Last night the forecast for “seeing” ranged from excellent to good. Excellent seeing is very rare so I decided to try some planetary photography. Jupiter is about the only planet in a good place right now, Saturn is getting lower in the west and Venus isn’t a very photogenic planet. So, Jupiter it was. I am very pleased with how it turned out.
A few days ago I went out to Hot Shot Well to check it out. I had heard about Barn Owls potentially using the site quite a few years ago. I think it was about four years ago when I first visited the old well, which is actually a really big hole that someone dug many years ago. It is maybe 25 ft. across and more than 50 ft. deep. On my first visit, there was evidence of owls using it but there were no owls. The following year I returned and found that a colony of bees had moved in and I got chased off by them. There were aggressive. Every year since, I have carefully checked it and the bees have been there but no owls. On my visit this year, it appeared that the bees were gone and lo and behold, there were two Barn Owls at the bottom. I contacted Joe and Mary Staab, in Mesquite, Nevada as I knew Joe really wanted a Barn Owl. They came down here on Tuesday and we all hiked out there, the owls were still there. Unfortunately, this time we saw bees too but they didn’t bother us.
As I posted previously, there are enormous numbers of butterflies around the area, mostly where there is Chuckwalla Delight in flower. I have been searching for a new species for me, but mostly the same ones, especially Sonoran Metalmarks. There are literally thousands of them. I have been doing some astrophotography too. It has warmed up here quite bit, record high temps again, but that is only about 90 degrees so it is tolerable.
I figure it is about time to post something. I’ve been keeping busy with astrophotography, birding, and hiking. Yesterday I found a Rufous-backed Robin at the city park and even got some good photos. That is the third time I have seen Rufous-backed Robin in the Ajo area. Today, I found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in the same park but could not get any good photos. I will keep trying.
Quite a few new birds are showing up yesterday and today. Another Red-breasted Sapsucker has appeared at the golf course and this one is, so far, easy to find and get close too. This morning it was in the shadows though, so I went back to the truck and got my flash. The flash didn’t bother it all. I also saw a Townsend’s Solitaire, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, Swainson’s Thrush, and a Lazuli Bunting. Finally, the moon is starting to fade and the weather looks good after Monday, I should have at least five good days of astrophotography and I am looking forward to that.
Today I drove out to a place I call 8115 Arroyo. It seems to have no name on maps but there is BLM Road 8115 that goes to it, so I have made a name for it. I’ve been watching the summer monsoon storms on radar for the last three or four months and this area has got quite a lot of rain. It shows too, the vegetation in the arroyo is lush and green, the spiny hackberry are loaded with green fruit that is just starting to ripen and should be attracting birds soon. The numbers of butterflies was amazing. It was mostly American Snouts and Cloudless Sulphurs, but I also saw Queens, Sonoran Metalmarks, Empress Leilia, Southern Dogface, Mexican Yellows, Gray Hairstreak, Leda Ministreak, and Pipevine Swallowtail. I saw my first ever caterpillar of a Pipevine Swallowtail too. The abundance of American Snouts was just amazing, sometimes hundreds on a single plant.
Birding has really improved with the latest storm. Today I saw two American White Pelicans at the ponds (first time ever for Ajo) and two Lewis’s Woodpeckers at the golf course, only the second time I’ve seen that species in the Ajo area. There were three Red-necked Phalaropes at the pond too. I had one good night for astro before the storm and now the moon is getting too bright again. I am enjoying this cooler weather but will miss snake hunting, I suppose till next spring, although I did have an encounter with a snake recently.
I think the heat of summer is behind me now. By next week it looks like an even more significant cool down is on the way. I’ve been getting a little bit of astro done too. I decided that I’m going to spend more time on fewer deep sky objects. I started out with the Helix Nebula. As always, one can right click on an image, open in a new tab and see a larger image.
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.
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.)
