Categories
Bats Birding

An Evening at Valentine Well

Friday afternoon I drove back out to Valentine Well. The weather wasn’t as warm as I had hoped but I still thought I could get some decent bat activity. About a mile before the well, I saw a sight that one does not often see here in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, an Osprey.

A rare sight around the Ajo area, an Osprey, and even rarer to see one perched on a Saguaro. I think I’ve seen Osprey maybe twice before. There is no water with fish for at least 60 miles, but the birds are common along the Sea of Cortez and of course will migrate through. But landing on a Saguaro?
The main reason I keep trying for bats at Valentine Well is to get a really good photo of this species, Townsend’s Big-eared Bat. It is always close but so far I have none that are really sharp and contain the entire bat. This one is not sharp but otherwise it would be perfect! My big hope is for a Spotted Bat to start using the tank.
Yuma Myotis are the most common bat out there and most of my shots are of this species. Therefore, I get more good ones. What I need is good photos of different species.
This Yuma Myotis is coming in for a drink.
They are very fast, and they don’t slow down much for a drink. As always, right click on an image and open in new window for a larger image.

2 replies on “An Evening at Valentine Well”

What big ears it has! That tank must be very important to the bats. We got a laugh out of the osprey on the saguaro.

Comments are closed.