tennis courts. They were very busy feeding and not paying much attention to me, so were easy to photograph. The weather has been pretty bad for astrophotography, so it appears that most of this new moon period is not going to be productive. At least we finally got some rain, about .15 inch according to the Ajo weather station. It is cold and windy today.

I got my covid vaccine on Thursday here at the local clinic. They just got a supply of the Johnson and Johnson one shot vaccine, so I’m done with that. I didn’t notice much for side effects, I felt a little tired and achy, but that went away by the next day. I am sure glad to have that done!

Male Wilson’s Warbler. I was pretty excited to see so many yesterday.

Here’s a side view of another one on a Palo Verde branch. They were very actively feeding and easy to approach.

Here’s another galaxy from a few nights ago. M95 is found in the constellation Leo and is about 33 million light years from Earth. Unlike most galaxies, it seems to harbor more yellow stars in the outer limits of the system.

Astrophotography

Galaxy Season

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 8, 2021

Now that the moon is approaching the new moon phase, the clouds are rolling in. I had a few good nights but for the next few days at least, it does not look good. As far as birding goes, it is very slow. A few new birds have appeared, indicating some migration. Two dowitchers at the pond and a couple of Greater Yellowlegs, along with a Ring-billed Gull were the most exciting birds I’ve seen. Still not warm enough to get the herps out, except for the most common ones I’ve seen all winter.

M65, another one of the Leo Triplets. It has crossed my mind to make a mosaic of all three using images taken with the C8. I’ll see how that goes.

M100, a galaxy in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster. NGC 4312 is in the upper right.

The Needle Galaxy, NGC 4565, in the constellation Coma Berenices. IC3571 is the small bluish area just to the left of the galaxy, in Stellarium it is called an “object of unknown nature”. Other places I’ve looked describe it as a dwarf galaxy. The Needle is one of my favorite galaxies, it is large and bright, very photogenic. This image is about 2 hours of exposure.

M46, an open star cluster near Orion. There is a small planetary nebula in the cluster, NGC 2438, but it is not actually associated with it. There are around 500 stars in this 250,000,000 year old cluster. It can be easily seen in binoculars.

Astrophotography

Galaxies High and Low

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to try making an image of the Andromeda Galaxy as it was close to the horizon. My goal was to show how large this galaxy would appear if we could see it as bright as the moon. I wanted to get it setting over the Air Force radar installation on Child’s Mountain. It was close and I even got an unexpected Saguaro in the scene. I took about 30 minutes of exposure of the galaxy as it came lower but the moon came up before it was low enough. So, I had to make some adjustments. It worked out pretty good because the moon lit up Child’s Mountain. As always, right click on the image and open in a new tab to see a larger version.