Author: Doug Backlund

Categories
Astrophotography Birding Photography

Another Life Bird

Today I got a message from Tim Burkhardt to let me know that a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper had been found near Dateland. That is about 60 miles from where I am. A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is definitely worth a drive. I headed out and got there in time to meet some other birders who pointed out exactly where it was along with seven Least Sandpipers. I quickly took a few photos and then got to talking with the others. As we watched the shorebirds all flushed and flew a few hundred yards and landed again. A few minutes later, someone thought they heard the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper fly overhead. It must have been it because we never saw it again. I got there just in the nick of time, if I had stopped anywhere along the way I would have missed it. I would have liked to get some better photos but that’s the way it goes sometimes. More birders were showing up only to be disappointed.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper with Least Sandpipers. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper breeds in the boggy tundra of northeast Asia and winters in south-east Asia and Australia. In North America it is a rare migrant, usually in fall and usually along west coast. ABA life bird #605.
I couldn’t pass up this nice shot of a male Gambel’s Quail.
Greater Roadrunner nicely showing the zygodactyl toe pattern as it runs. The birds leave a distinctive track.
This might be the best Mars photo I will ever get with my current equipment. Olympus Mons is a little below center on the right edge. I stacked about 13,000 frames from 30,000 frames of video taken over four minutes (software selects the best frames for stacking). Four minutes is about as long as one can take video and stack before the planet rotation starts to blur detail. I’m pretty happy with this. Taken last night at about 11 PM.
Categories
Birding Photography

Ross’s Goose and Sapsucker Action

Birding has been pretty good here. Most of the desert is very dry so the areas with water or that are watered, like the city parks and the golf course, have been active. It has really cooled down with the passage of a cold front and that has brought in more birds too. I had to turn on the heater last night and probably will again tonight. The big excitement today was a Ross’s Goose that appeared on the Ajo sewage ponds. Apparently this is a first record for Ajo, according to Ebird, and the first in Pima County this year. Two birders from Tucson, both of whom are doing a Pima County Big Year, came out here to get it.

Ross’s Goose at the Ajo Sewage Ponds.
Here’s an interesting sequence of photos. This Red-naped Sapsucker was feeding on palm berries. I think of this species as a shy and retiring type of bird but I learned that this is not necessarily the case.
A Gila Woodpecker came in to feed and landed close to the sapsucker. These are much larger birds than sapsuckers.
I happened to be focused on the sapsucker when the action started. Right now the sapsucker is saying “Hey bub, this is my space”.
Fast action, the sapsucker moved before the camera could refocus so it is blurry but look at how the sapsucker goes for the throat.
The larger Gila Woodpecker didn’t even fight back, it just left.
Categories
Astrophotography Birding Photography Travel

On to Ajo and a Northern Jacana

I left Granite Gap this morning. Last night I spent a few hours photographing Mars since the “seeing” was forecast to be good and now Olympus Mons is on the right side of the planet. I figured I better try it because the weather is going to change, the jet stream will dip far south and that means the “seeing” will be pretty bad for a while. The results were OK but I hope for better later this month. On my way to Ajo I stopped at the Ina Street bridge over the Santa Cruz River to see if I could find the Northern Jacana. It only took about 10 minutes to do that and take some photos. I got into the campground at Ajo around 4 PM. It was 97 F. but this is the supposed to be the last day of hot weather. I hope so.

As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab to see it displayed at a larger size.

Northern Jacana. The light was terrible, midday glare and I could not get very close to the bird so all I got were some documentation photos. ABA area life bird #604.
Extremely long toes allow it to walk on emergent vegetation. Northern Jacana is a very rare visitor to the United States, only in south Texas and southeast Arizona.
The Ghost Nebula is starting to look better with two more hours.
Mars from last night. The light area in the top center is Olympus Mons.
Categories
Astrophotography Photography

More From Granite Gap

Yes, I’m still here. However, the weather in the Sonoran Desert is finally going to cool down and I will be in Ajo by Wednesday. It will be nice to be closer to a grocery store. I’ve been busy with astrophotography and my usual hiking and reading. This is a nice spot for quiet camping. I have a good crew of hummingbirds coming to my feeder now, Black-chins, Anna’s, and Rufous. I’ve been putting out the trail camera every night hoping for the mountain lion to come by but so far all I’ve got is coyotes, a gray fox, and rabbits.

As always, right click on an image and open in a new tab to see it displayed at a larger size.

Tarantula Hawk walking on a board. These are somewhat difficult to get a good photo of.
A Robber Fly sucking the juice out of a bee. I can’t resist a shot like this.
I now have an Anna’s Hummingbird at my feeder. This is a juvenile male.
I’ve spent two nights gathering photons for this image. I now have a total of about 4 hours of exposure. In the upper left is the Iris Nebula and lower right is the Ghost Nebula. Both are in clouds of space dust in the direction of the constellation Cepheus.
Here is the Ghost Nebula cropped out and some rather heavy-handed processing. It is a pretty neat nebula, I can see why it is named the Ghost! I am out tonight gathering more light from this region, so will see what another two hours of exposure will do.
Categories
Astrophotography Birding Photography

Sage Thrasher and Astro

I’m still here at Granite Gap. No break in the heat out in the Sonoran Desert. That’s OK because this is a great place for astrophotography and nights are currently moonless. Every night is good, clear, usually no wind, dark. Compared to South Dakota, this is great for astro. Up there I can only wish for a good night or two during the new moon period. Yesterday I put quite a bit of time in on Sage Thrashers trying for a better shot of them eating juniper berries.

Finally, I got a good shot of a Sage Thrasher eating juniper berries. Once they get used to me sitting there, they will come out in the open, but it takes awhile. It is too bad that branch is covering the tail, but nothing I can do about it.
This is M15, the Pegasus Cluster. Located, as one would suspect from the name, in the constellation Pegasus. M15 is about 33,600 light years from Earth, and is an estimated 175 light-years in diameter. It is one of the oldest star clusters known, at around 12 billion years.
The Cocoon Nebula. I have done this before but it is quite small and by using the C8, it looks much more impressive. Located in Cygnus, it is  is a stellar nursery where star-formation is ongoing. 
M33, Triangulum Galaxy, which I have done many times with the 500 f4 lens. This image was done with the C8. The galaxy is nearly too big to get it framed but it does fit.

As always, right click on any image to open in a new tab if you want to see it at full size.
Categories
Astrophotography Photography

More Photos from Granite Gap

I’m still here at Granite Gap. This is sure a nice, peaceful campsite. I am surprised at the lack of use since the Forest Service campgrounds are closed and this is listed as a free camping area on the various internet sites. I suppose it is due to it not being a good place for the big trailers and motorhomes. It is suited to small campers only. The long range weather forecast doesn’t show much hope for going to Ajo for at least a week but I might move further west in a few days.

Sage Thrasher eating juniper berries. This was in a bad place for photography, with the bird in the shade and a bright background, but some work with Photoshop made it look pretty good.
The Wizard Nebula with the C8. I have about 3 hours of exposure on it now. This is an emission nebula that surrounds the open star cluster NGC 7380 in the constellation Cepheus. I’ve seen some really nice images of this nebula but it takes 8-10 hours (or more) of exposure to really get the fine details and I’m not sure I have the patience for that.
It was pretty windy one night so I used the 500 f4 lens instead of the C8. The C8 really does not do well in wind. I elected to put the entire night (until the moon came up) on the Andromeda Galaxy.
This was an experiment. NGC 1333 (also known as the Embryo Nebula) is very small and faint. I have tried it before with the 500 f4 but it is too small. With the C8 the issue is getting enough exposure. I used ISO 12000 to see what would happen with 2 minute exposures. It isn’t too bad but there is a lot of noise and the image quality is poor. At this low resolution I suppose it looks fine. This is another one that would take many hours to get a really good image.
Categories
Birding Photography

Still at Granite Gap

I’ve been at this campsite in Granite Gap since last Thursday. So far, not one person or vehicle has come by on this road. The highway (Highway 80) is only a few hundred yards away but traffic is light and the road into the BLM land is gated, so I suppose that deters most people. Nights are getting darker now that the full moon is past and I did a few hours of astrophotography last night. Otherwise, I’ve been hiking and reading. There has been a surprising variety of birds here. I saw one Hermit Warbler, a species usually associated with forested areas. This is mostly desert here, with a few small Gambel Oak and junipers in the rocky slopes, so not typical habitat for birds like Hermit Warbler. This morning I saw a Vaux’s Swift fly by. There is a mountain lion roaming around too, I’ve seen the tracks in several locations, from the size of the tracks I’d say a large male.

Bewick’s Wren having arachnid for breakfast.
Cliff Chipmunk, the only species of chipmunk in this area. This one was in the yard at the George Walker House.
Not a very good photo but here is the Hermit Warbler.
Young male Rufous Hummingbird, photo taken out the back window of the Scamp.
I see this Sage Thrasher all the time but it has been difficult to photograph. Here it is photographed between some juniper branches.
Elephant’s Trunk Nebula, from last night. I want to add a lot more photons to this tonight.
Categories
Astrophotography Travel

New Camp and More Planets

I’ve moved to the camping area in Granite Gap that I investigated last week. It is pretty nice here. So far, I have the whole place to myself. There is some shade and the elevation is high enough to lower the temps a few degrees. It was getting pretty hot down in the valley at Rusty’s RV Ranch. I’ve seen some Sage Thrashers, Cassin’s Vireo, Green-tailed Towhee, and all the usual desert birds. This is a great spot for hiking and one can go for miles on BLM land. Before I left Rusty’s, I had another good night of planetary photography.

Here’s Jupiter again. This time the shadow of Callisto is moving across the face of the planet.
My best image of Mars so far. Later this month the planet will be oriented so the big volcanoes like Olympus Mons will show up. I think I can capture them if I have good conditions. Unlike on Earth, some of the volcanoes on Mars are gigantic because there is no plate tectonics to move them around, they just grow bigger and bigger. Olympus Mons is about the size of the state of Arizona and is 16 miles elevation.
Categories
Astrophotography

Planets

Mars is approaching opposition next month (October 13th) and is currently as close to Earth as it will be for a long time, in addition it rises high in the sky overnight, out of the haze and atmospheric gunk that Jupiter and Saturn are in now. Now is the time to photograph the planet. I tried it last night with the C8 and a 2.5 Televue Powermate. With this combination I’m getting about 5000mm focal length, but good atmospheric “seeing” is essential. Last night was just OK, I’m hoping for at least one good night with excellent seeing. It may be possible to see some volcanoes on the surface, like Olympus Mons, with excellent seeing. I don’t know if I can pick up on things like that with my equipment but I will keep trying.

This is the best I could get. It is much better than my previous attempts. This is a stack of over 2000 video frames selected by software from over 8000 frames, then stacked. The south polar cap is on the upper left and one can see north polar ice clouds at lower right. The largest dark area in the center is Mare Erythaeum. At this link is a good map that labels the features: https://www.wa2guf.org/mars-opposition-of-2020-2021/
Jupiter didn’t turn out so well but one can see the moon Io peeking out from behind the giant planet.
Categories
Birding Photography Travel

Peregrine and Looking for a New Campsite

This morning I decided to drive north to Granite Gap and investigate some dispersed campsites on BLM land in the Peloncillo Mountains. About halfway there, I came upon a Peregrine Falcon perched on the cross arm of a powerline. It let me get pretty close and then gave me a nice chance at takeoff/flight shots. I think the flight shots are probably the best ones I’ve ever got of an adult Peregrine Falcon.

The campsites look pretty good, should be quiet there, good cell phone service, and free. The drawback is, like here, it is 45-60 miles to a grocery store, depending on whether I go to Douglas or Lordsburg. The Lordsburg grocery store leaves a lot to be desired but it is closer then Douglas (60 miles from Rusty’s RV Ranch). I have two more days to decide….

Peregrine Falcon on the cross arm.
Take off! Nearly perfect light for a change…
A Steller’s Jay at John Hands Campground.
Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra). This photo is from the Valley of Fires BLM area I was at last week.