Category: Birding

Still Heading North

I left Valley of Fires on Saturday and drove north into Colorado, stopping for the night at the Timpas picnic area. Timpas picnic area is actually a Forest Service (Comanche National Grassland) picnic area/campground of sorts, there are some picnic tables, shelters, a restroom, interpretive signs, and best of all, some pretty good birding. It was here, many years ago, that I got my lifer Cassin’s Sparrow. I saw some again on this stop, along with abundant Lark Buntings, some Curve-billed and Sage Thrashers, meadowlarks, and others. For me, the Cassin’s Sparrow was the most interesting.

Timpas is open for camping and is free and quiet. There is no water and no phone/internet service. There is a railroad that runs close by, but every time I’ve stayed there the only train is an Amtrak that comes by around 8 PM. I left Timpas early this morning and drove to Red Willow State Park near McCook. I like this park but it sure is expensive, $42.00 a night. At least it is quiet. After free camping in the Sonoran Desert all winter, I shouldn’t complain.

I got some pretty good photos of Cassin’s Sparrows. They aren’t much to look at, but their song makes up for that. They fly high in the sky, like Lark Buntings, while singing.

I saw more Eastern Collared Lizards at Valley of Fires. This one is a large male but lacking any color. I’ve read about melanistic individuals living in areas of dark rocks, maybe this is one of them.

This is a blister beetle, *Epicauta atrivittata*. I saw a couple of them on the walls of the restroom at Valley of Fires. There isn’t much information on this beetle, it is known to feed on mesquites and some species of nightshade.

Also, at Valley of Fires, Red Barberry. The Apache ate the fruits and made a yellow dye from the roots.

I came across two different plants named after the same botanist, Augustus Fendler. I got curious about him and found out that he led quite an adventurous life. Here’s a LINK to a Wikipedia article about him. This flower is Fendler’s Desert Dandelion, *Malacothrix fendleri*.

And here is Fendler’s Penstemon, *Penstemon fendleri*.

Birding Flowers and Plants Herps

Heading North

I left Granite Gap this morning. I’m currently at the Bosque Birder’s RV Park, near San Antonio, New Mexico. I took a short drive through the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge this afternoon. I was quite surprised that nearly all of the ponds are dry. There is a lot of water running through the ditches in the refuge, but I guess the management plan is for dry ponds for now. There is water in the Boardwalk Marsh and that’s about it.

A few days ago, I checked on the Great Horned Owl nest. The lone young owl was out of the nest, but it hasn’t moved very far.

A Greater Earless Lizard. This one is starting to develop some color, but it is not even close to the ones I saw at Big Bend National Park a few years back. Photos of those can be seen at the LINK.

I got some more shots of the Lesser Nighthawk, this time I got closer and in a nicer setting.

A couple of days after finding my first Round-tailed Horned Lizard, I found another. This one is so different in coloration and pattern, that one would almost think it was a different species, but it is not. The size and placement of the four cranial horns and the short, round tail with black bars is diagnostic.

There are some Desert Marigolds, *Baileya multiradiata*, in flower now. These are quite large and showy flowers.

Birding Flowers and Plants Insects

More Granite Gap Photos

I’m still here. The weather is pleasant, it is quiet, for the most part, and I’m still finding new things to photograph. I said it is quiet for the most part, but last week, there was an accident on I-10 east of Wilcox. A truck hit an overpass bridge and damaged it so badly that the westbound lane was closed. The traffic was all routed down state Highway 80, which goes right past me. I’m about 1/4 mile from the highway but it was still pretty noisy with all the trucks rumbling by. That lasted for two days. Most of the time there is very little traffic on Highway 80.

An Acmon Blue, living dangerously. Can you spot the crab spider?

A new species of cactus for me, Beehive Cactus, *Escobaria vivipara*.

One could almost pass this flower off as a bladderpod, which were extremely abundant earlier this spring. But it is later now, and I took a closer look. This is Golden Linanthus, *Leptosiphon chrysanthus*. I cannot find much information about it besides the name. It is in the Phlox family.

This strange plant is *Jatropha macrorhiza*, Ragged Nettle-Spurge. It is reportedly rare in the United States. It occurs in southwest New Mexico and southeast Arizona but is more common in Mexico.

I came across a pair of Black-throated Sparrows feeding this young bird that is fresh out of the nest.

A Lesser Nighthawk roosting. This is the first time I’ve been able to get a shot like this, in fact the first time I’ve seen a Lesser Nighthawk roosting!

*Mammallaria heyderi*, Pancake Pincushion. First one I’ve ever seen. During wet periods, the cactus will pull in enough water to swell up to the size of a basketball.

Mexican Cactus Fly. The larvae feed on dying cactus. This one is nectaring on Brittlebush.

Birding Flowers and Plants Insects

Exploring New Areas at Granite Gap

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date May 2, 2023
1 Comment on Exploring New Areas at Granite Gap

This morning I took off on a long hike to investigate a mountain I can see in the distance from the rim of the Peloncillos. The mountain had a sheer face with lots of large boulders piled up at the base. Looked like good herp habitat. In addition, the big rock face will run off lots of rain into the boulders at the base, therefore should be much wetter than most of this area. When I got to the scene, that is what I found. The mountainside is pure granite with a large jumble of boulders at the base. There are many types of plants growing in the boulders that I don’t see elsewhere around here. Most notable, lots of Soapberry. There is a butterfly called a Soapberry Hairstreak that I’ve been looking for, this could be the place to get it. I didn’t see any today though. There was also more Gambel’s Oak.

I’ve never seen this flower before, Buckley’s Centaury, *Zeltnera calycosa*. What a beautiful flower! Typically, this plant grows in wetter places and the boulder field seems to be good enough.

Desert Holly, *Acourtia nana*, is flowering, first time I’ve seen this happen.

I got two lifer butterflies today. This one is a Texas Powdered Skipper, very similar to the Arizona Powdered Skipper, but there are differences.

The other lifer butterfly, an Acacia Skipper.

I was checking the Turkey Vultures soaring overhead and found this Zone-tailed Hawk in with them.

At the base of the boulder field, there was a lot of Cane Cholla in flower.

I tried to make this into a Mexican Fritillary, but it isn’t, just the ordinary Variegated Fritillary.

Birding Flowers and Plants Herps

Scott’s Oriole on Ocotillo

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date April 30, 2023

This morning I went for my usual morning hike. I headed west over the rim of the Peloncillo Mountains. At my location, that rim isn’t very high, but it still gives a great view of the surrounding area and the Chiricahua Mountains to the west. At the crest, as I was admiring the scenery, a Scott’s Oriole flew into some Ocotillos right in front of me, sun behind me. I thought sure, as soon as I raise up the camera it will fly off. But it didn’t. I took 77 photos as it foraged in the flowers. The bird was definitely pollinating too.

My favorite, nice light, nice action, nice background, great bird! What more could one ask for?

This image shows the pollen on the bird’s face and bill.

I’ve never seen a male Clark’s Spiny Lizard this colorful. At first, I wasn’t even sure what species this was. It doesn’t have the typical banding on the front legs, although there is some.

The lizard posed so I could see the ventral blue patches.

A Great Horned Owl, still apparently on a nest. This is getting pretty late in the season for that.

Slender Janusia, *Cottsia gracilis*. This is the only species of *Janusia* in the region. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before. I copied the following from Southwest Desert Flora: A rare species in the United States, where Slender Janusia is found primarily in Arizona with small populations in New Mexico and Texas. It is also common in Baja California and Mexico.

Birding Flowers and Plants Herps

Back at Granite Gap

I left Ajo on Wednesday and drove directly to Granite Gap. Ajo is getting hot, but here it is still very pleasant. This is a quiet location. I’ve been here three days and haven’t seen anyone. Not sure how long I will be here but at least a few more days. There are still quite a few flowers blooming and birding is good. The numbers of Tiger Whiptails are amazing and I’ve seen two Long-nosed Leopard Lizards.

The night before I left Ajo, I went herping with Danny and Rekha Martin. We got this Glossy Snake, a lifer for me! We also saw two Sidewinders.

One of two Long-nosed Leopard Lizards I’ve seen since arriving at Granite Gap.

A cooperative Scott’s Oriole from this morning.

*Fallugia paradoxa*, Apache Plume, is in flower now. A member of the Rose family, this is the only species in the genus *Fallugia*.

One of my favorite desert flowers, Rock Hibiscus. I usually run across some of these in the Ajo area but not this spring. I only found one yesterday morning on my hike at Granite Gap.

A Red-tailed Hawk carrying a Harris’s Antelope Ground Squirrel.

Astrophotography Birding Herps

More Astro and Brush Lizard

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date April 22, 2023
3 Comments on More Astro and Brush Lizard

I’m still in Ajo. I will likely be heading east next week. It is getting pretty hot everyday now. I really hate to leave but it is time. I’ve had a few good nights of astro and the Long-tailed Brush Lizard mystery may have been solved.

M90, another of the Messier objects I’ve never imaged before. Looking at this in Stellarium I didn’t think it was going to look like much, but I’m impressed. It is a beautiful galaxy, rich colors, and lots of interesting things going on. The star-forming regions are very limited, so the outer arms appear smooth and nearly featureless. But the center is a different story. About 60 million light years out there, in the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, M90 is another of the rare, blue-shifted galaxies that is moving toward our galaxy instead of away from it. There are a lot of small, faint background galaxies and one larger dwarf galaxy, IC 3583.

NGC 5033, also named the Waterbug Galaxy, is an inclined spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici.

I’m quite proud of this one, M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules. While it is pretty easy to get a photo of star cluster, getting one without blowing out the central stars, getting good round stars all around, good star color and without star bloating, is hard. I finally figured out a good formula, use shorter exposures, take lots of them, and use some different processing. The star colors came out very nicely. I like this!

This afternoon I had two different Long-tailed Brush Lizards show up on my solar panel. One had half its tail missing, so I know there were two different ones. I think the explanation for where the earlier one came from is this; it climbed up the cables for the solar panels, which enter the camper through the window I sit by. Note the yellow throat and hints of blue on the belly of this male.

A male Black-tailed Gnatcatcher carrying food, there was a female in the area doing the same thing. I could not find the nest but didn’t spend much time looking for it.

Astrophotography Birding Photography

More Rain and a Little Snow

Post author By Doug Backlund
Post date March 4, 2023
1 Comment on More Rain and a Little Snow

It has been a long stretch of cool to cold, wet and windy weather. Just a couple of days ago, the area got an inch of rain and some snow on the mountains. However, I think we have finally turned the corner on winter and spring is going to take over. This has certainly been the coldest winter I’ve spent in the Sonoran Desert. I entered eleven photos in the Cabeza Prieta Natural History Association Sonoran Desert Photo Show. I found a good place to get photos printed right here in Ajo so I picked out some of my favorite Sonoran Desert photos. All the entries will be on display for the month of March.

What’s that white stuff? It didn’t last long. Snow on Child’s Mountain.

There are more swifts and swallows starting to show up. I still keep trying for a good shot of a White-throated Swift and was rewarded with this one.

After one of the recent storms, I checked Lake Ajo and found this Herring Gull on February 22. This is a pretty rare bird for Pima County and some birders were on the way to see it, but it flew off about 30 minutes after I saw it and never returned.

I have had absolutely no good weather for astro since my last post. This is M63 that I imaged last spring while at Granite Gap. I spent a lot of time reprocessing this image. I think this version is much improved. Also known as the Sunflower Galaxy.

Astrophotography Birding

Owls and the Comet

I went owling a few nights ago. I didn’t expect to get much but I did get what I expected, Western Screech-Owls and Great Horned Owls. I only heard the Great Horned Owls but I played some screech-owl calls and had a pair come in close. The weather has been just about perfect lately. Of course now it is the full moon time and I haven’t been doing any astro. Back when it was still dark enough, I imaged comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) again, this time with the 500 f4, giving a much wider field of view.

Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) as it appeared awhile back. I imaged this around midnight, giving it enough time rise higher in the sky. I could easily see it in binoculars when the sky was dark but now with the bright moon it would be hard to see. A few more days and it would be worth looking for it again.

Lately there has been an invasion of Sage Thrasher. One morning I stepped outside the camper, and I saw one, so I got my camera and bird songs, it didn’t take long before I had three Sage Thrashers right here at camp. I saw two more yesterday.

I had two Western Screech-Owls calling and got photos of both. Their plumages are different enough to recognize that they are different birds.

It has been a long time since I’ve photographed Western Screech-Owls. It is fun getting out there at night and finding the nocturnal birds.

Astrophotography Birding Photography

Time for an Update

It has been a long time since I’ve posted anything, due mostly to not having much to post. It has been poor for astrophotography and not much for new birds. Of course, this time of year is very slow for herps and butterflies. So, I just go for hikes, read books, find what birds I can and try to get some good photos. This is turning out to be a fairly wet winter and the hope is that the spring bloom will be a good one. As always, right click and open in a new tab to see a larger image.