I’ve had two trail cams out at Highway Tank for a couple of weeks now. I am trying for the Mountain Lion that has left tracks there but so far, no luck with that. Here is a YouTube LINK to a video I captured that is described by the title to my post. I find it amazing that something like this would happen right in front of my camera. The cameras are still there so maybe I will have a lion to show soon. The weather has been very nice and I’m enjoying the warm days.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’ve been keeping busy. Birding, astrophotography, and hiking. Now I’m working on digging up 89 photos of butterflies for Gary Marrone’s 2nd Edition of The Butterflies of South Dakota. That will be a great book when it is published. Weather here has been cool but still pretty nice.
It was December of 2017 when I saw my first nighttime rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. I had no idea what it was and was not prepared for photos. I managed to get a few that were handheld and poorly focused, which can be seen at this LINK. Since then, I’ve been waiting for another opportunity and last night I got it. I have subscribed to Launch Alert and I knew this one was coming. Vandenberg AFB is now Vandenberg Space Force Base, it is about 500 miles west, on the California coast. This rocket is a Space X Falcon 9 that was launching 53 Starlink satellites into orbit. The timing of the launch put the rocket and the exhaust in the light of the setting sun while I was far enough east where it was dark enough to see it. I was set up with the Canon 6D and 35mm Sigma lens on a tripod.
Last fall all the insect action was on Chuckwalla Delight flowers, this fall it is Desert Broom. Find a Desert Broom plant in flower and one is in business. Since I’ve been here, I have seen no kangaroo rats out at night, then last night I saw two near the camper. They seem to be inactive some nights and active on others. I’m still working on a couple of astrophotography targets, but they are not ready to show yet.
It has been hot for the last week or so but now a big cool down is here. Very windy yesterday and it finally blew in some new birds. Today, I had Red-necked Phalaropes, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, California Gull and some Ring-billed Gulls at the sewage ponds. There are Soras and Virginia Rails at Highway Tank. Today I watched a Great Egret in a palm tree, I wondered what it was doing up there. About an hour later I came back and it was swallowing House Finch. I had a couple of good nights for astro too, but nothing ready to show yet.
I arrived in Ajo almost a week ago. I’ve been waiting to accumulate some new photos before posting an update. The area has had a good monsoon season, everything is green, and all the tanks and ponds are full of water. The bird migration is building up slowly here, so far nothing very exciting. I had a Kit Fox near the camper last night while I was out doing astro. It is good to be back in the Sonoran Desert.
Not much new to report. However, I have been doing some updating of the website and now have a URL with a secure address. What I don’t know is if the old links will still work. So, if you have me bookmarked, you may have to update. (UPDATE: after publishing this new post, I tested it with my old links and it seems to work OK). Some of the archery seasons are open now, at least elk season is. There are only eight archery elk permits for this area, so it hasn’t been a huge increase in traffic, but it is noticeable. On September 1, archery deer season opens, that may be more noticeable. I have been watching for migrants but haven’t seen much yet, except for some flocks of Common Nighthawks.
I was very optimistic about photographing the aurora borealis last night. Earlier in the day, Spaceweather.com and NOAA Spaceweather Prediction Center were forecasting a possible G3 class solar storm. Later in the day, that prediction was downgraded to G2 or G1. I went out and watched anyway, it was a clear night and the moon is rising later so the sky was dark. As soon as it got dark, I could see a glow in the north and then areas of brighter glow. To my eyes, it was not very impressive, but the camera caught good auroral activity.
I’ve been in Pierre since my last post. Now I’m back at the Slim Buttes. It was pretty hot in Pierre and not much cooler out here but that will be changing over the next few days. I am looking forward to cooler weather! On the birding and photography front, there hasn’t been much new. I got a couple of interesting photos while in Pierre.
The last few nights have been clear and dark. This area has the darkest skies to be found anywhere in North America and it is pretty amazing at night with no moon. I can see the Andromeda Galaxy with no difficulty, even without binoculars. I set up the Losmandy G11 and used the 500 f4 for a dark nebula and a comet.
I will have to leave pretty soon. I have an appointment in Pierre Monday morning. It is going to be hot there!
