I’m currently parked in the campground at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area, near Carrizozo, New Mexico. I’ve been here four days now. This area is in the Malpais Lava Flow and is a pretty nice area, especially since there has been a lot of rain. It is a nice campground too, with showers, electric hookups if needed (I don’t need them), not crowded at all. With my senior pass it costs $6.00 a night. I hoped for some astrophotography and finally last night it was clear and calm. I had an experience with a new night sky object too, a weather balloon.
Last night while I was setting up for planetary photography, I saw a very bright object in the east. There wasn’t supposed to be anything there of that magnitude of brightness. I had the C8 on the mount so I put in a 15X eyepiece and this is what I saw. I decided to hook up a camera and took a few photos. This is most likely a weather balloon, from what I’ve read they can be up to 25 miles high in the atmosphere. The best night I’ve ever had for imaging Jupiter. It rises to over 40 degree above the horizon and last night seeing was pretty good. I’ve never got detail like this before. One can even see detail in the Great Red Spot! This is a stack of about 12,000 frames from 3 minutes of video. Saturn was lower and as always, dimmer, so it is difficult to get as many video frames. Still, it came out OK. Saturn is almost as far away from Jupiter as Jupiter is from Earth. Twice I have come on Scaled Quail with young ones, but the young ones always scurry off and hide before I can get any photos. And Checkered-Skippers, this one on some species of composite. A new flower for me, Phemeranthus aurantiacus, Orange Fameflower. There are many species of mallows in bloom, colors range from white to red. A red mallow.
It has been quite a while since I’ve udpated, but I’m still here. Not much new. It was hot for a while, then rain, then it cooled down enough to require an extra blanket at night. I’ll take the cooler weather anytime. Bird migration has not picked up at all. The only “for certain” migrant I’ve seen is an Olive-sided Flycatcher. Archery Elk season opens September 1 and some hunters have trail cams at Baldwin Spring and Jumpoff Spring. For some reason, they have not put any at Lost Spring and that’s where the Elk are. I’m not going to say anything. For now the moon is full and no astrophotography, I am really starting to miss it.
Now the most common flower in the meadows is Dotted Gayfeather, shown here. A Monarch nectaring on Dotted Gayfeather. I’m seeing quite a few Monarchs now. Mountain Mahogany has seeded out, whole hillsides of Mountain Mahogany look silvery due to the seeds. I assume the spiral shaped awn has a similar function as some species of needlegrass, it forces the seed into the ground when the awn get wet. I’ve got lots of Red-breasted Nuthatches coming to my feeders now. They are fun to photograph. White-breasted Nuthatches and some chickadees too. I’m hoping the Pygmy Nuthatches will discover the food source soon. I haven’t seen any hummingbirds. A Red Squirrel at Baldwin Spring.
As always, right click on a photo to open in a new tab for a larger image.
And right in the middle of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Actually, it wasn’t too bad getting here. On the interstate, I could see what appeared to be an exodus of motorcycles and vehicles towing motorcycles going east, I’m not sure why everyone seems to be leaving early but it is OK with me. I drove through Custer State Park and the town of Custer with no problems. Shortly after arriving at my campsite and getting setup, I notice the truck had another flat tire. I’m sure getting tired of those. I have had more flat tires in the last two years than I usually get in ten years. I got the spare on and will find a place to fix the flat when I go to town.
Summer form of the Eastern Comma, on Farm Island, last week. Male Band-winged Meadowhawk. There were dozens of these around my folks place near Pierre while I was there. This is a female Band-winged Meadowhawk. Close up, Band-winged Meadowhawk.
I decided to try the black light last night. This works best on dark, warm, humid nights. The moon is nearly full but it was certainly warm and humid. I got a few interesting insects. Birding is slow, a male Cassin’s Finch has found my feeder and comes in regularly, but nothing else does. I am sure glad I’m where I’m at because it has to be hot down on the plains if it is this hot here.
This is a mantispid, also known as a mantisfly. I’ve never seen them before and according to BugGuide this is a first for South Dakota. I had several come in last night. Most likely it is Dicromantispa sayi. This moth is Eubaphe mendica, The Beggar. It gets its name from the spots which resemble holes in a beggar’s clothing. Also a first BugGuide record for South Dakota. The Cassin’s Finch.
I left the Slim Buttes on Friday and drove back to my quiet spot in the Black Hills. It was getting hot up there and forecast to get even hotter. When I got to my spot, someone else was there with a big 5th wheel and ATVs. There was plenty of room for me too but I decided I wanted some distance from ATVs so went back to the main road and took the road to Jumpoff Spring. I have often thought about taking the Scamp on that road but haven’t done it because of a steep hill and a rough, rocky road to get up there. Well, I tried it, took it real slow in 4 wheel drive and it turned out OK. No cupboards dumped out and nothing much happened. I really like this new spot, even quieter and more remote. One thing I am certain of, no one is pulling a 5th wheel or big camper up here! I put out the trail cams yesterday near Baldwin Spring and got nothing, then this afternoon I was walking down the trail by camp when I saw fresh Mountain Lion tracks from last night, made after the light rain that fell. I had one hummingbird at my feeder this morning that hasn’t come back, I think it was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
The meadow by my new camp is full of Purple Coneflower and many other flowers, there is a clump of Bristly Poppy in the back. The abundance of Purple Coneflower is amazing here. A Western Wood-Pewee at Baldwin Spring. This one of the best photos I’ve ever taken of this species, they always seem to land in a shadow or too high up. How many more photos can I take of Western Tanagers? I just can’t pass up a good shot. A very scruffy looking Vesper Sparrow, in heavy molt. I only got one shot of the hummingbird and it is not a good one. But, looks like Ruby-throated to me.
Something I’ve wanted to do since I got here is set up the black light for nocturnal insects. It has been too windy most nights. I have to use a white sheet (for a collecting surface and photography) illuminated by the black light. Wind just makes it very difficult. I had one good night and even then, it was quite cool so not as much activity as I hope for. I still did pretty good.
Perhaps the best catch of the night was this. I posted the photo on BugGuide.net and it came back Bertholdia trigona, Grote’s Bertholdia. A new species for South Dakota (there may be other records but it is the first for BugGuide). Lots of interesting things about this moth. Read the link at BugGuide for more. Bertholdia trigona can emit clicking sounds to jam the sonar of bats.A Tiger Moth, always fun to see. Pine Sawyer BeetleDichorda rectaria, from BugGuide. Larva feed on Skunkbush Sumac, which is abundant here. I didn’t need BugGuide for this. Nicrophorus orbicollis, a nocturnal burying beetle I’m very familiar with from my days of working with the American Burying Beetle. Euchlaena johnsonaria, Johnson’s Euchlaena. I did need BugGuide for this one. I’ve never seen it before. A Geometrid moth. Genus Drasteria. That’s all I know. I have seen this one before too. The Great Ash Sphinx. These moths are enormous. I got this one with a more normal sized moth next to it.
After a visit to Pierre, I’m now in the Slim Buttes in Harding County, about 25 miles east of Buffalo. Although this is one of my favorite places I haven’t been here for several years now. Not much has changed. There is a Forest Service campground at Reva Gap and it is usually nearly empty, although more people show up on weekends. As of right now, is is empty. No charge for camping, which I like!
My usual spot for Prairie Falcons did not disappoint. They are nesting on the same ledge as the last time I was here. I got some butterfly photos while in Pierre. This is a Common Wood-Nymph, posing in nice light. Gray Coppers were common too, more than I’ve ever seen in one place before. Last night I tried some Milky Way photography. I did this a few years ago at the same location and found the stars in the top center of the photo were elongated, which I attributed to having bumped the camera or poor tracking. Well, I got the same results last night, so it must be the software that is doing it. This is 24 images, taken with a 35mm lens, stitched together in Lightroom. The sky was murky, maybe smoke, so the results are not what I hoped for. The final image was nearly a gigabyte in size. Right click and open in a new window to see a larger image.
I haven’t been seeing anything too exciting. The weather has been windy and not good for trail cams. When the wind blows hard, movement of vegetation and shadows triggers the camera and I get hundreds of videos/photos with nothing in them. Now it looks like a couple of days of rain. I went back to Baldwin Spring one morning and got more nice bird photos. A walk in Hell Canyon was good for butterflies.
The Death Camas has all gone to seed, now the most abundant flower in my meadow is the Mariposa Lily. Thousands of them are in bloom now. I think this is a Northwestern Fritillary. According to my butterfly guide, it is right on the edge of its range in the Black Hills. Western Tanager at Baldwin Spring. Just a robin, but I really like this photo.
I’ve had the two trail cameras out for quite awhile. Today I brought them in to download. I am getting a lot of elk photos. The image quality isn’t all that great though. On the camera I left set to take video I got two bobcats. One has a radio collar on it. This morning I checked out my Indra Swallowtail site and found one that is in better condition, but still kind of worn. The weather has been great, not too hot here.
This is one of the better elk photos from the trail cam. Indra Swallowtail in better condition than the others I’ve seen.
I got a couple of good nights for astrophotography but the days are so long, the nights so short! It is nearly 11 PM before it gets completely dark. I think I will give up on astro until the nights get longer. My trail cams have been picking up elk, red squirrels, cottontails, and one coyote, but no more mountain lions. It has been pretty hot, into the low 90’s yesterday. I went to Newcastle for groceries yesterday, it was 99 F. there.
The Crescent Nebula with the C8. I’d like to add a lot more exposure to this but it will have to wait. The Fireworks Galaxy in Cepheus. This galaxy is somewhat obscured by interstellar dust that makes it faint and gives a more reddish color. Juniper Hairstreaks are emerging now, fresh adults are quite common. This one is nectaring on Butte Candle, Cryptantha celosioides. There have been some thunderstorms. One evening I watched this dark cloud go racing and swirling under some mammatus clouds. It was pretty impressive, I took this photo but a video would have been better.
