The numbers of birds isn’t going up much but it seems there is something new almost everyday now. A big windy storm system is moving through tomorrow and I am hopeful that will really pick things up. It looks like a big warm up for next week so maybe the herps will finally start to move too. I just hope it doesn’t get so hot I have to leave!
It was a warm day, up near 90 F., so I decided to check Valentine Well for bat activity. It still is cooling down at night a little too much for good insect and bat activity, but at Valentine Well, there were lots of bats shortly after sunset. It is probably the only source of water for miles in any direction, since all of the ponds and natural tanks are dry. This is what I need, lots of bats, so I get lots of shots and then hope for a few good ones. Bats tripped the laser trigger 33 times and I got at least two very good images.
It must have been a pretty boring birding winter if a Wilson’s Warbler seems exciting. Yesterday, I actually saw around a dozen of them in a wooded area behind the Ajo tennis courts. They were very busy feeding and not paying much attention to me, so were easy to photograph. The weather has been pretty bad for astrophotography, so it appears that most of this new moon period is not going to be productive. At least we finally got some rain, about .15 inch according to the Ajo weather station. It is cold and windy today.
I got my covid vaccine on Thursday here at the local clinic. They just got a supply of the Johnson and Johnson one shot vaccine, so I’m done with that. I didn’t notice much for side effects, I felt a little tired and achy, but that went away by the next day. I am sure glad to have that done!
Now that the moon is approaching the new moon phase, the clouds are rolling in. I had a few good nights but for the next few days at least, it does not look good. As far as birding goes, it is very slow. A few new birds have appeared, indicating some migration. Two dowitchers at the pond and a couple of Greater Yellowlegs, along with a Ring-billed Gull were the most exciting birds I’ve seen. Still not warm enough to get the herps out, except for the most common ones I’ve seen all winter.
I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to try making an image of the Andromeda Galaxy as it was close to the horizon. My goal was to show how large this galaxy would appear if we could see it as bright as the moon. I wanted to get it setting over the Air Force radar installation on Child’s Mountain. It was close and I even got an unexpected Saguaro in the scene. I took about 30 minutes of exposure of the galaxy as it came lower but the moon came up before it was low enough. So, I had to make some adjustments. It worked out pretty good because the moon lit up Child’s Mountain. As always, right click on the image and open in a new tab to see a larger version.
This turned out about perfect for photography. The moon was rising over the Batamote Mountains but the sun was still up in the west. No bracketing, HDR, or other usual methods of combining overexposed and underexposed images were needed. Just the standard photoshop routine and this is what I got. Something I’d like to try is shooting the Andromeda Galaxy in a similar setting. If we could actually see the Andromeda Galaxy in its actual size, it would be 4 or 5 times wider than the full moon. It is too faint for our eyes but if I can photograph it setting behind the mountains here, it might be a nice image. I may be able to do that tomorrow night if I can find the right location. Timing and location will be important! Right now the galaxy is setting in the west from 9-10 PM but the moon comes up about 9:30 PM.
Nothing going on here for astrophotography, the moon is too bright. Birding is still very slow and in my walks around the desert I’m not finding many flowers or butterflies. All in all, not much going on. At least the weather is nice. Many of the campers have left now, the campground is very quiet again.
I think I enjoy imaging galaxies more than nebulas. There are lots of them and all are different. But, mostly it is because they are so awesome and fascinating; entire galaxies, thousands of light years in diameter, millions of light years away, with billions of stars, all captured in my images. Most are too small for the 500 f4 lens but with the C8, many more are now within my range. And it is galaxy season now, with many of the nebulas now shifting to the south and west.
M82 is an interesting galaxy due to the fact it is an edge-on starburst galaxy. Stars are forming 10 times faster than in the Milky Way Galaxy. M82’s red (ionized hydrogen) outflow filaments are created by energy released by supernovae in the galaxy center which occur at a rate of about one every ten years. I have messed around with this galaxy a few times but never got an image I’ve really liked. So, the last two nights, this is all I did. I now have 5 hours of exposure on this galaxy with the C8 (at 1200 mm focal length using a .63 reducer).
I haven’t been taking many photos other than astrophography for a couple of weeks now. So, the new ones have just been sitting in the camera until today. It looks like I might have one or two more good nights for astrophotography then it is back to looking for birds or anything else that is interesting. It is beginning to feel like spring and apparently ducks feel the same way as some new species showed up today at the pond, including some Northern Pintails, Cinnamon Teal, and Gadwall. The question is: are they moving back north or moving south from the bitter cold? Looking at the weather back in South Dakota, I’m sure glad I’m here! Some of the desert vegetation is starting to green up now, but more rain is needed.
