Last year it was way too hot to come to Ajo until later in October, but this year, it isn’t too bad, so far. The big difference is that there has been rain this summer and that helps cool the ground and keeps the surface temperature lower. Last year it was so dry that all the vegetation was brown, this year everything is green. The herping has been great, as I already verified by finding my first ever Rosy Boa. Most nights I go out and find at least a few snakes, but nearly all are Western Diamondbacks or Sidewinders. I have seen one Long-nosed Snake. At the top of the list of what I want is Tiger Rattlesnake, Speckled Rattlesnake, Western Shovel-nosed Snake, and Coral Snake, and there are more that could turn up. Arizona has 52 species of snakes! Today I found a Regal Horned Lizard, only the second one I’ve seen and the first for the Ajo area.
Regal Horned Lizard, very small so just recently hatched. The county has just repaved the road that comes out to the campground. The fresh, black asphalt makes it easy to spot snakes and lizards. I would have never seen this one otherwise. It is probably about 2 inches long. Separated from other horned lizards by the four horns on the back of the head all touching at the base. Side view of Regal Horned Lizard. Last night I was making a turn around on a dirt road when I saw something hopping in the shadows. I thought it was a cottontail rabbit at first but it was a giant Sonoran Toad. One has to see these to appreciate how big they are. A Cloudless Sulphur in Alamo Canyon. There were hundreds of these big sulphurs. This is from Granite Gap. One night I went out to look around and saw that my hummingbird feeder was overrun with Honeypot Ants. They are mostly nocturnal and they sure liked that sugar water.
I’ve been looking for one of these for a long time now. Tonight I finally found one. A nocturnal snake, this species is a constrictor that feeds on small mammals and birds. It is highly sought after by herpers because it is very docile, easy to take care of, and makes a good “pet”. I just wanted to find one and photograph it. I was walking up an arroyo that comes out of the Little Ajo Mountains and suddenly, there it was in the beam of my light, crossing the arroyo bottom. Made my day! There are two subspecies, the Desert Rosy Boa (which is more rosy colored) and this one, the Mexican Rosy Boa. Some herpetologists consider them two different species. (In my excitement last night, I forgot to mention that I am in Ajo, AZ now.)
Rosy Boas are a joy to handle, very docile and cooperative. This one was about 16 inches long. Here’s a shot on my black cloth. The tongue seems small compared to other snakes, but maybe I just haven’t seen it extended very far. As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab for larger image.
I finally left Datil Well and drove down to Granite Gap. I’m still in New Mexico, a few miles outside of Arizona. The weather here is a bit warmer than Datil Well but it is not too bad. The area has has some rain and it shows, lots of grass and late summer flowers. I saw my first White-crowned Sparrows of the fall this morning. I tried some black lighting last night and did OK despite the full moon.
A new one for me, BugGuide tells me it is the Thin-banded Lichen Moth. This is Plagiomimicus olvello, apparently not much is actually known about it, not even the larval food plant. This one was exciting, a tiger beetle. I knew what it was from my tiger beetle collecting days, although I have never actually seen one before. I used to think this species might turn up in South Dakota but as far as I know it has never been recorded there yet. This is Tetracha carolina – the Carolina Metallic Tiger Beetle (Formerly Megacephala carolina). Colorful and iridescent, it is a prize catch for tiger beetle collectors. There was time when I would have caught one and put a pin through it but a photograph is just as good. At least three of them were at my light last night. While on my morning hike, I found a pair of Rock Wrens foraging in a rock pile. They went behind a large boulder, so I quickly positioned myself on the other side (with the sun behind me), just a few feet from the top of rock, and started pishing. Up they came, and I got a few nice shots at very close range.
This area of New Mexico has the darkest skies one can find anywhere in the United States. It is a great place for astrophotography but this time of year, one has to deal with the monsoon season and clouds. To top that off, the moon is getting bright again. I got in a couple of pretty good nights though. It is amazing to be out at night here and see how bright the Milky Way really is. There are lots of birds around too. I have a couple of feeders up and one hummingbird feeder. The Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays have eaten all of my black oil sunflower seed already and there is no place to buy more. A large flock of Pinyon Jays is roaming the area and but have been difficult to photograph.
Last night I worked on the Fireworks Galaxy. I got some time on this last June in South Dakota and added it all together to produce this. Same with the Crescent Nebula. I really need a lot more exposure to make this one look impressive but this is what I have so far. Probably the best shot I have ever taken of a Juniper Titmouse. I have a few of them coming to my feeder. The nice perch and clean background with nice light are a tough combination to get. There are lots of hiking trails in the hills around here. I have found two of these lizards on the trails. This is the same species of horned lizard that occurs in western South Dakota, Greater Short-horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi).A close-up of one of the short-horned lizards.
As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab or window for a larger image.
I left Valley of Fires yesterday, it was getting too hot. I drove 130 miles west to Datil Well Campground. This area is at much higher elevation and although the forecast is for record high temps in New Mexico, it will only get to around 85 here. This is a BLM campground, with campground hosts, water, restrooms, but no showers. A few of the campsites have electric hookups but most don’t. Cost is $5.00 a day, $2.50 with my senior pass. When I first got here, I saw several Pinyon Jays and immediately put out some feeders. However, all I get at the feeders so far is some Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays, Juniper Titmice, and Mountain Chickadees. I have a Rufous Hummingbird and a Black-chinned Hummingbird too.
Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay. I have two of them, they are quite fearless once they get used to me. Using some almonds for bait, I can get them to pose on this rock with lichens.I was talking with the campground hosts this morning, they said this area got 4.5 inches of rain in one storm, in less than an hour. It shows too, there is lots of erosion and an impressive bloom of flowers. This is some species of aster and is very abundant now. Lots of paintbrush, I don’t know for sure which species this is, but it has been a long time since I’ve seen a red paintbrush. This caterpillar was on the stem of the asters. I haven’t ID’d it yet.
I’m currently parked in the campground at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, near Carrizozo, New Mexico. I’ve been here four days now. This area is in the Malpais Lava Flow and is a pretty nice area, especially since there has been a lot of rain. It is a nice campground too, with showers, electric hookups if needed (I don’t need them), not crowded at all. With my senior pass it costs $6.00 a night. I hoped for some astrophotography and finally last night it was clear and calm. I had an experience with a new night sky object too, a weather balloon.
Last night while I was setting up for planetary photography, I saw a very bright object in the east. There wasn’t supposed to be anything there of that magnitude of brightness. I had the C8 on the mount so I put in a 15X eyepiece and this is what I saw. I decided to hook up a camera and took a few photos. This is most likely a weather balloon, from what I’ve read they can be up to 25 miles high in the atmosphere. The best night I’ve ever had for imaging Jupiter. It rises to over 40 degree above the horizon and last night seeing was pretty good. I’ve never got detail like this before. One can even see detail in the Great Red Spot! This is a stack of about 12,000 frames from 3 minutes of video. Saturn was lower and as always, dimmer, so it is difficult to get as many video frames. Still, it came out OK. Saturn is almost as far away from Jupiter as Jupiter is from Earth. Twice I have come on Scaled Quail with young ones, but the young ones always scurry off and hide before I can get any photos. And Checkered-Skippers, this one on some species of composite. A new flower for me, Phemeranthus aurantiacus, Orange Fameflower. There are many species of mallows in bloom, colors range from white to red. A red mallow.
