So Close And Yet..................

When I started my other blog I made one simple rule, if it doesn't occur on our land it doesn't go on the blog. There have been several times when I have been tempted to cheat but I have managed (so far) to stick to my rule :)
Often in the evening after we have watched the sun set we walk down our driveway and stroll round the neighbourhood. As it starts to get dark it is always intriguing to see what appears. There seems to be a fairly regular Bobcat but I have never yet managed to get a photo of it. Other creatures are equally elusive.

Some creatures announce their presence from on high, like this Cactus Wren.

 Whilst others I have to look very hard for and follow their calls to their parents.

Others are quiet and extremely well camouflaged, toning perfectly with the desert colours.

One thing I am always on the look-out for is snakes. They love to slither onto the warm asphalt which provides great photo opportunities.  This juvenile Western Diamondback was barely a foot and a half long with a little button rather than a rattle on the tip of its tail.

 But what a handsome little chap!

I also have to sometimes act as traffic controller. Standing with the snake waving my flashlight to ensure the snake doesn't get run over. I was happy to ensure that this Long-nosed Snake got safely across the road.

All very close to home but not quite close enough for my one simple rule.

Las Cienegas

We were due for another birding trip. So bright and early on Monday morning I was up making tea and packing my bag for a trip out with Kathie, my birding buddy. Our destination, Las Cienegas NCA to the south of Tucson.

It was a perfect morning, clear, blue and warm with the gentlest of breezes. we made good time and soon arrived at the Conservation Area. It was only a matter of seconds before we started seeing birds and the first was a new species for me, the Black-throated Sparrow.

Not the greatest of photos but it had to be included. What little beauties. As you know I am not a fan of sparrows generally but there are some stunners in the south-west. We trundled on and Kathie asked me if I had seen Pronghorn Antelope before, as I turned and looked out of the window - 'Oh you mean like those three there?'

Right on cue, there they were looking so pretty in the golden grass. Well of course I took way too many photos - no great surprise there.

I was briefly distracted by a Harrier swooping and hunting low over the grass

but of course I couldn't get a decent shot of it and soon returned to the Pronghorns.

 
Then Kathie spotted an Eastern Lillians Meadowlark posing perfectly in a small tree so I tore myself away from the Pronghorns again, but only briefly!

Eventually they moved off and we were able to continue towards the ranch,

 

 

spotting Horned Larks and White-tailed Deer along the road as we went.

We parked up under a tree with two Turkey Vultures peering down at us.

There were Say's Phoebes and Vermilion Flycatchers hawking insects all around us.

We headed down into the relative shade of the gulch and it was alive with birds. We could hear what Kathie suspected to be a Gray Hawk calling but we couldn't spot it. There were Yellow-rumped Warblers and Chipping Sparrows everywhere we turned.

Where the sun filtered through the trees there were lizards basking in the warmth.

 

 

We made very slow progress through the trees as there was something new to look at everywhere we turned. Zone-tailed Hawks, Painted Redstarts, Ruby-crowned Kinglets the list was endless.

We walked towards the other end of the gulch towards the water source and as we were carefully negotiating our way around some protruding tree roots a Wilsons Warbler popped out right next to us.

As he flitted about we tried to get some decent shots of him which wasn't easy.

After reaching the end of the gulch we turned around and slowly picked our way back.

We had got about half way back when we both spun around in opposite directions pointing 'Look, look, look!' We had both spotted a Gray Hawk - two of them, flying in opposite directions! Luckily one perched just long enough in a tree for us to confirm its ID before disappearing. What a finale! We made our way back to the car and had a tea-break in the shade

before setting off again to cross the grasslands to the south to another exit, adding a few more species along the way.

What a wonderful day we had with so many beautiful species. We arrived home hot, dusty and very happy.

Here is Kathies beautiful account of our trip - Kathies Birds

It Hardly Seems Possible

Yesterday we woke up to frigid temperatures, snow covered ground and thick layers of ice on pond and puddles. Exactly what you would expect in the first week of March in Chicago. But today is an entirely different story.


With a high of 67 degrees it seems like a whole other world. The turtles are basking in the sun, clearly enjoying the warmth.


There quite literally is not a cloud in the sky and what a stunningly blue sky it is too.


The Canada Geese are clearly feeling spring in the air as many of them are already paired off.




There are tiny shoots of green appearing amongst the leaves and mud.


The trees are putting huge energy into some fat, round, sticky buds.



The conifers are producing clusters of tiny new pine cones.


And the poor daffodils are very confused and pushing out very early buds.


Even the seagulls are full of the joys of spring, squealing and wheeling effortlessly in the warm winds blowing over the lake.



This certainly isn't a normal spring day in Chicago but you most definitely will not hear me complaining.

Nature Notes hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Sabino Canyon

I downloaded these pictures over a month and a half ago and I never got round to finishing the post - what on earth possible excuse have I got for neglecting my blog for so long? Umm none really. Every time I had some free time I just didn't feel like sitting in front of a computer (I know, lame, but that's all I've got.


Whenever we visit Arizona I have a little personal wishlist of animals I really want to see. Last time we were there I managed to see two that were really high on the list. We were visiting Sabino Canyon. I am not a big fan of hiking when it is hot so my husband had used the incentive of visiting the hummingbird monitoring site at the bottom of the valley to entice me. As we were heading out to it, this delightful little horned lizard scuttled across our path - check one! Somehow I had always thought they were bigger but I was quite entranced. It seemed as though he was so confident of his camouflage on the rocky ground that he just ignored us and went about his business which gave us a great opportunity to photograph him. However with the sun directly overhead and him being the same colour as his surroundings it was surprisingly difficult to get a good shot. Now I will have to pour over my reptile books and try to find out which species of horned lizard this is.

The very top of my wishlist, surprisingly wasn't a 'herp' but a mammal. I love pigs, always have and while this next character isn't actually a member of the pig family it bears enough of a resemblance to pigs to have won my heart. I have so wanted to see a Javelina and when we arrived at the hummingbird monitoring area there it was rooting about in the undergrowth! Perfect.


Ironically the hummingbirds were a bit of a let-down because the only two species that I saw were the two I most commonly see at my own feeders and the light was nowhere near good enough to get decent pictures. (You'll have to visit my other blog to see what they really look like.)



However I was so delighted with the Javelina that it really didn't matter. The classification of the Javelina is that it belongs to the same order as pigs and even to the same sub-order but it is from the family Tayassuidae which is (ironically) the 'new world pigs!' Their outward appearance is obviously very 'pig like' even down to that lovely snuffly snout but the foot structure, digestive process and the dental structure distinguishes them from true pigs.


By now it was really starting to warm up and most wildlife was very sensibly lying low and avoiding the heat, apart from the silly humans of course. The few exceptions were the endless array of beautiful lizards striking the pose as they thermoregulated on various rocks along our path. Again - one of these days I will get down to trying to work out the species of some of these but for now I just want to get this post out!
Check out the length of the toes on the hind feet of this guy.




Eventually even the lizards realised that it was too hot to be out in the sun and as they disappeared into the undergrowth we made our way back to the car and to a long, cold and much needed, drink. But hey - I got to see two new species on my wishlist so the sweating was worth it.


Photo Credits - CJT & DominickV