For a long time I’ve been thinking about trying to capture a quasar. I finally found out how to get a couple of them, by imaging a galaxy in Ursa Major, NGC 4151. Quasars are extremely bright young galaxies, at the edges of the universe, so they are far out there. I don’t know exactly how far these two are, but over a billion light years for sure. Here’s a good link to read more about quasars.
Here it is, March 2, the day of the new moon and all I get is clouds. I’ve only had two good nights for astrophotography so far. At least the area got a little rain, 1/4 to 1/2 inch around the area. The biggest bird excitement was a Laughing Gull at Lake Ajo. Some birders came over from Tucson and for at least one it was an Arizona life bird. I’ve never seen one in Arizona myself. This afternoon I was passing by the Kit Fox den and saw two of the foxes outside taking a nap.
As the title of this page may indicate, not much is going on. Some bird movement, mostly an increase in Sage Thrashers, is noted. The moon is approaching full phase now and of course it has been clear and calm every night. The weather has been warm, above 80 F. for the last few days. There is a group called the Boondockers that shows up here every winter. The campground was getting a bit crowded with them for the last couple of weeks but now most have left. It appears that Covid-19 has peaked in this area, according to the local weekly paper. Reported cases peaked at 74 the week before last, now it is dropping fast. I still remain Covid free.
Today as I drove by the den, I looked for Kit Fox, as I usually do. I saw one laying in the sun so decided to try for some photos. It was high noon but there were clouds to help deal with the harsh mid-day light. I had the 500 f4 along, so I put on the teleconverter for 700mm focal length. I had just started taking photos when another fox came out of the den.
The few nights I’ve had for astro I’ve been concentrating on two nebulas that are actually connected but too big for me to fit in the frame using the C8. Once I collect more light on the Fox Fur Nebula, I’m going to try to create a panorama with the two images. It has been frustratingly cloudy, windy, or very poor atmospheric seeing. Birding hasn’t been much better. As always, images can be opened in a new window or tab to see a larger image.
This morning I was in The Thicket looking for owls. I found the two Long-eared Owls that I’ve been seeing. Then I saw something I’ve never seen before, a Gray Fox in a tree. I’ve read many times about Gray Fox climbing trees but this is my first experience at seeing it. I went back later in the day hoping it would still be there and in better light, but it was gone.
I know it is only January but here in the Sonoran Desert, there are hints of spring already. Yesterday, I stopped at the ponds in the late afternoon and just after sunset I saw a Lesser Nighthawk foraging over the water. There are more flycatchers of every species now. Where there was one Black Phoebe, now there are two or three. I’m seeing more Ash-throated Flycatchers everywhere I go. The moon has been bright and the nights fairly cloudy but soon I will be able to do astro again, hopefully in the next few days.
Hard to believe it is already January and it sure feels like it. By Sonoran Desert standards, it has been cold. Temperature dropped well into the 20’s two nights in a row. To make matters worse for me, this is the period when I should be doing astrophotography, but it has been cloudy every night until just a few nights ago. Now I only have a couple more nights before the moon starts getting too bright. I hope next month is better! The Ajo Christmas Bird Count was yesterday and joined in on that. Otherwise, not much has been going on.
It has finally turned more winter-like. After the last rain, there is enough moisture for dew and now it is cold enough for frost, so I have a frosty windshield most mornings. The cold further north has moved birds this way. A nice flock of Horned Larks showed up at the golf course along with a Mountain Bluebird. More ducks at the ponds and an occasional Ring-billed Gull, but nothing very exciting, except for a Canada Goose that appeared one day. Some birders from Tucson were going to drive out for that but it was gone the next morning.
A Ruddy Ground Dove had been reported at the Ajo plaza about a week ago, but yesterday was the first time I saw it. This is the second Ruddy Ground Dove I’ve ever seen and the only female. This morning I went back and got some pretty good photos of it. I’ve been doing quite a bit of astrophotography with the 500 f4. I quit working on the really faint ones for a while and back to some bright and easy ones. I am looking forward to the galaxy season coming up when I can go back to using the C8.
