A Few AZ Wildlife Sightings

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 Prairie Dog (above).  Desert Museum, Tucson.
Costas Hummingbird with his eyes closed (below)
 Costas Hummingbird
 Harris Hawk.  The Desert Museum near Tucson had a raptor demonstration while we were there.  A Peregrine Falcon and Barn Owl were also on view, but too far away to get decent photos.
 Harris Hawks are unusual in that they live and hunt in small family groups.  They are lead by an Alpha female and hunt cooperatively.


At one of the hotels where we stayed, a Goldfinch on a fountain.
At Tohono Chul Park, a Queen butterfly, Danaus gilippus.

Black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes), Tohono Chul Park.

 We saw Desert (Asclepias linaria) and White Stem (A. albicans) Milkweed everywhere, on hikes in natural areas as well as in every botanic garden.  Arizona had good summer rain this year, so flowers and butterflies were plentiful.  
 If it is full of Milkweed bugs and Milkweed aphids, you know it's Milkweed. 
 The lizards we saw in Arizona were larger and stouter than our own Western Fence and Alligator lizards.  This one at Tohono Chul Park was at least double the size of what I see at home. 
This one was on a wall at the Desert Museum:
 I am extremely happy to report that we didn't see a single rattlesnake anywhere.  May they live and prosper, and may our paths never ever cross. 
 

Comments

  1. Jane StrongOctober 29, 2015 at 7:41 AM

    Your photos of the Harris hawk are best I've seen.

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    1. Hoover BooOctober 29, 2015 at 11:08 AM

      They are magnificent birds. I sort of hanker for one of those bird-catching long lenses with big price tags, but I am Not Worthy.

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  2. NellOctober 29, 2015 at 10:04 AM

    Arrestingly excellent photos. They're refreshing to the spirit -- can only imagine how recharging the in-person experience must have been. Thanks so much for sharing them.

    I keep going back to the Costas hummingbird; something wonderful going on with the electric violet band on its chest and the acidic green-lit area of the canopy.

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    1. Hoover BooOctober 29, 2015 at 11:12 AM

      Thanks! All the AZ gardens we visited were so alive with all types of birds, cactus wrens everywhere, too. The bird I wish I'd gotten a shot of was the Steller's Jay. What a stunner that one is--I was too enthralled to raise my camera.

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    2. NellOctober 29, 2015 at 11:28 AM

      Of course this led me to look up the Steller's jay, and I can see why you were so enthralled. This might have been a particularly good year to see them where you were; from the Audubon site: "Occasionally stages large invasions into lowlands, perhaps when food crops fail in the mountains." Fire and drought have to have reduced food available in the northwest and western mountains this year.

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  3. Kris PetersonOctober 29, 2015 at 11:21 AM

    Great photos from what was obviously a great trip! Your camera captured a lot. The hawk photos are especially good. One day I'll catch a photo of the red-tailed hawks that I regularly soar over the harbor area (although I may have to live to 98 to get it).

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    1. Hoover BooOctober 29, 2015 at 6:34 PM

      Thanks! We had a great time. We have lots of hawks around here but I rarely get a good chance to photograph them.

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  4. Janneke October 29, 2015 at 12:04 PM

    The Harris Hawk on the cactus is gorgeous! The swallowtail and the Queen butterfly are so unusual for us and so beautiful, but that big lizard is not my cup of tea, brrr.

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    1. Hoover BooOctober 29, 2015 at 6:35 PM

      The lizards eat so many bugs--they are good little creatures.

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  5. dianneOctober 30, 2015 at 5:06 AM

    Dear Hoover, great photos of the birds, lizards, butterfly and plants, the little prairie dog is so darn cute. I like lizards, they are wonderful garden creatures, I don't like snakes at all.
    xoxoxo ♡

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    1. Hoover BooOctober 30, 2015 at 7:30 AM

      I have read that if the garden has lizards, it has no snakes, because the snakes successfully hunt the lizards. So the presence of lizards is doubly good! I have seen a gopher snake and a striped racer in the garden a couple of times, (and ran into the house) but never a rattler, thank goodness.

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  6. NellOctober 30, 2015 at 3:59 PM

    Do you know what that Leonotis-like plant is that the black swallowtail is on? I'm assuming it's a SW native; love the felty leaves, and of course the butterfly-attracting flowers.

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  7. DeniseOctober 31, 2015 at 7:23 AM

    OK, you need to start offering prints of your photos, starting with that first photo of the Harris Hawk. Love the little prairie dog too with both paws busy.

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  8. UnknownNovember 2, 2015 at 8:01 PM

    Gorgeous shots! And that prairie dog is a real cutie pie.

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    1. Hoover BooNovember 3, 2015 at 7:23 AM

      Thanks! Plants support wildlife--AZ was a dramatic illustration. Makes me feel good about being a gardener.

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