You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. Recently, my friend Dan informed me that there was an active Cooper’s Hawk nest in his neighborhood. By the time I was able to go there to check out the nest, one
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. American Kestrels have to rank as, or at least among, the most colorful of raptors in North America. The males, especially, have brilliant plumage. A few weeks ago, I photographed an unusually
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. I chose today’s image because I believe that it symbolizes what southern Arizona is going through right now. The photo, of an Eastern Meadowlark perching on the dead stalk of a yucca,
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. This is my final post about the Crested Caracara family that I spent more than a month observing. I’ve probably beaten the subject to death, but from my standpoint, I’ve exercised restraint,
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. Today’s post says a couple of things about observing wildlife in the field. First, one can sometimes see behavior that isn’t documented in field guides or discussed in articles about a species.
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. In less than two months the two infant Caracaras progressed from bits of fluff about the size of table tennis balls to fully fledged birds weighing about a kilogram. Their rate of
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. Crested Caracaras mate for life. The adults are devoted to each other and they are attentive parents. In southern Arizona they build their nests in the arms of giant Saguaro Cacti. Often,
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. Some refer to the Crested Caracara as “The Mexican Eagle” because of its faint resemblance to the bird depicted on Mexico’s flag. It’s not an eagle and it’s not depicted on the
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. Yesterday, I mentioned that I have spent considerable time recently, parked out in the desert, observing the comings and goings on a giant Saguaro Cactus. The object of my attention was a
You may enlarge any image in this blog by clicking on it. Click again for a detailed view. In recent weeks I’ve spent numerous early morning hours sitting in my car in the middle of the desert, staring at a particular Saguaro (I’ll explain why in a series of upcoming
