If you thought the Orange Menace’s border wall was ridiculous, check out Governor Doug Ducey’s container wall political stunt. Bad for wildlife and the environment and it will not stop anyone from crossing.
First flight for a screech owl nestling
Again this year the Western screech owl pair raised a family in the backyard nestbox. In this video you can see the first of four nestlings take her first flight.
Black Bear Wallow
This old abandoned spring in one of Arizona’s Sky Islands is a favorite place for black bear bath time.
Sky Island Wildlife
I’m just back from a few days exploring one of Arizona’s sky islands. After receiving a bit of monsoon rainfall, the wildflowers and wildlife were quite abundant and the formerly dry landscape had turned green with new plant growth.
While exploring I also checked three trail cameras I’ve had in the region for several months. It was exciting to see all the critters captured by the cameras, including a sow black bear with two cubs.
I also had the chance to get this beautiful rattlesnake to move off the road:
A Big Little Owl & Black Bear Cub
Here are two interesting camera trap videos, one from my yard and one from Arizona’s Sky Islands. The first video shows an alarmed Western screech owl in a birdbath during the day. She was trying to escape the 107 degree temps and her nestbox was too hot. I think a Cooper’s hawk landed on the fence near the birdbath.
In this second video, a black bear cub has a swim with her mom then takes an interest in my camera trap:
Night Blooming Cactus Timelapse
A cactus that I replanted from a short stalk about three years ago finally decided it was time to bloom. I have no idea what species this is. Still, beautiful and fragrant. I was hoping there would be a few bat or large moth pollinators, but it appears only small beetles, moths, and bees visited the flowers. The time-lapse below is about 6 hours compressed into four minutes.
There were other cactus around the yard that were also blooming this morning:
Raccoon Kit Has A Rough Life
This is one of two instances where the camera caught a raccoon mom seemingly trying to kill/drown one of her offspring. What do you think? Is this real aggression or just tough love?
Nighttime Wildlife Action
Last night was pretty interesting. Lot’s of wildlife action, though most fascinating to me are the screech owl and desert cottontail rabbit interactions. I am so comforted to know my backyard offers an oasis for the wild critters. What do you think?
Bobcat Kittens!
I’ve had a camera trap set on my backyard pond going on 7 years continuously. I generally check the cameras every morning to see what critters have stopped by. In that time I’ve found adult bobcats to be quite common. However, this morning I was surprised to see the resident bobcat had brought her young kittens in for a drink last night.
Sky Island Camp Spot
A short video describing a recent camera trap check in one of Arizona’s sky islands.
My Earth 