Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Critters

The Warmer Weather is Back

temperature.jpgToday is the first of several days that are forecast to be triple digit days. The National Weather Service calls it an “Excessive Heat Warning” and it is forecast to continue through Monday. Even the Low temperatures are around 80 degrees which doesn’t provide much relief.

The thermostat is set to 82 degrees and the A/C unit keeps it near that temperature which feels REALLY cool when coming in from walking the dogs. We also have the ceiling fans turning in the office and the great room during the day and in the bedroom during the night. The fans circulate the air so the temperature doesn’t have hot and cool spots as could be the case.

The warm weather also activated some of the local reptiles. Yesterday, we found a dead rattlesnake on the road near the neighbor’s wall across from our driveway. I can’t be sure about the species, but it looks like it might be a Western Mojave rattler – either that or a Diamondback. Click on the link to view the image of the dead snake.

There is somewhat of a mystery about that snake and how it met its fate. Damsel and I observed that the Town’s recycle collection truck paused at that exact spot on the road where we later found the critter. Did the driver kill the snake? Did he run it over? I dunno. When I see him next week I plan on asking about what happened.

The other part of the mystery is that later in the day I went out to fetch the carcass and dispose of it but it was gone. Did the turkey buzzards beat me to it? Some other critter, two or four legged? I dunno that either.

03 Jun 2016 by Arizona Critters Environment

Snake Season

uninvited serpent

My first chore when I got home after yesterday’s medical procedure was to roust an uninvited serpent from the garage. Damsel noticed that a curve-billed thrasher had chased a gopher snake into the garage while the door was open. The bird flew off, but the snake hid itself behind the shop-vac along the garage wall.

I fetched a non-lethal corn broom from the back of the garage and proceeded to move the shop vac out of the way and to firmly but gently sweep the snake in the direction of the vacant property to the east. Damsel took this photo while the snake was still hissing at us before retreating over the rocks to the desert habitat on the unimproved land. I shooed it in that direction because I know that the curve billed thrasher that was chasing it has a nest with probable chicks or eggs on the west side of our property.

I seem to be doing a lot of good deeds for the thrasher population recently.

28 May 2016 by Arizona Critters Photography Retirement

WickenBirds


Birds seen in Wickenburg, AZ. This is a slideshow, click images to advance. The list includes:

  1. Turkey Vulture (we call ’em buzzards)
  2. Road Runner
  3. Red-Shafted Flicker
  4. Hummingbird Browsing Rosemary
  5. Cactus Wren
  6. Curve-Billed Thrasher
  7. Goldfinch

All images taken from our patch of land near Casandro Wash, Wickenburg, Arizona.

25 May 2016 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

My Good Deed for Today

Curve Billed Thrasher

Damsel and I did some yard chores this morning consisting of clean-up of a pile of cut-down bush branches we left for “later” a couple of weeks ago. We finished that and moved on to pruning some low-hanging foliage on the “Musical” mesquite tree out front. We also pruned some “suckers” from the citrus “orchard” (one orange, one lemon tree).

Later in the day, I was out by the orchard 😉 and spotted a young Curve Billed Thrasher that was caught in a net that Damsel has covering her little orange tree. The net was placed there precisely to keep critters out, but somehow, this little guy found his way in and tangled itself in the mesh.

I had my camera with me, but placed it on the ground to effect a release of the bird if I could, therefore no pix of the rescue, just the one above of a similar bird at our feeder I took earlier.

I reached under the net and got a grip on the bird; it didn’t like me doing so and squawked the whole time I gently held it while getting out my Sog knife to cut through some of the entangled netting. After a minute or so, I managed to free the bird which had minimal injury as far as I could tell. It flew a low trajectory to a nearby cholla where it perched.

I’m glad I found the little guy before one of the local predators did. Damsel and I discussed replacing the net with some wire screen mesh which is less likely to snare the critters.

27 Apr 2016 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

The Bird Feeder

Cactus Wren and Cardinal

We get a lot of birds at the feeders out back. There is a pair of finch feeders plus fixtures where we usually have a bird block (shown) and bell (just below the block) for the critters to be fed and for us to watch them. Damsel gets most of the good pix, but once in a while, I score a good one, too.

I managed to catch a cactus wren working on the seed block just as a male cardinal lit on the top of the feeder cage. I took this image with my Canon EOS Rebel SL1 and the 75-300mm lens set to 180mm, ISO 100, 1/512sec and F7.1. Click on the image to enlarge.

15 Apr 2016 by Arizona Critters Home & Garden Photography

Desert Cottontail

Desert Cottontail

There are literally dozens of these Sylvilagus audubonii on and around the property. I photographed this one as it was feeding up in the wash behind the RV drive. It paused feeding long enough to strike this pose as it became alert to my presence when I pointed the telephoto lens some 30 feet away. It resumed its feeding shortly thereafter.

From Wikipedia:

The desert cottontail is found throughout the western United States from eastern Montana to western Texas, and in northern and central Mexico. Westwards its range extends to central Nevada and southern California and Baja California. It is found at heights of up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft). It is particularly associated with the dry near-desert grasslands of the American southwest; though it is also found in less arid habitats such as pinyon-juniper forest.

The desert cottontail is quite similar in appearance to the European rabbit, though its ears are larger and are more often carried erect. It is also social among its peers, often gathering in small groups to feed. The desert cottontail uses burrows made by rodents rather than making its own. Like all cottontail rabbits, the desert cottontail has a rounded tail with white fur on the underside which is visible as it runs away. It is a light grayish-brown in color, with almost white fur on the belly. Adults are 33 to 43 cm (13 to 17 in) long and weigh up to 1.5 kg (3.3 lb). The ears are 8 to 10 cm (3.1 to 3.9 in) long, and the hind feet are large, about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) in length). There is little sexual dimorphism, but females tend to be larger than the males, but have much smaller home ranges, about 4,000 square metres (1 acre) compared with about 60,000 square metres (15 acres) for a male.

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel SL1, 1/400s, F5.6, ISO 200, 300mm focal length.

12 Apr 2016 by Arizona Critters Environment Photography

Spring in the Sonoran Desert


The above is a Flash® slideshow depicting some of the flowers and other things we see in our little corner of the desert during the spring months. All photos taken on or near our Wickenburg, Arizona homestead. Click on the image to advance (this is 1 of 6 frames).

Slideshow subject matter: Prickly Pear Flower, Ocotillo Flowers and buds, Tiny Mesquite Flower Clusters, Lemon Blossom, Cholla Flower and one Pituophis catenifer . . .

09 Apr 2016 by Arizona Critters Environment Photography

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